ADOI Blog

U 2 Cannes Do

nick_morgan on 06 30, 2009

With all the focus now on Cannes and the enviable achievement of the winners, I thought it would be a good time to reflect with those who didn’t make the shortlist, and offer help via an exceptionally valuable technique.

The technique is an evaluation tool called RUM and it will help you determine whether your idea is an award winning idea.

Used by the best creative brains in the business RUM is an acronym for Relevant, Unexpected, Memorable. Try using it the next time you look through a creative showcase and you’ll see every great piece of work has RUM DNA at its core.

To start using RUM in your own work, first ask yourself is the idea relevant?

Relevant to the product, the brand, and/or consumer. I doubt many people would think it’s relevant to sell insurance to pensioners around the idea of getting a tattoo, or an idea based on a family getaway, targeting 17 year-olds. It doesn’t make sense, and in all probability should be avoided.

Then ask is the idea unexpected?

Is it new and unique, have you seen it before and in what context? Does it feel similar, familiar, or both? If you’ve seen something before that looks familiar then the chances are the award judges have also, and you will have wasted an awful lot of time as well as the sizable cost of entering.

If you’ve made it this far and ticked both the Relevancy and Unexpected boxes, and think the idea will be remembered in a year’s time than it’s plainly Memorable and you’ll have a winner!

I can’t emphasise enough, in the limited space available, just how important RUM is when you’re attempting to produce work that is unique and surprising.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say RUM is the single most important factor that defines all great advertising. And it wouldn’t be a mistake to add if the next work you produce is truly RUM then it will you walking away with the Lion next year, on that I haven’t a doubt.

Nick Morgan.

m. +44 7789221911

e. nick@creativedirector.co.nz

Nick is an ECD with 20 years industry experience, and a Cannes winner. He provides “in-house” training/mentorship and has inspired countless creatives to perform way beyond their own boundaries and expectations.

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