Advertising by Design, 3rd Edition

9

THINKING CREATIVELY

Creative thinking is the ability to imagine beyond the ordinary, to be original, innovative, and think differently while being strategic. People who think creatively recognize commonalities, visualize metaphorically, modify and elaborate imaginatively, and envision the unlikely.

Certain behaviors promote creative thinking, such as looking for connections, observing acutely, asking questions, anticipating problems, and being open to new ideas and methodologies.

People use the words “creative” and “imaginative” interchangeably, but they do have somewhat different meaning.

Creative commercials or films can offer a twist on normal relationships or on things as we know them to be. For example, an apple may appear to be the size of a room, or when people open their mouths garbled sounds emanate instead of words or song.

Imaginative commercials or films build worlds with their own rules or creations. For instance, characters in an imagined world ordinarily fly by their own powers or might live on clouds. Some people have magic powers and can use magic wands to cast spells. Imagination builds unique environments with unique characters.

TOOLS THAT STIMULATE CREATIVE THINKING

Social media presents great opportunities to connect to people. To create meaningful connections, we now need to behave more like improv actors.

Improv

The improv rules that have gone mainstream and that can help us build stories and connect in social media are as follows¹:

1. (Shut up and) ...