True or False: a “big idea” always trumps “a smart tactic”?

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True or False: a “big idea” always trumps “a smart tactic”?

Creative

November 24, 2010 by Big Orange Slide

Please leave your response in the comments section below

12 Comments

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12 Comments on "True or False: a “big idea” always trumps “a smart tactic”?"

Jacoub Bondre
November 24, 2010 @ 10:55 am

False for two reasons.

First. One should never speak in absolutes.

Second. There are 3 components to any good campaign. Strategy, Idea, Execution. I truly believe that all three components can inform the others. In this model, then a tactic can, may not trump, but evolve the idea.
Tobin D
November 24, 2010 @ 11:06 am

Can you separate the two? What is a Big Idea without a tactic to achieve it?

I have a big idea every 3 seconds. It’s the tactics and execution that are really the rare, beautiful part of it all.
Sara Vinten
November 24, 2010 @ 11:12 am

I agree with Tobin. Big Ideas that don’t involve smart tactics are not really Big Ideas.
simon billing
November 24, 2010 @ 11:12 am

Perhaps the question is wrong: big ideas and tactics aren’t mutually exclusive (i.e. you can have a big idea for a tactical program).

Are you asking whether it’s better to spend intellectual and financial capital against broader, more strategic plans/executions than tactics?

Or whether sometimes a brilliant execution of something that was initially viewed as a tactic can actually become a more powerful and broadly relevant driver than was first envisioned.

Guess I agree with Jacoub – there are no absolutes.
simon billing
November 24, 2010 @ 11:18 am

There’s also the perennial question of definitions. You could argue that individual executional components of a plan (including each and every ad) are part of a series of tactics that combine to achieve a strategic objective.
Tweets that mention True or False: a “big idea” always trumps “a smart tactic”? « Big Orange Slide -- Topsy.com
November 24, 2010 @ 11:33 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Angie Kramer, miranda and Eric Floresca, Grip Limited. Grip Limited said: Slide Q of the Day: True or False: a “big idea” always trumps “a smart tactic”? http://bit.ly/eqTh0n Give us your answer in the comments! [...]
Jacoub Bondre
November 24, 2010 @ 11:50 am

There is a belief held by some in the industry that the “big idea” is the underlying tone, or thought that connects all the tactics together. And that this idea is key and central, and cannot be changed. If a tactic does not fit with this idea, then it should be tossed out.

I suppose the question should then be, should great tactics be thrown out to maintain the purity of the big idea, or should the big idea be flexible enough to be modified by a great tactic.

Another question could be, can you have a series of great tactics, with a weak underlying connecting idea, and still make a brilliant campaign?
Hayles
November 24, 2010 @ 3:35 pm

I’m not sure I like this question to begin with. Smart tactics are important. Big ideas are important. Sometimes a big idea IS a smart tactic (that’s what, for example, patents are).

You shouldn’t have to choose between execution and inspiration.
Jon Finkelstein
November 24, 2010 @ 6:46 pm

Hayles wins the prize.
Jacoub Bondre
November 25, 2010 @ 10:39 am

Give Hayles 25 silver dollars!
Dave
November 25, 2010 @ 12:54 pm

I’ve always hoped “big idea” would demand an insight, a consumer truth, to qualify as ‘big’. And that “smart tactic” would demand the same to meet the inferred requirements of ’smart’.

Only then do I feel like ideas AND tactics (born of that truth) tumble naturally onto the page. Only then can we all agree instantly that they ladder up and are worth investing in.

It’s when we neglect the uncovering of these truths that we stumble into the quagmire of whether my dad’s big idea can beat up your dad’s smart tactic.

Humble opinion.
Andrew
November 25, 2010 @ 7:07 pm

Age and Deceit always defeats Youth and Enthusiasm.

For this reason, a smart tactic can beat out a big idea. To execute a big idea you need a tactic.