Being good v. Being damn good.

It's easy to write good ads.

You just write a hundred ads, and one of them is bound to be good.

When you come up with one of these, you revel in satisfaction and move on to the next campaign with a puffed chest.

Then you think you're a creative god and nothing can ever touch you. You submit the first idea you get for feedback. You know it's off brief, but you're a goddamn genius, man. You know what sells.

Boom, the client hates it, your boss hates it, and your coworker swoops in to save the day with a low-hanging fruit that wins an award.

Being damn good isn't about writing one good ad, it's about being consistently good. That means writing 100 ideas before the first creative brainstorm. It's about picking out the best of those 100 ads and producing something that makes everyone go 'Ah. Shit.'

Being damn good is damn hard.