Posts tagged "ideas"

Apparently when the Romans used the term Genius they referred to a disembodied thing that lived  in the walls of an artists studio. The artist was a channel for this being  and when their creativity bombed it took the heat, when they soared they were kept in their place by the assumption that they were part of this process but not the foundation for it.

I found this out via this little gem with Elizabeth Gilbert, a writer and loved her view on ego, creativity, struggle and the role of hard slog and luck.

As part of my development plan I recently attended an event celebrating Women’s Enterprise Day. ‘Rising to the challenge’ hosted a panel of award-winning women inventor-innovators sharing first hand experiences of overcoming the many challenges of getting a new product idea to market and establishing a young business.

Notebook in hand I was aiming to learn what it means to be innovative – what are the secrets behind it and indeed is there a set formula that can help us to ensure that our work is always as relevant and insightful as possible.

Speaking at the event were 4 successful inventors all well in the swing of marketing and production and on their way to what seemed to be a fairly common goal of making money! What interested me the most was the similarities in the principles and attitudes of these inventors to our industry. So what did I learn…?

The need to have an idea but to accept that it will evolve was potentially the rule that most resonated for me. Ideas – no matter how inspirational they may be, need to adapt and change and most importantly they need to be relevant to the end user. Without knowing your customer, what makes them tick and why they would be interested, your idea is likely to sink. Whilst these 4 inventors were unique in the way they described their experiences, they all had this understanding in common. They demonstrated a vast understanding of the market within which their product/idea sat and talked passionately about who their customer was and how they interacted with their product. Finally the importance of having a brand that wraps the idea and being a true advocate for the brand (with a small air of arrogance and belief) was something that I’m sure has guided their success.

Whilst I am still not convinced that I have a set formula in my armoury to help me to learn the art of innovation, I was certainly reassured that we too are doing something right…

All work is driven by ideas. For us, ideas drive numerous rounds of amends, spreadsheets, all-agency meetings and the odd product launch on a spinning boat in The Thames.

However, the value of these ideas is massively underestimated – it’s rare that agencies are paid on an idea basis. The reason? Ideas are an intangible asset. As vital as they are to business relationships, ideas can’t be easily measured. This is a pity, because great ideas take time to perfect. That lightbulb moment that tells us when an idea is worth shaping, is only the beginning.

I often realise the irony of the best ideas – stunning, clear thoughts received with surprise and delight – being the ones that take hours and amendments galore. But shaping ideas is surely more of a craft than generating them – so why don’t we like to admit that we spend time on the process?

I recently presented an prescription campaign which has taken us a few weeks to get to the standard we wanted, and mentioning this effort felt like an embarrassment. It was really difficult to admit to the challenge of delivering huge – not ad-big, but big idea-big – ideas. OK, it wasn’t a straightforward brief. But more than that, I suppose we fear that “the process” makes our ideas less pure, less special.

The truth is, marketing doesn’t often deconstruct stuff into a single grain of truth. We more often assemble and dissemble things into a desirable outcome. We often collaborate with each other in doing so.

Let’s not be ashamed of that. Let’s admit to the hard work of it, and be especially proud when it has taken several minds to get it right. Without wanting to hang on like a dog with a de Bono, I must add that ideas are never owned by one department. As a great art director once said to me: “Everyone should have an idea, or be able to make mine much better”.

We were interested in the Consistency over coherence debate recently posted on adliterate.com, which questions the importance of identity-driven communication. Should a brand repeat itself for the sake of recognisability?

Convention in healthcare communications says yes. HCPs lack time – the mental link must happen, and quickly. Consistency also makes sense when global visibility outranks the needs of diverse markets. Waning production budgets make this a fact of our industry.

Clearly we need to retain some consistency in our creative work, but brands can also capitalise on the much bigger premise of coherence. That means staying true to your message first, thus having more freedom in its execution. This brings meaning to brands – your materials and tactics don’t just strike a chord because they look the same, they resonate because they mean the same.

It works because your big idea becomes more than the sum of its parts. When we talk to doctors, why not be that much braver – who says they can’t put two and two together after all?

The real benefits of coherence lie in consumer marketing. New media has a lot to do with patient power. As people search wider for answers in healthcare, so we gain new ways to reach them. Our brand becomes a stream of conversations that evolves along with the community around it. Take a step back and you see how big and relevant the picture has become.

Agencies must face facts – the definition of integration has moved on. Let’s commit to bigger, braver thinking in healthcare with coherent strategies that everyone can profit from.