Business/marketing from the animation side of the fence

An acquaintance in my network asked me if I would contribute something to her website about marketing and business. I thought, 'Wow, that's a big world with seemingly infinite variables. What should I address that hasn’t been addressed a million times?' If there's any one thing I've learned when it comes to design, business, marketing and so on, it's that one should follow the "KISS" principle. This acronym breaks down like this:

Keep

It

Simple

Stupid

How does one “keep it simple?” This has a lot to do with understanding whatever idea it is you have. If your idea or business plan can't be explained in one simple, yet logical sentence than another person can easily understand, then it needs to be thought through some more. Other people aren't psychic and don't live in your head. Your idea could be the next "biggest thing" and it won't matter if you can't explain it well. Simplicity comes with thoroughly understanding your concept. This applies to more than just the creative/marketing field. It applies everywhere in human communication. Understanding leads to simplicity leads to ease of communication leads to understanding for those you're speaking to leads to more open doors for success.

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." - Albert Einstein

In the animation world, we have twelve principles that all animation uses to create the "illusion of life". One of them is “staging” and is defined as “the presentation of any idea so that it is completely and unmistakably clear”. When the shot or scene is being set up, the audience must be directed wherever the story needs it to go.  This is primarily accomplished by camera angle and lighting as well as color. A well staged movie, short film, video game, etc. will grab the audience’s attention and keep it there as the story or action plays out.  Engagement could be said to be THE big goal for any production.

Marketing and business are very similar. These fields merely use different ways of achieving the same goal. Engagement is a word tossed around on the Internet of what a business needs to succeed.  This magic ‘engagement’ could be called the end of the KISS process.  Let’s look at how it’s all connected:

1 – the Big idea

2 – working out the idea mentally and doing whatever necessary research to thoroughly understand this Big idea

3 – keen understanding of this idea leads to a simple, easy way to communicate it to another human being

4 – because the idea is so simple to understand and explain, the other person can now engage with the Big idea

5 – ease of engagement opens the door to buying or selling of the Big idea

See how it’s all connected? If there’s anywhere in this process that usually breaks down, it’s around step 2. Proper research takes time and dedication, which is often sacrificed in hopes of others suddenly understanding why the Big idea is THE Big idea and the promise of financial success. 

For your next Big idea, realize that it’s a journey, needs time and it needs nurturing so YOU can understand it, explain it in a simple sentence and then you can sell it! Only then will it have a chance to sell.