Tag Archives: Creativity

Advertising Hall of Fame Quotes – Part 3

Here’s the third in a multi-part series of various worth-remembering quotes which I believe you’ll find interesting and hopefully inspiring. Excerpted from the newsletter “Smart Brief” from the American Advertising Federation, these quotes are usually from a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Quote

21. And I have always believed that advertising has a powerful impact on our society. It not only influences public taste and conduct; it also helps shape society’s values.

— Liener Temerlin

22. Creativity is no longer about grabbing attention or raising consumer awareness. Its goal is to remind consumers about what is fundamental and gratifying about a brand.

— Peter A. Georgescu

23. Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.

— Bruce Barton

24. There is no such thing as a mass mind. The mass audience is made up of individuals, and good advertising is written always from one person to another. When it is aimed at millions, it rarely moves anyone.

— Fairfax Cone

25. Advertising is a non-moral force, like electricity, which not only illuminates but electrocutes. Its worth to civilization depends upon how it is used.

— J. Walter Thompson

26. Creativity is so delicate a flower that praise tends to make it bloom while discouragement often nips it at the bud.

— Alex Osborn

27. An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.

— William Bernbach

28. Rules are for people who don’t know what to do.

— Keith Reinhard

29. There is not some absolutely revolutionary model that somehow produces the best work. The core principle is still a battle between what’s relevant and what’s not.

— David Droga

30. When we are too timid to risk failure, we reduce the opportunities to succeed. And we eliminate the chance to learn.

— Keith Reinhard

So, which one or ones is/are your favorite(s)? Lemme know.

Advertising Hall of Fame Quotes – Part 2

Here’s another in a multi-part series of various worth-remembering quotes which I believe you’ll find interesting and hopefully inspiring. Excerpted from the newsletter “Smart Brief” from the American Advertising Federation, these quotes are usually from a member of the Advertising Hall of Fame.

Get ready to chuckle, and, I hope, remember.

q-curly-double

11. Know what the client wants, know what the client needs, and know how to cause the client to want what the client needs.

— Keith Reinhard

12. The good ideas are all hammered out in agony by individuals, not spewed out by groups.

— Charles Brower

13. The three ingredients of effective advertising are relevance, originality and impact, the initials of which spell out what clients most desire: ROI.

— Keith Reinhard

14. Anyone who thinks that people can be fooled or pushed around has an inaccurate and pretty low estimate of people — and he won’t do very well in advertising.

— Leo Burnett

15. Creativity varies inversely with the number of cooks involved in the broth.

— Bernice Fitz-Gibbon

16. When you are through changing, you are through.

— Bruce Barton

17. There are two kinds of men who don’t amount to much: those who can’t do what they are told and those who can do nothing else.

— Cyrus H. K. Curtis

18. You must make the product interesting, not just make the ad different. And that’s what too many of the copywriters in the U.S. today don’t yet understand.

— Rosser Reeves

19. Advertising is the ability to sense, interpret … to put the very heart throbs of a business into type, paper and ink.

— Leo Burnett

20. An important idea not communicated persuasively is like having no idea at all.

— William Bernbach

So, which one or ones is/are your favorite(s)? Lemme know.

A TED Talk: Does Education Kill Creativity?

During a recent presentation I gave on creativity to the American Advertising Federation Rio Grande Valley, the question of education came up with respect to how it deals with creativity in a child’s life. The opinions were mixed. I referenced a TED talk from some years ago by Sir Ken Robinson in which he talks about this. I’ve posted it here for my brethren in the Valley and others who may not ever have seen this.

It is by far one of the most gripping and entertaining talks I have ever heard. Though he has several more on the TED YouTube channel, take a listen. It’ll make you think. But, do more than that. Act. Speak up. Don’t let our children be short-changed.

After all, we have plenty of crayons!

GE’s attempt to “creaturefy” scary ideas – not bad!

Ideas can scare the hell out of people. They can denote change if they’re adopted.

Too many times we’re not even given the time to explore generating new ideas. Yet, we seem to be constantly trying to evolve and innovate. Hmmmm, last time I checked, one needed ideas to do that. At least one.

This is the third in a series of four related blog posts I referenced in my recent presentation to the AAF Rio Grande Valley. It pertains to ideas and how people react to them. It’s not always receptive especially since ideas are not always welcome.

Hats of to GE for this innovative commercial about ideas and their surprising effects on people. It’s actually been airing since 2014 but I just noticed it a few months ago, and again recently. Good for them to continue the campaign.

The first time I saw it, I really wasn’t sure what I was watching. The more I watched, the more intrigued I got. It still “gets” me in an unnerving kind of way. Several times I just wanted to go “yuck” to myself, but then felt guilty about wanting to do so.

For those who haven’t seen it or who might have missed it, here’s what a scary idea could look like. Next time you come across one, you might give it a bit more respect than one normally would.

 

Creativity as a Problem Solver

During my recent presentation on creativity and creative thinking to the AAF Rio Grande Valley, I referenced using creativity to help solve problems. No matter how cutesy an ad looks or what kind of special effects one uses, if a problem does not get closer to being solved, the process is not doing any good.

The following video is one I suggested that interestingly addresses how creativity helps solve problems. It’s an excerpt from this year’s Aspen Ideas Festival, where a group of people who work in media, design, and the arts were asked about how the creative process can lend itself to unlocking solutions.

 

Kick Starting Creativity in the Rio Grande

I recently had the honor and pleasure to present “Kick Starting Creativity Without Screwing Up the Idea” to the American Advertising Federation Rio Grande Valley. As with my other presentations in this series, I did some fine-tuning with this version.

I was last in the Valley before this same group back in 2008. The landscape and development may have changed (more of it) but the people have not – still friendly, wonderful, courteous . . . and, of course, creative!

Those of you who were in the audience can, hopefully, enjoy it again and get some useful tips. Those of you who did not experience it that day, may learn a few things. Naturally, what follows is just the visual and not, unfortunately, the experience itself.

Kick-Starting Creativity Without Screwing Up the Idea

Keynote version (no audio)

PDF version (no audio)

 

Kick Starting Creativity: A Presentation to AAF – Central Texas

Last Friday, August 7, 2015, I had the pleasure of speaking at the professional development luncheon of the American Advertising Federation of Central Texas in Temple, Texas. My topic was a fun one to present, “Kick Starting Creativity: Ye Olde Creativity Survival Kit.”

Joe Fournet stresses a point in his Kick Starting Creativity presentation at American Advertising Federation of Central Texas.

I had presented a similar talk several years ago for both a chapter luncheon and a Creative Summit hosted by AAF Central Texas. Friday’s presentation was updated and included new items.

Although the audience was primarily made up of advertising and marketing professionals, “Kick Starting Creativity” centered on the way one thinks and applies one’s imagination. Thus, anyone can put these tips and techniques into practice. I like to say that we’re all creative; we just have different perspectives in how we apply our creativity.

“Kick Starting” was done in Keynote but the size of the file prevents me from uploading it here. I’ve included a PowerPoint version on SlideShare as another option. Here are three handouts referenced in the presentation along with the presentation itself, all in PDF:

Top Tips- Rev

HelpfulStuff – Rev

39 Ways to Kick-Start Creativity copy

Kick Starting Creativity – AAF Central Texas

Kick Starting Creativity – AAF Central Texas (PPT)

Could This Be the “iYacht”?

New Photos of Steve Jobs’ Yacht

American Luxury Magazine (from which you can view additional photos) recently sent out an e-newsletter featuring a variety of super-luxurious items. Among them was a select group of photographs featuring Steve Jobs’ yacht. Yet again, creativity and innovation done the Apple way.

A 256-foot yacht designed for the late Steve Jobs was captured in numerous photographs as it sailed in to the British Virgin Islands.

Steve Jobs Yacht

The yacht, called Venus, was designed by Philippe Starck. Jobs reportedly commissioned the building of the yacht after sailing on his friend Larry Ellison’s Yacht. The yacht was not finished until 2012, nearly a full year after Jobs’ passing.

The yacht has six bedrooms and features high-tech automation systems. The exterior is crafted from aluminum and steel and looks strikingly similar to an Apple product.

The yacht is now owned by Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs.

(Photo credit: Beth Colt, photographer and owner of Woods Hole Inn, @woodsholeinn on Instagram) 

So How Did They Make that Penguin so Realistic?

Okay, I admit it. I was captivated by the John Lewis Christmas commercial and wondered, “How’d they do that?!”

Creativity went behind the scenes to find out. I’m glad they did.

Love it or hate it, John Lewis’s Monty the Penguin holiday ad is an unstoppable seasonal juggernaut, with YouTube views now exceeding 17 million. One of the reasons for the appeal of the U.K. retailer’s ad is its realistic depiction of an Adelie penguin, created completely in CGI.

Behind the scenes of the making of Monty the Penguin

In this fascinating behind-the-scenes film from VFX house MPC, you can find out exactly how Monty was dreamed up, created and rendered. It’s full of interesting nuggets — for instance, Monty picks up the Lego bricks the way that real penguins pick up fish — as well as providing an insight into the film’s production, casting and more.

 

A Boy and His Penguin: Different Slant on Holiday Ads

When it comes to holiday TV ads, very few here in America have the emotional ring  to them compared to those in the U.K. Creativity magazine highlighted one such holiday ad and I thought it was appropriate to share on this blog.

According to Creativity, retailer John Lewis’ Christmas commercial — the most anticipated ad of the year in the U.K. calendar — is here, and you’d have to be a real Scrooge not to like it. It has all the elements of a winner: a wonderful child actor, a cute animal (the kid’s pet Adelie penguin, brought to life in amazing CGI by MPC) and a heartwarming twist. It’s the music, though — a cover of John Lennon’s “Real Love” sung by John Odell — that gives it that extra touch that might make you keep the Kleenex close.

John Lewis' Christmas ad, a boy and his penguin

Like the department store chain’s previous much-lauded efforts “The Long Wait” and “The Snowman,” the ad, by Adam & Eve/DDB, was directed by Dougal Wilson.

John Lewis is also launching an in-store experience featuring Monty, the penguin from the ad, in partnership with Samsung. Kids will be able to see their own favorite toys animated in 3D using Microsoft scanning technology in “Monty’s Magical Toy Machine” and interact with the characters from the ad in a virtual world with “Monty’s Goggles,” using Google Cardboard, an experience created by Stinkdigital. They’ll also able to create their own Monty Christmas card, and of course there will be Monty-inspired merchandise.