Creative Juices. By the ounce or by the gallon?

The all important creativity. It's what separates the good stuff from the...well...not so good stuff. I've been a creative person working in the ad industry tooting the creative horn to get people to understand that it really is the quintessential element to the success of any communication piece. That being said, you can't have great creative without first having a solid strategy. They are two pees in a pod, they go together like peanut butter and jam, wine and cheese, Richard Simmons and tight shorts, you get the idea.

Creative ideas get people to engage. They provide reason for people to stop and take a moment out of their lives and listen, watch, touch, read and so on. The creative idea is the springboard that allows a brand to jump above the competition. Like a springboard eventually you will come back down but if the idea is executed properly it will have the momentum to jump back up again. The key to momentum is having a great idea that is relevant to your consumer and gives them reason to engage with it. No matter which channel you decide to use to execute (print, radio, TV, SMM, billboard, online) it has to be relevant and it has to be creative. Don't believe me? What was the last ad you saw or heard or interacted with today? Write it down. Who was it for? Now on your way home from work try to count how many ads you are exposed to. Chances are you will lose count about ten minutes in to it. But my point is this, you are being exposed to hundreds of ads a day and you are lucky if you remember just two of them. You will be really lucky if you come across one throughout the process of a week that you will really like and want to share. That's out of potentially thousands of ads. I call them ads but they could be any form of communication. Chances are the ones you really like, the ones that provide some sort of value to you are the most creative ones.

So why do companies continue to produce "mind garbage" stuff that is just filling the air and your life with uncreative, vanilla, middle of the road crap? Good question. Could be budget issues. Could be fear of offending someone. Could be stiff corporate Marketing Managers. It could be any number of reasons (everyone has one to add I'm sure) but regardless what they are if you're not being creative then you're not being as profitable as you could be.
With the advent of "social sharing" through the latest channels like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Foursquare and the countless other ways of connecting with people, the chance of having your brand skyrocket through the social stratosphere is enormous. That is, if you have a creative idea that is relevant to people.

Recently a friend of mine posted some really great examples of creative ideas. It doesn't have to be a mind blowing idea just a fun creative way to get people to engage. Take a look at these.

McDonalds Interactive Billboard

McDonalds billboard 2

These are really fun ideas that get people involved with the brand. Not to mention the thousands of people who will be inadvertently sharing the McDonalds logo with all their social network channels. It's strategic and creative. Is it a huge, life-altering idea? No. But it doesn't have to be. It needs to be simple, creative and relevant.

So the next time you're planning a communication piece, regardless of what it is, ask yourself this: Does it  tie back to the strategy? Is it a relevant message that my consumers will be open to? And is it CREATIVE!!!

Onwards and upwards my friends.

Cheers

Going up?

Advertising is like waiting for an elevator. Many people start their business and don’t advertise their brand. It’s like waiting for an elevator without pressing the button. Sure one might come along eventually but you never know when.

Such is true about the success of your business. If you don’t advertise it’s like not pressing the button. Sure you might eventually get some business but it is up to chance.

If you want to get more business, more sales and more market share you need to press the button. You need to advertise.

When you advertise you get people to come to you. Just like the button brings the elevator to you. Sounds simple right? Well it isn’t quite that simple.

Just like the elevator if you don’t know where you want to go the elevator won’t take you anywhere. If you go about advertising the wrong way or with companies that aren’t as experienced you could wind up going down instead of up.

Effective advertising starts with a strategy, one that is in line with your Marketing plan. If you don’t already have a marketing plan I can help you tailor one to your brand. If you already have one then I would suggest revisiting it. A marketing plan is organic, it lives and changes as does your company and the market place. It needs to be adjusted and revised to accommodate your growth.

Make sure your advertising is strategically aligned with your marketing objectives this will help you ensure your brand is going up instead of going down.

There is a common rule that most advertisers use when dealing with clients that may not be as educated on the industry and it goes something like this. There are three common requests that clients ask us for, I want it Cheap, I want it Fast and I want it to be Great.

As someone who has worked in some of the largest agencies across Canada and has run some of the smaller ones I can honestly say this holds true not matter what size of the agency or how big or small the client. The Triangle of needs is what I call it.

When a client requests something and asks for all three I tell them there are no such thing as unicorns or leprechauns and there's no such thing as getting everything that they ask for so pick two. If you want it Fast and Cheap then you're going to have to sacrifice Quality. If you want it Great and Fast chances are it won't be cheap.

You get the idea.

It's a great way of letting clients know that there are limitations to what can be pulled off within certain budgets and it allows us as advertisers to manage expectations properly.

It seems more and more that I hear of companies wanting to receive advertising services for cheaper rates. It’s important to know there is a fundamental difference between doing things cheap and doing things cost effective. The difference is strategy.

Sure you can have your neighbor's son as your designer and put out ads in your local publications for a cheap price. But if your strategy is to gain international reach and awareness then you are throwing your money away because you will never reach your goal.

Being strategic and creative will generate a winning combination for your dollars.

So press the button and start advertising but make sure you're strategic about it otherwise you could be heading to the basement.

Half Full or Half Empty??

What if you see both? What then? What if you see the positive side of only being half full and the positive side of only being half empty. Then what?? Is there possibly another category? Could it be possible that there are "pesimistoptimists" among us? I think I may be one. Being a libra I have a hard time making decisions anyway but often I find myself looking at things from all angles and trying to figure out the positive in each. Is it a lack of commitment or is it another category??

I can't decide.

The Olympics are here

Well it's been a while since I last posted anything. I'm in the process of building a new venture. Stayed tuned for that.
The Olympics are here and as I sit here watching the live torch relay passing through the soggy Vancouver streets I can't help but get sucked into the hype. I woke up this morning to the sound of helicopters buzzing over my condo at 6:30am as they followed the runner carrying the torch. I guess there is room on the bandwagon to get into the spirit of the Olympics. The crazy closures and millions of dollars being thrown around this city makes you feel like the recession is years behind us. But I can't help but feel like we will be paying for this one for a long time.
I'm actually going to go check out some of the free venues, that is, if I can find a way to get downtown. If you want to see all the stuff going on check this out.

Talk to you all soon

Holiday Gifts

Well I hope you had a great Christmas and are planning on ringing in the new year with friends and family. This post will be quick and fast so that I can get back to my time off. I came across this great site for all of you who may not have received that gift you were hoping for.

Have a great rest of your holidays and I will see you in the new year.

Cheers

Toshiba Space chair

I saw the recent ad/video that was created for Toshiba HD cameras. I like it. It's different as well as a new Guinness World Record. This is the true future of where advertising is going, creative executions that aren't hard sells. Ideas that get people involved and interested to want to find out more about a brand instead of being spoon fed some strategic jargon they care nothing about or don't understand.

The future of advertising isn't creating advertising. It's about creative ideas that come together to form a reason for people to be involved.

This is a cool idea.

Don't let the rain get you down

Starting a new venture can be and often is an immense challenge. There will be tough days and then there will be enormously tough days. The sunny and fun days are the icing on the cake and the motivators to keep you going, they get you through the rainy days.
Sometimes it seems like there may not be a light at the end of the tunnel but you have to believe in yourself, in your talents and in your vision. Anyone can get through the toughest of times, all you have to do is buckle down and push through it.
It is often said that the elements of success are 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. That's the truth. If you want it bad enough you will do what ever it takes to get it. If you're not willing to sacrifice what you have for what you want then you don't want it bad enough. Which could mean one of two things: either you don't really want it or you're lazy.
Being successful takes a lot of determination and follow through. Inspiration can be a powerful tool, you would be amazed at how far you can go on inspiration alone but at some point you need to switch gears and go from inspiration to implementation. That is where most people fail. They aren't willing to sweat and go with out to achieve success.
I use the metaphor of life is like a pendulum, if you want your life to swing into the successful side you first need it to swing on the sacrifice side. All through life it will continue to do this, it's called balance. The more effort you push it with determines how far it swings. If you put in a half assed effort you won't be too successful but if you push yourself hard enough and make enough sacrifices then you will be on swinging in success before you know it.
I read an article this morning from a fellow small agency owner, it was right on the money.
So no matter what you are doing, where you're working or what your goals are, go after it. If it was easy everyone would be doing it.

Have a great Monday.