I have noticed that a ‘golden window of selling’ might exist wherein campaign ideas have been more likely to sell through.
I conducted some research regarding when and how work was sold through. What I found was that the window was not dependent on how far in advance you were given a brief — most work was being sold at the same time.
The campaigns I worked on were briefed 600 to 120 days out, a staggering 80% of the work was sold just 90–120 days from launch — when production deadlines were close.
It is like college assignments, it’s impossible to finish an assignment until the night before when you have no other choice but to write. When the perception of choice of other creative options is on the table, it is very hard to make a decision.
This should affect how one can best set up their team to sell through work most efficiently. There are questions that need to be thought about:
Do you push back on getting briefed to early? Or do you hold the brief with strategy (an option that is cheaper than creatives working on it)? Do you put a junior creative team on it first?
If you’re interested in looking for a golden window on your account — track the initial brief date, the live date, and the email sign-off date for work clients have briefed you on.
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