(This post is part of Ferran Adria week. Don't know what that is? Inform yourself.)
Taste means everything in the restaurant and ad worlds. If you have it, great, with a little luck you're on your way to success. Without it, well, whew, you better develop some quickly. How? Well, this could be a pretty good place to start. I'm not saying I have all the answers. But there's worse places to learn from than the best restaurant in the world.
Understanding
What do you do? that's what this whole part's bout. Forget the buzzwords. Forget making yourself sound special. What is it that you do, exactly? Understanding this is where taste comes from. Because you can't do something if you don't know what it is you're supposed to be doing.
"The job of the cook has always been to change food physically: first to separate it from its natural environment, either himself or through the agency of a forager or farmer or the like--to uproot it, cut it down, pluck it, catch it, slaughter is; then shape it for further attention by peeling it, seeding it, gutting it, cutting it up, discarding its inedible or infectious portions then--and this is as good a definition of "cooking" as any--to alter its molecular structure, either through a process like drying, soaking, salting, smoking, or marinating (or through the actions of induced fermentation), or more commonly, especially in the modern age, through the application of heat; and finally to combine it with other, complimentary, foods and/or to add seasonings or flavorings to render it more palatable."
So the definition of cooking, what it is at its most essential elements, is simple. It's easy to understand and pretty much anyone who has put prepared food in their mouths could understand it.
But when that is interpreted by a master like Ferran. Someone who knows exactly what will work for what piece of food. (Or is willing to put in the time and effort to discover this.)
For advertising this boils down to how we treat different media—TV, print, digital, radio, out of home, et al—and tone—funny, somber, frenetic, et al. Essentially asking the question, "where is this going?" and "what feeling should it give off?" This may sound bland because it is the basics but the basics are important.
Knowing where an ad is running because a great TV ad might not translate all that well to print. (This isn't a problem. It's more about embodying the spirit of an across campaigns. Same way that a comic book movie might change after being adapted from the source material.) Striking the wrong tone, for the wrong reasons is obviously problematic.
Of course, as with Ferran above, advertising in any of these forms—made by the right people, the best people—works because they understand what ideas work where.
Defining
Taste is important obviously. (Understatement the century.) Even more important is figuring out how to distinguish good from bad, objectively speaking, and good from bad, subjectively speaking. Learning good and bad on a fundamental level is important because it informs your entire outlook on your work.
This was the theory of one of the original owners of El Bulli, Dr. Shilling. Juli Soler, general manager of the restaurant, said of Dr. Shilling:
"He told me his policy was to send or take the staff to tour restaurants around the continent--not just the ones he wanted to emulate, but also those that did things badly, so that his people could appreciate the difference."
Thankfully, in the world of advertising and today's society, this isn't an expensive task. You don't even need to leave your living room to get a global and local perspective on advertising. The highs and lows of the advertising industry are available on the myriad screens we surround ourselves with. (Though you might have to go online to find the best of it these days. Not just digital but you're not going to be able to see the hot new spot from Shanghai during an ad break on Comedy Central.)
Even if it makes you sick, like it makes me sick, to watch most of the work out there it's important to watch it to learn what not to do. the good stuff will find you, too, but it seems that is getting harder and harder to find. The best way to see really good advertising and really good advertising thinking, is to explore any of the resources that have compiled the best of the past. (And of course surround yourself with great entertainment: who we're truly competing with.)
The ad industry seems to be legendairly bad at this part. I can't tell you the reasons why. There's a lot of people out there who want work, and who want to make work. But so much of it comes out bad. Or bland. And the argument "well it's always been done this way" is like a restaurant saying pulling pre-made patties out of the freezer is the way it's always been done.
Developing
It's also about understanding the essential elements. The simplest form of something. Before we can transform it.
Around 1988 Ferran began to eat at a tiny restaurant in Roses (the city that was home to El Bulli) called Rafa. Rafa is, "build around a one-man open kitchen that turns out exquisite fish and shellfish perfectly cooked on a very hot stainless steel griddle with olive oil and salt. Period."
"When he runs out of fish--no--when he runs out of fish he thinks is fresh enough or good enough--he'll close, even if it's in the middle of the Saturday night dinner hour."
"Everything is cooked exactly the same way, and there's no garnish, no sauce, no lemon wedges--and no side dishes."
It was here that "Ferran discovered that the essence of a product, the purity of the ingredients, is the most important thing."
Purity. Seeing something at its simplest level (like the Labour Isn't Working poster from the UK) gives better understanding to something than any book of theory I've ever read. Because there is nothing to hide behind when things are simple. Once you understand these things, and what you're trying to do, you can start dissecting ideas, adding things, and coming up with something surprising.
Okay, taste. We get it.
So where does this leave us? Does it illuminate something for advertising? It should. And it's important because often times, early on in your career, it's your taste you're being hired for. Your ability to pick out a good and bad idea. And these are skills that only get more important as you go on. While a creative director might not have tastes you agree with this does not mean they are devoid of taste entirely.
All quotes taken from "Ferran: The Inside Story of El Bulli and the Man Who Reinvented Food."