Quicker, better, cooler
The rules of the game are different now
I’m in the middle of downloading 312 GB of footage for a client project and remembered that my username everywhere is @timforkindotcom — yet I haven’t posted here in a long time.
So here I am. Great to see you. Hope you’re doing well, motherfucker.
Sorry, that was a bit much. Don’t know why I wrote that.
Updates: I got engaged and married this year. We’re still crushing social for cool brands at Very Online Agency. Every Detroit sports team is good at the same time for the first time in my life.
Okay, onto The Value:
Recently I found this hip-hop/pop boy band called WHATMORE who used social to blow up their album release. They’re the new BROCKHAMPTON or something. I gave them a spin and liked their music a lot, so I googled them and found this Q&A.
One answer, to a question about how they build their songs in a five-person band, really stood out to me:
“I’ve written the most this year by like a mile. I feel like everyone across the board has just gotten so much quicker, better, cooler.”
Quicker. Better. Cooler. The results of their work and collaboration have made them quicker, better, and cooler… and they broke through.
And then I realized… this isn’t only true for music. It’s true for all forms of creative output — and especially social content.
Remember “Better, Faster, Cheaper?” The saying has been around forever, but I’m pretty sure I discovered it from this Garry Tan video. The idea is that you don’t need always need to be the first person to market, but you do need to be better, faster, or cheaper than the alternatives.
Being all three is extremely difficult. Most businesses are two, and that’s okay, but there are clear tradeoffs:
Better and faster = expensive
Better and cheaper = slower
Faster and cheaper = low quality
Companies like Amazon and Uber broke through because they took existing concepts and somehow made them better, faster, and cheaper.
For creatives, we’re optimizing for quicker, better, and cooler. This is the formula for breakthrough content.
QUICKER CONTENT
How fast can you get on a trend?
How can you make your workflows tight, repeatable, and efficient?
How can you form working relationships between creatives and clients that allow for content to get up ASAP?
When everyone understands the importance of organic content, how quickly your ideas go from concept to publish becomes a key differentiator. Moments come and go in a day.
I saw a brand post one of ultra ultra wide posts on Instagram last week. That trend was done in late September, which means it must have taken a full month to get approved by the brand. Tough look.
Being able to turn content around quick is always, always, always a good thing.
BETTER CONTENT
Do you actually understand your audience?
Are you showing effort? Is it clear you thought about this post for more than a second?
Are you making something worth sharing?
There have been a few moments in my lifetime where the willingness to post on the internet was enough.
We are not in one of those times.
Every single day the bar for ideas and execution gets higher. Everyone is using fancy cameras, everyone is extremely online, everyone knows how to edit well, and nobody has any shame.
Call it what you want — that is a fucking fantastic content idea.
COOLER CONTENT
Are you creating aspirational, memorable content?
Is it cool to know who you are?
Do you look the part?
Right now the cool, good-looking people are wearing baggy clothes. A few years ago everything was skin tight. Everything is cyclical.
The same is true in content.
Right now, brands producing well-polished content with expensive cameras, smart editing, and intentional design are winning. Effort is in. Two years ago, everything was shitty iPhone green screen or static memes.
We are constantly getting work for highly-produced social shows with real thought behind them. I just started working with a founder with access to the biggest names in sports — he wants to vlog his journey.
Haircare brands, mental performance apps, online colleges, career-focused creators… everyone wants to level up. Everybody wants content that makes them look cool.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
REAL HUSTLE & WORK
The financial backing and time to create content at scale
Aligned direction and clear trust between brand and creatives
The not-so-secret ingredient: TASTE
Quicker, better, cooler. If you could only choose two, which would it be?
Quicker and better content = brand looks nerdy, undesirable
Quicker and cooler content = posts lack substance
Better and cooler content = slow to make
Over the years my answer has changed a million times. I used to be super into low-leverage, high-performing stuff. As I’ve gotten older I really want to make stuff with some soul in it.
My vote goes to better and cooler.
Let me know what you choose.
Great to see you back!