Earlier today, I was on a virtual kickoff call when an account manager asked a good question, “What’s our campaigns’ red thread?” I hate red threads.
If you were watching my tiny Zoom window at that moment, you saw my soul seep out of my chest, the way fog lilts across dark Ohio roads.
It’s not the question I object to. It’s the limp metaphor. The only red threads I’ve seen IRL are the frayed strands lacing up my worn Carhartt boots.
On the call, someone offered “nostalgia,” another tossed out “mischief,” and I think someone even said “flavor.” You can feel the group nod along as if we’ve said something meaningful. But I left with that same lingering, tepid taste in my mouth I get from a Walmart cheese tray. At least we’ll have bland leftovers for a week.
I find red threads loosely bundle ideas, but rarely do they add any value. So, let’s propose a new metaphor. I call it the golden nugget. It’s a small, glowing truth at the center of an idea, the human truth that motivates your marketing.
As the brainstorm lost its momentum and gave way to a more tactical conversation, I popped open the brief, digging for a nugget.
I scrolled through information like goals, audiences, and key messages the way I often scroll through Netflix looking for the perfect bingeable series. Eventually, I stop at our consumer insight. This truth should be rooted in data, yet it’s meant to inspire creative.
A good insight has the same skeleton as a decent character backstory. Both have a goal, something in the way, and an idea to resolve it. However, external tension alone can’t give a story meaning, the internal tension does. That’s motivation, the nugget I covet most.
Unfortunately, briefs commonly conflate the consumer’s wants with their needs, or contain barriers their product cannot possibly resolve. This brief was one of those.
When the call ended, no real nugget had been found. Not on the call, and not sitting neatly in the brief either. Mining for real insights takes depth of thought, more than most project timelines allow, or can be done on a 30 minute Zoom call.
Inevitably, this is my craft, digging around in the dirt for human truths. It’s hard work, but when I find these tiny pieces of gold, it’s as satisfying as when you purchase the perfect product.
Take my Carhartts, for example. I wanted a pair of boots that looked cool on a commercial shoot, because it feels good when someone notices your style, but I also needed something that could hold up to hard work. Not only do they look and perform great, those little side hooks make them easier to lace up and empower me to be lazy. Now I can keep my frayed red threads permanently knotted.
The aforementioned campaign hasn’t been pitched yet, and the team is still mining for nuggets. I’ll let you know if we find one that actually matters.
Warmly,
Kevin Scott McIntyre
