When Ronan Keating crooned his version of Overstreet and Schlitz’s schmaltzy classic, he probably wasn’t trying to evoke misty-eyed agreement from yours truly. Had he been, he would have failed. I don’t really like the song. Quite honestly, it just popped into my head a moment ago as a neat way of encapsulating the topic of this post. Such is the way of headlines – catchiness so often trumps incisiveness.

As it turns out (almost as if I planned it, dear reader) this rambling introduction also serves to introduce aforesaid theme; that too much information can be a dangerous thing. Or, at the very least, a confusing and wearying thing. As I imagine you’re beginning to appreciate…

As the world-class IC experts our website so confidently proclaim us to be, we get asked a lot of questions about the practicalities of communication. What’s the best way of doing X? How can we make Y more compelling? Is it at all possible to get Z done in the next hour if I send you a chocolate rabbit? (The most popular answer to the final question, incidentally, is “Yes, but please don’t mention the chocolate rabbit in front of the creative team.”)

But it’s amazing how rarely anyone asks us whether they should do X, Y or Z at all.

“Eschew surplusage,” quipped Mark Twain. “Cut out the noise!” implore comms professionals. But, time and again, we’re told by employees at companies of all shapes and sizes that they’re bombarded with too many contradictory/irrelevant/plain silly messages.

So, the people doing the communicating understand that less is more. And, in turn, the people being communicated to say they’re being overwhelmed. But still the machine continues to grind out more and more strategies, visions, frameworks, manifestos, initiatives, schemes and critical updates like a demonic press with an MBA and a proclivity for contrived acronyms.

Is it all just a sign of the times? We live in the much-vaunted Information Age, after all. For thousands of years we were stymied by an inability to get our hands on what we needed to know. For instance, the World Cup victory in 1966 wasn’t celebrated in Yorkshire until 1971 (okay, that’s not true). But what was then a drought is now a deluge.

Within seconds, I can now discover exactly how many No.1 UK hits my idol Ronan scored during his illustrious career. Six with Boyzone, three as a solo artist, if you’re interested. I’m certainly not. And that’s kind of the point. Information has no intrinsic value beyond how it can be usefully applied. Knowledge sharing is a vital component of modern business – but that is not the same thing as simply disseminating information as widely as possible.

I won’t pretend there’s an easy answer. One of the biggest gripes you’ll hear from employees is “I’m never told what’s going on.” The other is “I’m drowning in irrelevant information.” Delightfully perverse, isn’t it? To slide the cigarette paper between the two, you need the power to say ‘No’. Everyone thinks their message is vital – but someone needs to take a step back and decide what’s relevant to whom and bin the rest.

Of course, you could always ask us. We’re independent and we like to think we can be pretty brave when we need to be. Our outside perspective coupled with your business insights will allow us to prune your overgrown comms plan into a beautiful bonsai. And just imagine the thrill of approaching an agency with some billable work only for them to say you’re better off saving your money.

I feel a song coming on…

When I was asked to write a blog entry, I put it upon myself to develop the first idea that came into my head. Then, like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, it occurred to me: the first idea had already been in my head. My first idea was first ideas. I want to write something that examines the first-thought-best-thought school of, erm…thought. In a sense, this entry is as much an experiment as it is a treatise. Strap on your word goggles.

So, where to start? How about with a quote? I’ve just found this one by a Mr Albert Einstein:

“If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

Of course, we can see evidence of Albert putting this into practice in the fantastic biopic ‘Young Einstein’. Here, Albert invents both the electric guitar and adds bubbles to beer. He’s also Australian. Who knew? Anyway, he’s got a point. Not to mark myself as some crazy maverick, but the underlying thought behind this entry is a little ‘out there’ – and I think it’s going pretty well. Hello?

On reflection, Einstein’s rule has little to do with what I’m writing about. He’s merely referring to a good idea, not a first idea. I’ve always said he was overrated.

Let’s try again. After another in-depth research session (half-arsed Google search) I’ve found something with a semblance of relevance. Something to do with Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. He actually came up with the phrase ‘first thought, best thought’ – he penned (or probably typed) a poem of the same name. He argues that the first thought represents a spontaneous, unfiltered articulation of the sub-conscious. It is, in his opinion, the purest form of expression; it cuts to the core of the artist.

Now, I dig what he’s saying…I do. Take a Jackson Pollock painting or even a modern pop song like ‘Umbrella’ by Rhianna; their beauty lies in their spontaneity – they were created in the moment. How else would repeating the meaningless “Ella…ellla…eh…eh” line over and over again seem like a good idea? It’s not. It just felt right at the time. But – and I’m teetering on making a point here – Ginsberg is talking about ART. He is not talking about advertising (and, to be fair, he doesn’t claim to be).

In artistic expression, you’re articulating a personal vision. Therefore, the purer the articulation – the closer it clings to that first intuitive thought – the better. And, to stay true to that, there can be little consideration for how others might interpret it. Once it’s out there, if some people don’t get it…well, that’s not your problem. They’re just imbeciles.

In advertising, the reverse is true: if your audience doesn’t get it, you’re the imbecile. It’s not a place for artistic expression – your job is to communicate the right message persuasively, so you simply can’t afford to deliver an arcane piece of work. That’s not to say you can’t create something weird, funny or beautiful. It just needs be weird, funny or beautiful in a way the right people will connect with.

Take the Cadbury ‘drumming-monkey’ ad. What might appear to be a flash of inspiration by some creative type assuming the lotus position in a blue-sky room is probably, in reality, the hundredth idea for the brief – an idea that’s been subjected to reams of research and market analysis (which, when you consider Phil Collins is the soundtrack, is a little scary). Looking spontaneous is not the same as being spontaneous, but that’s the trick good advertising pulls off.

Okay. I’ve made something resembling a point, right or wrong. What’s my word count? 592. That’s enough for a blog, isn’t it? Yeahhhh. Like my friend Rob wrote in his GCSE history essay: I could go on, but I’ve run out of time. And he got a B.

So, what are the findings from my little experiment?

First-thought-best-thought: a great starting point for artistic composition.

First-thought-best-thought: not a practical philosophy for advertising. Or, as it turns out, for blog entries. I’m having second thoughts…

Tom Brown is one of our merry band of Writers and is always up for a casual game of philosophical ping pong. He also recently ate sausages for all three meals of the day without realising it. Silly, greedy Tom.