The old creative director soothes the young creator:

Rejection is cruel. Rejection hurts. Rejection sucks.

But, there is good news. Rejection is an illusion – if you choose to think that way. Any creative director worth his salt will tell you that bought ads face many obstacles and changes before they ever run. From clients with second thoughts to screw-ups or failures in production technology, very rarely does your ad or commercial end up the way you wanted it. There is always something that makes you frown or say, “If only…”

But… Any creative director wily enough to stick around knows that while clients may kill ads, clients also die, or move or switch jobs or just goes away. The ad lives on and waits for its “day”. Maybe with another client.

So, my children do not commit seppuku when the client puts a dagger in the back of your ad. Soon – one day – that client will go away. Or you will go away and your ad will live again. Also, do not get overly excited when your ad is bought. It’s a long way to Tipperary. Advice: three glasses of red wine each night and a loving spouse and don’t play your reel until it’s in the can.

Now, I remember one particular rejection in Los Angeles about 20 years ago on the Toyota account. The client killed a commercial about Corolla that showed zillion clowns coming out of the Corolla. We thought it was clear that this positioned the corolla as the new VW Beetle – the favorite import in the USA at that time. The client stabbed it dead. Why? The Japanese said, “Too many clowns. Corolla does not have that many seat belts.”

“What!” the creatives screamed to each other. “What?” Everybody knows that in the circus a VW beetle drives up and a million clowns jump out. Everybody knows that don’t they? Well, we know it. Obviously, this was part of our culture. But it was not a part of the Japanese culture. So the answer is “no”. Not everybody knows “that” whatever that is. The Japanese client didn’t and he killed the commercial. No amount of explanations after the fact was going to change that.

Our solution: we started creating social – economic – cultural statements about the commercials we wanted to present. We translated these to Japanese and circumspectly shared them with the Japanese clients about a week before the presentation. We rarely ever lost a commercial after that. Because the client did know what we were talking about.

Five years later, I started to work with the Chevrolet client in Detroit. This client turned down commercials with bizarre explanations. I found out that the Americans at Chevrolet didn’t know much more about American culture than did the Japanese at Toyota.

These clients worked hard every day – from 7 a.m. To 6 p.m. They never watched TV. They never had time to read a book. They never had time to go to a movie. They never went shopping (wife’s job). They never bought or serviced a car (company car). They never even went on vacation (they went on dealer trips where they were escorted). No wonder they didn’t recognize the movie plot or the popular song. They were working themselves to death and didn’t have time for life.

Our solution: a culture report just like the one we did for the Japanese. Only this time we did it on video – and it worked. In fact, it is one of the ways we sold the then avant-garde Heartbeat of America.

Some basic tactics I’ve learned over the years help avoid premature or peremptory rejection. First, creative people jealously guard their ideas thinking that if any part leaks out the whole idea will be ruined. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, grim faces and peremptory rejection often greet big surprises. The best way to sell an idea is to carefully massage the client with parts of it until the client believes it is his or her idea. Ask any politician; a bill that goes in for vote is a bill that will die. Games have to be played first.

Second, state the idea in one single declarative sentence. If you can’t do that, the client suspects you don’t have an idea.

Third, don’t show the client white space – or black. The back of the ad or storyboard is what most clients see while the creative person rambles on nervously about his pet project. Some clients hate this so much they reject ideas they might like and approve otherwise.

Fourth, once you’ve sold your idea, get out. Don’t leave time for rethinking. Never mind all the warm feelings in the room and the flush of success. Just get out and get to work producing it.

Fifth, and finally, when you present your client the finished product, use the simple tactics that helped you sell it. Pre-sell. After the pre-sell, give a simple declarative sentence describing the idea. Show the rough layout or storyboard quickly and simply. Play your spot three times at least. If it features music, play it five times minimum. Finally, when you finally have a sale, get out and get back to work or go get drunk. Familiarity breeds contempt.

If none of this works, get yourself a great account guy and tell him to sell it or don’t come back.

What happens to bought ads may be worse. Now that we have a sold ad, we have many parents: Clients who need to manage the process; directors who have their own opinions; actors who won’t read the lines; editors who pervert the story line; budgets that don’t cover the plan. But don’t worry, all of these geniuses will disappear when the final ad or spot fails.

One thing every young creative should keep in mind: rejection is an illusion. If you believe it, it’s true. If you believe in yourself and your work, it’s all-just a matter of time. Remember: it’s not your mother rejecting you. It’s not your girlfriend or boyfriend rejecting you. It’s not even the army rejecting you. It’s just a client – and he’s rejecting the work – for now.

And as we already know, “nothing that is ever bought runs; nothing that is ever killed dies”.