The Creative Process

The Creative Process

DIARY OF AN ADMAN The Creative Process David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento February 27, 2015 So here’s the creative process of how I go about putting together a commercial.  Let’s pretend I’ve already been hired by the client and have already gone over the goals and objectives, as well as analyzed their audience demographics and reviewed what the competition is doing. Also, I’ve already done all those things that bring out the best in creativity— you know, shower, go for a walk, vacuum, take a nap, everything but actually sit at a computer and try and force myself to come up with something.  Because quite frankly, that rarely works. (see our immutable laws of business). The very first thing I do is come up with a concept.  Not the commercial.  Not the script.  But the very premise of the commercial.  Because as most creative folks will tell you— concept drives creative.  You come up with a strong idea first, then the rest writes itself… or something like that. “Also, I’ve already done all those things that bring out the best in creativity— you know, shower, go for a walk, vacuum, take a nap, everything but actually sit at a computer and try and force myself to come up with something.” So after several creative concepts are thought out, I’ll start working on scripts.  Depending on the client and the budget I’ll write anywhere from 1 to 5 scripts usually.  Not all of them will be fully formed.  Not all of them will be exactly 30 seconds.  But I’ll have enough to know which ones show promise.  I’ll do this for each concept....

My Immutable Laws of Business

DIARY OF AN ADMAN My Immutable Laws of Business David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento December 18, 2014 If you’ve ever been near my desk, you may have noticed sayings stuck to my walls and cabinets.  I didn’t realize it when I wrote them, but I was writing some of the laws that govern my business. Don’t get jealous, get better. If it’s not original, think harder. The bathroom is where all good things come out. (also: The cleaner my house, the happier my clients). Never get so stressed that life stops; the irony will be lost on you. Shotguns save time. Nothing is worse than no. Entrepreneur and author Mike Michalowicz would call these my Immutable Laws.  Let me explain what they mean. Ligon Media’s Immutable Laws Don’t get jealous, get better.  Don’t spend a lot of time wanting what someone else has- instead figure out what you need to do to achieve the success yourself. If it’s not original, think harder.  Clichés are for the clichéd.  If you describe yourself or your company as the “premier” or “leading,” congratulations, you have entered the late 1990’s.  If you’re revolutionary then you’re on about the 100th evolution of that term. If you’ve seen it done a thousand time before, trust me, so have your customers and they won’t remember you doing it.  Think a little longer.  Come up with a new idea or at the very least, a new way to say it.  If you want to stand out, then don’t wear the same uniform as everyone else … unless you’re the only one with pink hair. The bathroom is where all good things come out....

California Plan Your Giving – The PSAs

CLIENT NEWS California Plan Your Giving - The PSAs David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento December 02, 2014 Back in 2011, we were asked by the co-chair of “California Plan Your Giving” to create some PSAs.  CPYG is an initiative to get people to pledge money to their favorite charities upon their passing.  It was important that we didn’t play favorites or push people toward one charity.  The whole point was to get people to give. Period. The idea was to create PSAs that resembled testimonials about giving, since we didn’t want to show one type of charity (e.g. homelessness).  We tried it with real donors first, and found it didn’t work out quite as we wanted.  In one case, the college aged child of parents who had made the pledge to give a portion of her inheritance to charity wanted to rewrite the script.  And what she wrote was fine if we wanted to promote her parents, but not if we wanted to ask other people to give money. Plus, she was a little stiff and not very compelling since she wasn’t used to being in front of the camera.  The second one we did worked much better.  But we knew going forward that if we wanted to create some memorable PSAs we would have to script them, and get people who are comfortable being in front of the camera — like, you know, actors. Luckily, I know a bunch of actors.  And in almost all cases, these actors are very committed to their communities in various charity endeavors. So it was a win-win situation. Below are the PSAs we created. On the...
Crisp Catering Thanksgiving TV Treat

Crisp Catering Thanksgiving TV Treat

CLIENT NEWS Crisp Catering Thanksgiving TV Treat David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento November 21, 2014 One of my favorite things to do as a publicist is book my chef clients on TV, because not only do they tend to do a wonderful job showcasing their food and how to prepare it, but I also get to eat. On November 19, 2014, Crisp Catering owner Joe Thompson appeared on KTXL’s Fox40 in Sacramento to prepare a tasty Thanksgiving dessert: Marinated Mandarins in a Sugared Wonton Bowl with Cranberry Whipped Cream. To view the segment, visit the link above.  To see the recipe check out Crisp Catering’s website. Contact Us If you like, share. If you don’t like, don’t share. And if you’re indifferent, then share or don’t share,...
ELECTION 2004: Fun With Cake.

ELECTION 2004: Fun With Cake.

DIARY OF AN ADMAN ELECTION 2004: Fun With Cake. David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento June 17, 2016 Since today is election day and in honor of my new series “Take A Look Back Tuesday,” here was a fun little election announcement project from the past. In November 2003, I had one of those “Ready. Set. Go” moments.  Popular radio talk show host Tom Sullivan was going to announce live on his radio show whether he would run for the 2004 Republican nomination for Congress or continue with his radio program (this is before he took his show national).  I came up with a fun idea for my bakery client to bake him a cake that covered either decision (just turn the cake around and it would support his choice).  Unfortunately, I thought up the idea two nights before Sullivan’s big announcement. The next morning (one day before Sullivan’s announcement), I was with Ettore Ravazzolo, owner of Ettore’s Restaurant and European Bakery (my client at the time), for a noon TV gig. I told him about this fun idea and too bad I hadn’t come up with it sooner, because we could have done it. Or so I thought. Later that afternoon, Ettore’s general manager called to tell me Ettore wanted to do the cake, but they would need the artwork by 6:00 p.m. (the call came a few hours before that).  At the time, this was only an idea, there was no artwork to give them. I hadn’t even fully formulated what I would write or create. So with only a couple of hours to write out the concept, create the artwork, get it approved and get...

Storyboard Even If You Can’t Draw

DIARY OF AN ADMAN Storyboard Even If You Can’t Draw David Ligon, Creative Principal, Sacramento October 28, 2014 Whenever I do a commercial, or make a short film, I storyboard it.  And although I can draw a picture with words, I can’t with a pen.  And you know what, it doesn’t matter.  I’m not making a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie.  I’m making a small budgeted project and the storyboard is really a cheat sheet that shows the client, actors, photographer, and even reminds me, the director, what is intended in the scene. Why does the director need to be reminded?  Because while on set, things can get hectic.  And that clarity of every shot I had a week before in the tranquility of my office goes out the window when I’m being harried and pulled in multiple directions, while having to get all my shots in a limited amount of time. Since I can’t draw, and haven’t invested in storyboarding software, my storyboards are usually created in one of two ways — stick figure drawings or stock photos.  Are they pretty? Nope. Do they work? You bet. “Your storyboard should be a finished commercial or scene. Visualize it in your head; watch the scene play out and then create the storyboard.” So don’t let the fact that you can’t draw, or that you don’t have time to be real artistic with the storyboard, prevent you from creating one.  The first thing you need to do is get a template.  You can either use a premade template, or do what I did and create your own.  Don’t bother storyboarding until after you have a finalized script, or else you are...