Building your Creative Ladder ‘System’ with Fireworks, Sparklers, Campfires
Starting a Creative Ladder project for a new client can be a tense time as my inner voice can ask uncomfortable questions. Does the Creative Ladder only really apply to a limited range of clients in specific industries? Was it designed for a moment in time that has passed? Will its fundamental principles still work in an environment for which they weren’t designed? These can be useful prompts to check my thinking - as long as they don’t curdle into panic.
Recently I worked for a client who amplified this sense of anxiety more than most. Firstly because they’re an agency, while most of my work is with brand-owners. But this isn’t such a huge leap when we consider the idea for the Creative Ladder came from Leo Burnett and their famous GPC Scale. Secondly and more importantly, this client’s origins are in the world of financial PR, crisis management and corporate comms. Not exactly fertile ground, you’d think, for ideas about creative risk. Quite the opposite in fact.
The story of why and how this client approached me to develop their Creative Ladder programme is fascinating, and one which I’m saving for later until we can show what their Ladder has actually helped produce (the ultimate proof of any Creative Ladder pudding only comes by seeing the actual work it generates).
But in the meantime what I can say is that it’s made me realise that occasionally you have to surrender to the odd truth that sometimes a client can see the benefit in what you offer more clearly than you do, at least initially. Like the teacher who identifies an ability in your child you never saw yourself, it offers the priceless gift of alchemically reframing not just the potential of our babies, but also our own role as stewards. As I say my, lips are sealed for now about this wonderful client, but I thought I’d share some of the process I’ve used with them in case it helps your own Creative Ladder thinking.
As I’ve previously said, you can start to use a generic version of the Creative Ladder right now to have more consistent discussions about your team’s creative output (There’s a link to that version HERE). But the last decade has proven that the Creative Ladder requires a wider structure to sustain the change and avoid the institutional ‘organ rejection’ which is so often the fate of any organisational transformation.
My version of this structure has always been founded on the ‘Sparklers, Fireworks, Campfires’ communications model first introduced to me by Marta Garcia Alonso - my day to day client on the original Heineken Creative Ladder project a decade ago (Heineken still use the Creative Ladder today, and Marta now runs Heineken Marketing in Mexico, one of their biggest and most competitive markets). In fact she told me she only ever refers to the Creative Ladder ‘System’, never as just a ‘Tool’ - something I’ve started doing myself.
Here’s how it works:
SPARKLERS that Equip: The practical tools/frameworks/guides we hold in our hand that help us deliver the change every day.
FIREWORKS that Inspire: Frequent exposure to amazing ideas, people and learning experiences that provoke us to think bigger.
CAMPFIRES that Sustain: Year-round rituals that reinforce the right behaviours and keep the conversation going after the fireworks have faded.
I still use these as the foundation of my current work, although recently I’ve expanded on it to embrace more detail and nuance to form a more rounded version of a Creative Ladder ‘System’ (!) I apply with clients. I may write about this in more detail in future articles.
As usual if you’re considering building your own Creative Ladder System from scratch or looking to evolve/improve your existing one, get in touch for a no obligation Zoom chat. Til the next time…