Why creatives need some Iain Dowie inspired bouncebackability right now

Creative Moment kindly asked me to share a point of view on how brands, clients and agencies are coping, responding and managing to adjust to the unprecedented (yep said it) situation we all find ourselves in.

So I did what I tend to do when things go ‘a bit wonky’.

Take a moment to reflect and look to Iain Dowie for guidance.

Let’s talk about 'bouncebackability'

Here's some background for those not up to speed on their Championship football history.

The immortal line was delivered off the cuff by Iain ‘the philosopher’ Dowie when he was the manager of Crystal Palace during the 2003/04 season when describing how his team had escaped the bear trap of relegation in December, going on to win promotion through the play-offs in May.

A bonafide, gold standard football cliché, the Oxford English Dictionary has since chronicled it as ‘the capacity to recover quickly from a setback.’

Optimism

'Bouncebackability' is inherently optimistic.

It assumes survival, which is no mean feat in itself right now.

It also requires keeping one eye on the long-term, which is harder and more important than ever, whilst dealing with the today.

For the vast majority of us in the brand game, our 'bouncebackability' will be a direct result of the decisions we make and the work we put in now, not when this is all over.

We can't afford to just stop playing or simply hope to pick things up from before.

We need bespoke strategy, comms and most importantly creative thinking to ensure maximum bounce.

Inspiration

Clearly, there is no one single playbook or the ‘8 rules of bounce’ for 'bouncebackability' - ™ the book rights though.

But for a little inspiration take a look at the wonderful remote tourism campaign from the Faroe Islands, allowing us to not only dream of travel but almost experience it.