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I’ve been encouraging all my colleagues to watch TNT’s Trust Me series, Tuesdays at 10/9C. No, it’s not a totally faithful depiction of what we go through every day in our agency. But it hits home far more than it misses.

Like last night. When Mason and Conner pitched a new account, they shed the typical dog-and-pony routine and instead focused on the potential new client. They spent their allotted time not showing reels or slicks, but talking about the challenge and proposed solution.

It was a risky move. And at first they weren’t sure it would prove successful. They followed an agency pitch that pulled out all the stops. The bar was high.

Dare to be Different

Mason and Conner didn’t even try to jump it. They believed in their idea. And, in the end, their prospective client believed, too. He gave them more than his business. He thanked them for not wasting his time and for giving him exactly what he wanted: a simple concept that surprised him.

Bingo. It’s what good communication does. Distilling complicated arguments or product benefits down to their essence. Presenting a singular concept in an arresting, attention-getting, unanticipated way.

Today, we won a new account for very much the same reason. We’d recently responded to an RFP, and when defending our approach in person, we didn’t drag out all our best work or brag about all the Lucite back at the office. We talked about the client. Goals. Strategy.