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When creativity becomes social: one person’s journey

Published by Creative Corner on March 22, 2012.

Written by Nikki Mazur

What do my fitness routine, recipes, wardrobe, and home décor all have in common? They’re inspired by the latest social media sensation known as Pinterest. In exploring what Pinterest is, I’ll explain how it creatively inspires me and share the results of that inspiration.

Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. To start “pinning,” you must first request an invite from the folks at Pinterest. Once you’ve registered at their Web site you’ll be contacted (anywhere from one hour to one week later) and invited to begin reviewing boards and pinning your own boards.

How it works

Pinboards are organized in ways completely up to you. For instance, if you’re a foodie and enjoy a variety of recipes, you may first want to start by reviewing how other “pinners” organize their recipes on their own boards. You’d simply type the subject matter you’re referring to (recipes) into the search box and as many pins that pertain to that subject matter will pop up. The pin itself will provide only a snapshot (i.e. a picture and a brief description) of the recipe you’re looking for. For more detail click the pin, which will inevitably take you to the Web site that this recipe was originally found on. If you like the recipe enough you can “re-pin” the pin (recipe) to your own recipes board or you can go to a Web site that has your favorite recipes and pin those directly to your recipes board.

It’s relatively easy to teach yourself how to search, pin, and re-pin. In addition to sharing your pins and boards using Pinterest’s Web site, you can also sync your favorite pins to your Facebook and Twitter By using the additional social Web sites, like Pinterest, the world can begin sharing their favorite ideas, thoughts, and passions with each other.

New ways to enhance old passions

Through real-time sharing of pins on Pinterest I’ve found new ways to enhance my passions with more creativity.
One of my favorite activities is general fitness (I know – who actually likes working out?). I regularly go to a boot camp class three times a week. I’m the same as most people who find that a similar work out can often become monotonous and demotivating. After a couple days of searching different pins, I had discovered two new blogs: BodyRock.TV (http://www.bodyrock.tv/) and Blogilates (http://blogilates.com/). Each site offers a variety of 10-15 minute workouts for free. In using these free workouts I’ve been inspired to mix up my regular workout routine, which has remotivated me to continue my quest for fitness.

Every person that exercises also knows that workouts produce results only as good as what you put into your body. Being a Weight Watchers Lifetime member I’m constantly searching for new and healthy ways to cook. Pinterest is by far the most fun way to find new recipes, especially healthy ones! Through Pinterest, my kitchen has become a new canvas for food. I’ve tried new dinners and lunches, but by far the most creative recipes have been my attempts at new desserts! Whether you’re a Weight Watchers member, a vegetarian, a vegan or an overall foodie, Pinterest will inspire you to make over your kitchen and your palette.

Create new passions

My (p)interests don’t stop there. I’ve purchased material for a makeshift headboard based on a bedroom idea a pinner posted. I’m going to get my hair cut based on a style another pinner shared. Even my spring wardrobe was inspired by outfits others have recommended on their boards. Simply put, because of Pinterest my passions have been inspired to creatively give the many facets of my life a makeover.

Categories: Marketing trends and best practices
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creative_corner

Concept testing blues

Published by Creative Corner on March 14, 2012.

Written by Peter Comber

It seems to me that the testing of creative concepts is becoming counter-productive. I don’t object to concept testing per se, I find it very valuable and when possible I personally attend, sitting behind the mirror in a dark room, listening and attentive to body language. What gets me down are the expectations and therefore the utilisation of qualitative testing of advertising concepts. It should not be the final, unquestionable verdict on which concept is chosen. It should be used as a very valid tool in the process of development, refinement and selection of the most appropriate concept.

Over a quarter of a decade I’ve attended hundreds of hours of research and I know that the majority of people express a preference for ideas that don’t challenge their opinions or views very much. Unless the objective is to reinforce the status quo, I find it troublesome that the preferences of a focus group are used as the means to identify which concept to run. Advertising exists to change beliefs and consequently behaviors, by default it challenges current opinions.

Therefore the idea that obtains the most preferences is one of the ideas that challenges the least and is least likely to change anything. An advertising concept should convey what we can be, not what we are. Methods concern me, too. For example, nobody will ever convince me that showing the visual and the verbal part of a concept separately is a good idea. It’s like telling a joke starting with the punch line. The two are conceived as a single entity, when executed properly they compliment and complete each other, so separately their meaning changes. By the time you’ve shown and discussed the two in isolation, showing them together will not elicit an honest, spontaneous emotional reaction to the overall communication.

Yes, an emotional reaction. That’s what we should be looking for, that’s what we really need to understand through testing, because without emotion, advertising is not advertising it is only information. Advertising is persuasion through repetition. Persuasion requires emotion and repetition requires time, we should not let a useful tool for generating insights become a filter that regularly eliminates the ideas with the most potential to drive change.

Categories: New ideas and approaches
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creative_corner

Obstacles Can Sow the Seeds of Creativity

Published by Creative Corner on March 2, 2012.

Written by Bob Nasal

Creativity is vital in our business. That’s not news. Another fact of life in our business is constraints—whether it’s from the FDA, clients or end-users. That’s also not news. And although sometimes we’re not thrilled with them, constraints simply reflect the necessities and realities of our industry.

I’m generalizing here, but I think that we typically look at constraints as obstacles that get in the way of our creativity. “How can I come up with something creative when I have to follow all of these rules?” “We could do something much more creative if only….” Sound familiar?

We say that what we really, really need in order to be creative is, in essence, a blank slate. No hindrances, no complications, nothing to get in our way. We long to allow our minds to work and soar freely without chains. Well, here’s a chance to reboot some of that thinking. A study published in the November 2011 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology appears to turn that view upside down. The study, led by Janina Marguc, looks at the effects of obstacles or constraints on people’s ability to be creative and solve problems.

Groups of people were confronted with a variety of puzzles, tests, and exercises. In each case, one group was subjected to distractions or obstacles while they performed their activities. A second group performed the same tasks without exposure to the distractions/barriers. The results, stated rather simply here, showed that the groups exposed to the obstacles demonstrated increased “perceptual scope” (broader, more-holistic views), increased flexibility in their use of conceptual categories, and better puzzle-solving outcomes than the groups not exposed to the obstacles. Notice anything special about these enhanced attributes? They’re all great tools to have in our creativity toolbox.

And the study also showed that the style of mental processing that uses these tools actually carries over to unrelated tasks. Wow—this borders on the magical—tools that work for us without our even having to think about them. The lesson? Well, as I see it, maybe it’s better to embrace the constraints and obstacles than to curse them. Accept them and don’t spend energy griping about them. Instead, work with them and around them and do it enthusiastically. They could be doing our creativity—and our company and our clients—a huge favor.

And if we really want to loosen up our thinking—should we consider intentionally adding more constraints/obstacles than already exist—to a job or project or campaign? Make it tougher, require more, raise the bar? Challenge ourselves to be even more creative and come up with a great solution rather than a good one. It seems that our brains are wired to help us perform better and move outside that box full of obstacles that could stifle us if we let it.

Categories: New ideas and approaches
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