In the creative field, I spend a lot of time trying to understand the “why” behind things around me. It’s in all the marketing books and is the question that drives most of what we do as an agency.
But lately, I’ve been a little more focused on “who.” Part of that is sharpening tools, part of it is just classic overanalyzing.
One of the more interesting ideas I’ve come across is the title of this blog. But not as a question with a definitive answer, but as a concept.
A lot of creative work isn’t built for anyone in particular, and sometimes it doesn’t have to be. But sometimes simply asking “who’s this for?” is the missing link.
LEAN INTO THE RESEARCH
Your gut instinct, while real-world educated, can only get you so far. Research has a way of keeping you honest. It’s a form of checks and balances that help move past assumptions to truly understand your audience.
Research can be the difference between something that sounds right and a message that inspires people to engage and act. The audience, their place in the marketing funnel, and context should be established before the first line is written.
Sometimes years of experience, gut instincts, or even old data are wrong. The line you like doesn’t land, or what was tried and true just doesn’t matter anymore. In today’s marketing landscape, audiences shift fast, and in ways that are often unpredictable and organic. Research can be a tool for validation of your gut or a method of course correction.
Not being right is uncomfortable, but if you’re open to pivots, research and tribal knowledge can often come together to craft a solution that’s actually built FOR the audience.
CREATIVE RESETS
Good work can be easy. Great creative can be messy (in the best ways). That’s usually the difference between completing a task and solving a problem.
“Good” can be a dangerous comfort zone where we start doing work for the wrong people. Too often, it’s done for ourselves, our boss, our boss’s boss, the agency, an award show, our client contact, or even what we think someone wants to see … and those motivators are usually wrong.
Sometimes messaging falls apart, alignment drifts, feedback gets fuzzy, or everyone in the room has a different opinion.
But the work has to get done. How do you reset and align?
Ask: “Who’s this for?”
It’s not just a question, it’s a concept. One that can realign, refocus, and reframe how people approach what’s in front of them.
KILL IDEAS, NOT SPIRITS
Creative work is personal. Directors, designers, writers, and even folks on the client side invest in creative outcomes.
Marketing can walk the fine line of being strategic and becoming self-serving – an extension of what people think it should be instead of what it needs to be.
When ideas are tied to ego, it gets harder to move on from them. Progress stalls, work lingers, and we find ourselves trying to make it work. Fill in whatever “square peg and a round hole” analogy works best for you here.
One of the best things that’s happened with our own EPIC marketing is a collective understanding that ideas can be abandoned without it being personal. We know who we’re talking to, we have defined our audiences, and we have established content pillars.
So when an idea doesn’t fit, it’s not a debate; it can be a swift, aligned, goal-oriented decision. Not because the idea is bad, but because it’s not right for the audience.
Because our job isn’t to protect ideas, it’s to protect outcomes—for ourselves and our clients.
RESPECTING THE GRIND
With everyone aligned, we move to messaging, where it can get even more complicated.
Our audiences are often complex and multi-layered, with nuances that become more tribal knowledge than hard and fast data. That said, reiterating what someone already knows, more importantly, feels, is a fine line. We’ve all seen or heard the ads:
“You didn’t choose the hard life—the hard life chooses people who can handle it.”
— OR —
“People like you don’t clock in, because sacrificing everything doesn’t have a timeframe.”
— OR —
“You’ve missed birthdays, skipped weekends, and pushed through. That’s why you’re the standard.”
Extreme? Yep. But conceptually, these messages are very real. Depressing? Yeah, even more so the more you read them.
These hit like a reminder of everything they’ve missed and sacrificed. And they don’t only feel it, they’re probably living it as they see or hear it.
Strong marketing doesn’t commiserate or sympathize, it respects the grind while bringing real value.
LAST SECTION, PROMISE
Whether research, strategy, concepting, messaging, or execution, the same question should always show up: Who’s this for?
Not as a box to be checked, but as a filter. Guardrails that keep work honest, teams aligned, and the creative focused.
When you know the answer, decisions are easier, concepts are sharper, and the work does exactly what it’s supposed to.
So, next time you’re stuck, ask yourself the question. The answer will tell you exactly what to do next.
Need to make sure your message hits with your audience? Let’s talk!
