You're rolling out a marketing campaign. Launching a product. Revitalizing your brand.
What's the big idea? Not to sound flippant, but you need one. Because without it, it's likely your campaign, product launch, or brand repositioning won't be memorable—or particularly effective.
"Today, it's economically crucial to create something that's beautiful, whimsical, or emotionally engaging," writes Daniel Pink in his influential book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future.
Whether you're just starting out or farther along in the creative process, ask yourself the essential question: What's the big idea?
If the answer requires you to think too hard or explain too much, the idea probably isn't there.
You can fix that.
Start with the big picture
"Seeing the big picture is fast becoming the killer app in business," writes Pink. We've moved out of the Information Age, according to Pink, and entered what he calls the "Conceptual Age."
Succeeding in this Conceptual Age, says Pink, requires "the capacity to detect patterns and opportunities, to create artistic and emotional beauty, to craft a satisfying narrative, and to combine seemingly unrelated ideas into something new."
It's good advice for marketers. Make sure your campaign has that all-important concept: a satisfying story, an emotional theme, a memorable tagline, an incredible image.
Welcome all contributors
Don't get cliquish or exclusive about who creates the big idea. It doesn't matter where it comes from. It just matters that it's there.
Get designers, writers, strategists, information architects, developers, publicists, business analysts, and customers working together. Connect the MBAs with the MFAs. Ask the attorneys to collaborate with the creatives. Pair the scientist with the art director—and see what happens.
It's certainly true that too many people working on an idea can be messy and cumbersome, but it can also open the door to wildly exciting possibilities. Start wide. Narrow it down later.
