SCABs

Gartner – By @RobynHFrost

By Robyn Frost

 

Gartner

 

It seems everyone everywhere is trying to predict and analyse what’s hot and what’s not. This is particularly true of technology – and it’s rife in the SCA studio. With the Cannes Future Lions deadline looming, we’re digging to discover what our classmates haven’t.

 

It’s easy to get excited about the latest thing without really drilling down into whether it’s genius or just convoluted. Hype is fun, but it’s impractical when we lose sight of our goals and think micro.

 

Say ‘hey’ to Gartner’s Hype Cycle. It tracks tech over five stages, through time (see dull-looking diagram, sorry). But let’s sideline tech for just a sec and think about what’s hot, and what’s absolutely not, in the SCA studio. Here’s where our SCA ‘journey’ falls in the cycle. Thanks for the inspo, Gartner.

 

 

  1. Innovation Trigger

 

This is the home of opportunity, aka every single project. Insights are bobbing around, propositions are flying off the page and projects are waiting to be birthed. We’re bright eyed and feeling brilliant, ‘SO sorry I can’t see you this weekend, I’m just working SO HARD’, *feels smug*.

 

Potential?

 

We’ve got it.

 

Oh, and is that D&AD up ahead?

 

Bring it on.

 

  1. Peak of Inflated Expectations

 

Climb towards the summit and we’re at the Peak of Inflated Expectations. All the awards live here.

Chatter around D&AD has floated in the air since the summer. For a lot of us, particularly those from ‘arty’ backgrounds where D&AD is truly holy, winning a pencil is up there with getting a job (remember: inflated expectations).

 

We’re dreaming in yellow, white and black.

 

The reality was somewhat different – I’m with the party that loved it. I feed off the adrenaline that comes with the pressure. I totally love cracking an idea and running. Fast. Others didn’t love it quite so much, ‘it was such an ORDEAL’. Safe to say, it was an intense four weeks, and we’ve slipped slightly into the Trough of Disillusionment.

 

The same goes for portfolio briefs. We might love it to bits, only to find nobody understands it. Time to cull.

 

  1. Trough of Disillusionment

 

Interest is waning – the project’s dragging, we’re scamping off a proposition that doesn’t feed our fire, or we’re not scamping at all. We’ve come up with a better idea for D&AD, but our entry’s in and the deadline’s passed. Time to get out.

 

  1. Slope of Enlightenment

 

Hold the phone – IT LIVES!

 

So the idea is cool AF, and Alex Taylor didn’t rip up the posters. Oooh, and I spy more channels we can push out on (thanks Ann, you’re the best). But we’re still at the bottom and there’s a definite hill to climb. It’s time to seed the idea, let it grow, and give it a lot of love and watering. Let’s not forget the hard graft of craft if it’s going to make a dent.

 

  1. Plateau of Productivity

 

We’ve got the tools and we know how to use them. We’ve found 99 problems but a pitch ain’t one. We’re going to solve them all, armed with pics and words.

 

It’s time for the ideas to thrive.

 

Eyes on the prize*.

 

 

 

 

*Cream 2017 and a job in a top 10 agency, in case you’re curious. Apparently broadcasting your goals makes you make them happen.

 

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