You probably need them all.
When people find out that you're a "creative" type, they usually think you're off the wall. Nuts. Warped. Out of control. Temperamental. Moody. Irreverent. A couple pickles short of a full quart.

We admit it. "Creative types" have a reputation. And frankly, we're all those things. It comes with the territory. (Just give us some animal crackers and a rug and we'll settle right down.)

But think about it. Would you want us to be any other way? "Normal" people tend to look at things the same way as everyone else. "Creatives" look at the same thing as everyone else and see something different. It's what makes your work get noticed. The greatest sin we could commit against you as our client would be to produce work that goes unnoticed by your target audience.

Despite being a little nuts, we're also deadly serious about our work—your work. That's why there's a time-tested method to our madness. When we begin your next project, we'll ask some questions that might seem stupid. Why? Because out of those stupid questions come brilliant answers.

McCarthy Creative makes no assumptions. We hold nothing sacred when we start digging for the approach that will work. We challenge convention. We cringe at that deadly phrase that begins with "We've always... "

 


However, creativity for the sake of creativity is pointless.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of "creatives" who believe that all you have to be is creative. But at McCarthy Creative, we know that effective creative requires a lot more. Before we start any project, we define goals. Then, we'll ask three questions that we believe are the most important questions of all:
  1. What are you really selling?
  2. Who are you really selling to?
  3. What is the real value of what you are selling?
When the goals are set and those questions are answered, we go to work.

(By the way, no matter what your message might be, you're always selling something. It doesn't even have to come in a bag or a box.)

Now, we're not going to get into the whole process here. But while we're finding the best words, images, textures, music, themes, and such for you there's something else. We'll go back to our offices after our goals-and-questions meeting and also talk about
  • Unique value propositions
  • Neurolinguistics
  • Linear progression
  • Eye sweeps
  • Strategic positioning
  • Consistency
  • Preferred Sensory Metaphors
  • Audience characteristics
and stuff like that to give us a rationale for the creative we develop.

We don't want to use your time unnecessarily, so most of the creative process—the art and the science—will happen behind the scenes. For now, just understand that at McCarthy Creative, it is rocket science.