A builder in America was hired to demolish an old house, but he liked the house and decided instead to move it to some land he owned.
The land he owned was on the other side of town so, to avoid disruption, he’d have to move the house slowly round the outside of the town.
In America it’s not uncommon to see a house being moved slowly on the back of a massive lorry.
But because of disruption, he’d have to move the house at night and he’d have to lower power lines along the route.
He asked the public utilities co-ordinator what all this would cost.
He was told, as it was night work it meant charging for a full 8-hour-day, which would cost about $40,000.
He asked the co-ordinator if there was a cheaper way.
The co-ordinator said the cheapest and shortest route would be through the centre of town during daytime. This would only cost $4,000, but he’d never get permission to close the main street.
Well, the first step in solving a problem is to ask as many questions as possible before you settle on an answer. So he went to the town hall and spoke to the City Clerk in charge of planning.
He asked her if there was any possible way he could get permission to close the road running through the centre of town.
She said the only reason for that would be a parade, otherwise no way.
So he thought about it, then next day he came back again.
He said he wanted to have a LOCAL HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE parade and he needed a permit to close down the main street for it.
Americans love a parade, so permission was granted.
He had fly-posters put up all over town inviting everyone to join in. Then he covered his house with American flags.
The locals joined in the parade: the fire-brigade joined in, children in historic costumes, the football team, even police on motorbikes, and right in the middle of the parade was his house, moving slowly through the town.
His house was even awarded the prize for ‘The best float in the parade’.
He got his house moved to the other side of town for $4,000 instead of $40,000.
And that’s exactly the way to turn a problem into an opportunity. All by questioning the brief instead of accepting everyone’s first thought.
Accepting a brief without question is the lazy thing to do and it usually costs money.
In our case, the original brief we’re given is nearly always for advertising that looks like everyone else in the category.
It’s safe, it’s comfortable, it’s also invisible.
Just look at every car ad, every supermarket ad, every beer ad, every holiday ad.
Every ad looks like everyone else’s ad so it won’t stand out, it will just be more advertising for that entire category.
Because it won’t stand out it won’t get attention so it’s wasted money.
Accepting a brief without thinking is always a lazy thing to do.
As Robin Wight said: “We must question the brief the way a dog tugs at a piece of cloth. If the cloth is strong it will hold. If it’s weak it will come apart.”
Better that our thinking comes apart BEFORE we’ve spent the money.
Once we’ve spent the money it’s too late to question anything.
That’s what Americans call ‘20/20 hindsight’ and it’s not much use to anyone.