Notable quotables from the 2011 ANA Creativity Pre-Conference.
Here are six key takeaways that emerged for advertisers:
1. Collect, borrow and adapt
Marketing and innovation expert Steve Rivkin of Rivkin & Associates kicked off the afternoon with a credo for creativity as outlined in his book, IdeaWise: Collect, borrow, adapt. Quoting Thomas Edison, he said, “Your idea needs to be original only in its adaptation to the problem you are currently working on.”
The musical “West Side Story”? It’s a modern Romeo & Juliet. Ryanair? It’s a successful knockoff of Southwest Airlines. Rivkin says that he doesn’t diminish the copycats. Borrowing—and making something new that’s uniquely your own—is “an accepted part of the creative process.”
2. Combine ideas, processes and terms
Paul Simon, in writing “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” openly acknowledged that he combined a Bach chorale with a gospel tune to come up with his melody. “What could be combined in the creative process?”, Rivkin asked. “Think about how many products have succeeded because they’ve taken things we use and satisfy certain needs and wants, and [the product] brought them together for simplicity’s sake.” Examples: Colgate’s 2 in 1 Toothpaste & Mouthwash, Vitaminwater and BandAid bandages with antibiotic.
3. Embrace doubt
Paul Lavoie, co-founder and chairman of TAXI, didn’t mince words in his session. “Make doubt your b*tch,” he advised. “Sometimes when you don’t get a no; it’s a silent alarm. If you don’t get a lot of no’s, you might have an average idea.” And an average idea is not going to win business. Risk big, win big.
4. Think (differently) about how you see
“Be vigilant about perception,” said Brian Bomeisler, an artist and educator whose mother, Betty Edwards, authored the popular book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. During the pre-conference, he talked about the tyranny of symbols—how we tend to bring our everyday (and, sadly, average) associations to our creative work. When drawing or simply observing anything, he said, “See not the objects, but the spaces between the objects. See things in a different way, see different relationships, different angles and proportions.” Takeaway for advertisers: Be flexible. Don’t be afraid to be kooky. Change things up.
5. Emotion drives action
“Ninety-five percent of our actions are made on a non-conscious level,” said Yahoo! Vice President of Insights and Research Lauren Weinberg. It’s important to understand how people feel about an ad rather than just asking them. Biometrics—observing traits like movement, perspiration, heart rate and eyetracking—can be more helpful than simply asking subjects how they feel about an ad. Keep emotion in mind when you want customers to take action: Put the “Shop Now” button directly underneath that enticingly low price for the product for sale.
6. Throw conventional design wisdom out the window
Contrary to how we read (from left to right and top to bottom), movement on a webpage moves from right to left and middle to top. “Location is everything,” said Weinberg. “Align with the key action on the page,” she said, with key information just to the left of the log-in box. “Right-justify important text, images and logos.” Read the Yahoo! Study “Capitalizing on the Creative Canvas” for more tips.
