Many of us involved in marketing communications spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about concepts. By concepts I mean the overarching ideas we use to gain attention and hang a series of communications together. The big idea as some still call it.

In some ways this is a hangover from old school advertising campaigns. But for all that, some form of unifying idea still has value in our age of fragmentation. It offers a foundation that we can use to stay on track and gives what we do a focus that it often sorely needs.

The problem comes when the concept gets away from the core marketing objective. When it becomes the end rather than the means. This tends to happen when everyone involved falls in love with the idea. (The starting point usually comes just after someone says "Wouldn't it be cool if...?")

The result is that the concept begins to get in the way of effectiveness. It slows customers down as they spend more time figuring out the concept and less time doing what we want them to do.

It creates friction.

These days, expecting people to spend a luxurious amount of time exploring our sites, chasing down links, dwelling over every piece of content is something akin to delusional. Anything that prevents customers getting to value as quickly and easily as possible is an opportunity wasted.

So the next time you're assessing a potential concept, ask yourself: Will it help speed customers through the sales cycle or is it just friction?