Again, how this is handled varies with every project.  The treatment may be handed down by an advertising agency or in-house marketing team – and our job is to work out how it can be done and then make it happen.  Alternatively, we may be asked to put together a full creative treatment and design for the piece. Then we explain why we have evolved this concept and how it will work.  This is obviously a much more interactive way of working, as we effectively become part your in-house creative team.

For some, coming up with a creative treatment is a take it or leave it stamp of genius.  At CLAi we recognize that there are many ways to catch a mouse, and there is no perfect mousetrap… there are always alternatives, and the best solution – the most appropriate solution – is usually one which is evolved with a client, and fine tuned all the way up to the point at which we move into production.

It’s why we often don’t participate in multi-pitch contests where we are asked to provide a creative treatment, schedule and budget. At the end of the day the loser in these is always the client, as every participant is guessing at what is needed and making up schedules and budgets. We would rather a client chooses a partner based on their compatibility and ability to work within a reasonable budget.  Then we can design a one off solution that will work, rather than buying into some canned treatment #3 that sounds good but far too often doesn’t actually achieve anything!