8.05 – Applying Creativity Everywhere In Your Business
A creative brief provides focus for projecting your brand value and competitive advantages in a marketing campaign, but creative thinking should extend beyond marketing. Creativity can and should guide product development and branding.
Creativity and Product Development
New products need to be innovative to stand out. Successful product development often requires a team approach, bringing together diverse perspectives from sales, marketing, manufacturing, and engineering. Involving team members, outside partners, suppliers, and customers from the start helps refine ideas and ensures buy-in, leading to faster approval processes.
When brainstorming new products, consider the needs of your target consumers and potential gaps in the market you can fill:
- Problem-Solving: What problem are you trying to solve?
- Improving Past Products: Which past products are you trying to improve?
- Filling Gaps: What’s missing in your product category that can make lives easier?
While creativity is essential, it must be balanced with practicality to avoid creating products that, although imaginative, do not appeal to consumers. Examples of product flops include Colgate’s frozen entrees, Clairol’s Touch of Yogurt shampoo, and Heinz’s coloured ketchup. Stay within your core product areas to maintain consumer connection and brand relevance.
Simple Ways to Spark New Ideas
Creativity isn’t a science; it stems from imagination, individuality, and a fresh perspective. Here are some strategies to engage your imagination and enhance your brand story and product appeal:
Seek Ways to Simplify
Can you explain your products or value proposition more simply? Can you reduce the amount of copy in an ad or on your website without losing the message? Shorter copy often works better, especially given the diminishing attention span of consumers today.
Make Fun of Yourself
Imagine how a late-night talk show host would describe your product or brand experience in their opening monologue. What stories or jokes might they tell about your brand? This exercise can inspire fun, attention-grabbing marketing campaigns or headlines.
Go Big, Then Small
Try communicating your message in a very small format, like a sticky note. This constraint forces you to clarify and codify your message. Conversely, think of statements for large formats like billboards. Changing the scale of your thinking can unleash hidden creative ideas.
Be Your Own Customer
Spend time in environments where your customers are, such as nightclubs, outdoor concerts, recreation centres, or restaurants. Observe their behaviour, language, clothing, and attitudes. Start conversations and take notes. Then, evaluate if your brand’s colours, words, language, and materials fit your targeted consumer’s energy and values.
Engage in Wishful Thinking
Wishful thinking is a brainstorming technique where all statements start with “I wish.” These statements often lead to useful ideas for advertising or other marketing communications. You can focus the activity by specifying a topic for the wishes.
Think in Analogies and Metaphors
Analogies and metaphors can inspire creativity. For example, insurance can be described as “peace of mind,” and healthy eating as a “ticket to healthy ageing.” Metaphors can quickly grab attention, while analogies help customers understand your product’s value in achieving long-term goals. Be cautious, though, as analogies can backfire if they are tasteless or offensive.
Play Pass-Along with Your Team
Pass-along is a collaborative game where each person adds to a line of thought on a sheet of paper. This exercise encourages free association and can reveal new aspects of a subject as participants build on each other’s ideas.
Engage in Rhyming Exercises
Ask your team to find words that rhyme with your company or brand name. This exercise can lead to creative ideas for jingles, videos, or ads. Research shows that rhyming text has a higher recall rate, making it an effective tool for marketing.
Relevance in Creativity
Creativity is essential for standing out among numerous ads and messages, but it must be relevant to your consumers at all touchpoints of the brand experience – from products to promotions, content, advertising, and service. Use creativity to capture attention and engage customers in memorable ways.
Your marketing themes can change from campaign to campaign, but your brand value and positioning statements should remain consistent. Ensure that any new themes introduced support and complement your overall brand message.
By applying these creative strategies throughout your business, you can enhance your product development, marketing campaigns, and overall brand experience, making your brand more engaging and relevant to your target audience.
