That's Rough

You've just presented a rough cut of your latest television ad when an executive begins asking questions that demonstrate he doesn't understand the concept of a rough cut.

"It isn't color corrected, the sound is uneven, effects are sometimes missing, and if there's music at all it's generally just a temporary track," says Ken Levine in a post at his eponymous blog. "[T]hese people are SUPPOSED TO KNOW it's a rough cut and that these imperfections will be smoothed out in post production." And yet this executive—who should know better—wants to know why your rough cut looks so amateurish and sloppy.

It's enough to make a marketer scream. But experiences like these make "Real Marketing Genius"—a viral video highlighted by Levine—even funnier. Riffing on Budweiser's snarky "Real Men of Genius" campaign, its narrator intones:

"Today we salute you, Miss I Don't Know How To View A Rough Cut Lady. You approach each rough cut viewing with the fresh eyes of a six-year-old child… with ADD. Even though you've been fully briefed, you still won't hesitate to throw in precious insight like 'We need V.O.' and 'We could use some music here.'"

When you must explain for the hundredth time that a rough cut is a work in progress, blow off some steam—and revive your Marketing Inspiration—by humming along to Real Marketing Genius.

More Inspiration:
Beth Harte: Ten Basic Steps To an Easy AND Effective Crisis Plan
Paul Dunay: Twitter Does Not Have an Out of Office Feature
Paul Barsch: Methods to Systematically Reduce Customer Choice

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