For many creatives, the desire to create a truly impactful and culturally meaningful piece of work can, for better or for worse, come to dominate the entire creative process.
Key to any project is of course perspective, and there are certain anchor points that a work should not drift too far away from before it becomes in danger of losing it.
VMLY&R creative director Dayoung Yun opens up about how she handles the creative process and lays out key areas to focus on to ensure that a project remains grounded.
“Once a brand becomes irrelevant, that’s the death of it.”
For Yun, having a clearly defined point of view trumps all else. If you don’t, she says, “You just blend in, it’s as if you’ve got nothing new to say.
“You’ve got to have a clear point of view so that people know who you are. It’s really critical – as a creative tool, it’s a must have!”
A distinctive identity and strength of direction are also recurring themes for Yun, who highlights that creatives losing sight of a brief’s roots risk their project facing total irrelevance.
“You will get ignored. No one will pay attention to you. Even if by chance, someone does pay attention to you, they’ll quickly forget you. As a brand, you’ve got to stand out, you’ve got to mean something. Once a brand becomes irrelevant, that’s the death of it.”
Yun also points to the need for brands to have unique identifiers, allowing customers to build mental associations with the creative, setting it apart from the crowd.
Customers currently have more choice than ever before and will simply block out uninspired and uninteresting pieces of work – creatives must cut through the constant noise of daily life to truly make a mark.
“The reason a piece works is because it’s able to become top of mind,” Yun continues. “It must create an emotional connection, and creativity is key in driving that.”
“It wasn’t about the data, we just did what we believed in.”
When discussing her creative process, Yun stresses the importance of retaining a human-centric approach as opposed to an impersonal, data-centric one. She says that by focusing solely on data, creatives can risk losing vital context that makes a work truly resonate with an audience.
VMLY&R’s recent campaign for the opening of Wendy’s Camden become a runaway viral success, largely driven by an acute awareness of the importance of context and how the creative would be seen within its environment.
It's up to you to decide which Wendy will be the face of our new Camden restaurant. Comment below to vote.
A) PUNK
B) BOUFFANT QUIFF
C) EMO pic.twitter.com/lYOxTEoQGu— Wendy's UK (@wendysuk) June 23, 2022
Drawing on Camden’s vibrant arts scene, Yun invited a local artist from the COAG collective to design a new logo for the branch, doing away with Wendy’s traditional pigtails in favour of a more ‘alternative’, Camden-style hairdo, allowing social media followers to choose between three options.
“We wanted to make sure we were inviting the community rather than just showing up and taking over another prime location. We had a clear point of view. We were story-telling, not product-selling. We were telling a clear human story.”
She continues: “It wasn’t about the data, we just did what we believed in. But then the data showed that people loved it when the brand behaves more as a human.”
Yun also talks about the vital role that innovation and pushing boundaries can play in taking a creative to the next level – for her, delusional positivity and the power of asking ‘what if’ are key.
It is this desire to push the envelope and engage in outside-the-box thinking that saw VMLY&R’s Wendy’s campaign become highly successful without relying on a wide variety of touchpoints.
“You wouldn’t think the client would let you mess around with their logo – it’s such an iconic identifier for Wendy’s. But we just thought: “Let’s see what happens”, and the client said: “Sure, if you believe in it, go for it!”
Although the campaign was just one small out-of-home project to begin with, it soon took hold on social media and the resulting PR activity meant that it became one of Wendy’s most successful store launches to date.
“It all came from a creative ‘What if?’” Yun explains. “We’re opening a store in Camden – so what if Wendy was born in Camden?”
what if we…. kissed outside the emo wendys? @Wendys pic.twitter.com/8Mwko14vwZ
— altpress (@AltPress) July 17, 2022
“Creativity works because it helps in building a brand… makes it memorable.”
In her twenty-plus years working as a creative at London-based agencies such as Mother and Pablo, Yun has amassed an impressive client list, working with the likes of Boots, Holland & Barret and Notonthehighstreet.com.
Now looking after the New Balance and Wendy’s accounts among others, Yun enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy in creating intensely personal, community-driven works which ultimately allow brands to connect more deeply with their customers.
“I love clients where it’s not just about the brand,” she says, stressing that the synergy between agency and client is crucial.
“You definitely need a client that is a collaborator and who can understand what we bring to the table and we very much respect [a brand’s] business problems – we’re not just chasing awards. We get that creativity only works because it helps build that brand.”
With recent research indicating that attention-grabbing ads are vital for a brand’s visibility, Yun points out that with more choice comes a shorter attention span.
“Advertising is so saturated, in every category – it’s never been more important to build strong brand identity and point of view, by forging genuine emotional connections,” she concludes.
“That’s what makes your business memorable. That’s what makes it mean something in people’s lives.”
