A former creative director once told me, “Simple game. What are you selling and why should people buy it?”
He said it like it was obvious. It never is.
You can explain your product, shout its benefits, and justify why people “need” it… but most people aren’t listening.
It’s easy to sell bottled water to someone in hell. But that family of four in heaven with a fresh spring in their backyard? They’re not paying attention—until you give them a reason to.
That’s where the game becomes not so simple.
The mistake brands make is relying on good design alone.
Good design scratches the itch. Great creative creates the itch.
Good design sells to people already looking. Great creative sells to people who weren’t thinking about you at all.
I watched it happen in my own home. My wife walked into the room and said, “Istanbul is on the list.”
We’ve never once talked about Turkey. But one perfectly crafted Instagram reel made the idea irresistible.
That’s the itch. That’s great creative.
Simple game.
Volkswagen’s legendary “Think Small” campaign is the clearest example of how a simple, clean idea can cut through the noise.
In 1959, the car industry spoke loudly, expensively, and with endless chrome. Then VW and their ad agency, DDB, released a print ad that looked like someone forgot to finish it.
A tiny car in a sea of white.
A quiet headline.
No glamour.
No gloss.
No million-dollar production budget.
Just an idea. “Think Small.”
It whispered, and because it whispered, people leaned in to listen.
And it worked: market share rose, sales climbed, and Ad Age eventually named it the best campaign of the 20th century. Not because it was flashy, but because it was sharp, consistent, and repeated over time.
That's the part most brands forget.
We’re not just making print ads. We’re not just making 30-second spots.
We’re making everything:
Every piece is part of the same story. Every asset is another chapter. Every post is an opportunity to reinforce the creative message.
Great creative today is a message strong enough to live everywhere, and simple enough to survive the noise.
Because in today’s landscape, you don’t just deliver a message… you need to echo it.
The greatest enemy of great creative today?
Impatience.
Brands expect instant results. They launch a campaign and then two weeks later ask, “Why isn’t it viral yet?”
Given enough time, great creative builds. It compounds. It grows as the message repeats, aligns, and settles inthe collective mind.
“Think Small” didn’t transform Volkswagen in one day. It transformed them because they stayed with it. They trusted the simplicity. They invested in the consistency.
Platforms change. Attention spans shrink. Mediums disappear. Algorithms evolve.
But one truth remains:
Great creative is a simple, effective message, repeated consistently, across every channel, long enough to matter.
It pulls people in who weren’t listening.
It makes the uninterested interested.
It makes the distracted stop.
It turns, “I don’t need this,” into “I kind of want this,” into “Why am I suddenly googling flights to Istanbul?”
Simple game.