All You Need is a Good Idea!: How to Create Marketing Messages that Actually Get Results

Chapter 8. TAKING AN IDEA FROM NICE TO GOOD

As you write down your thoughts, even though you are not yet putting them in any definite order, several ideas will seem better than others. Others may not yet appear particularly good, but you believe there still may be some potential. The challenge is to make the idea as good as you can. The beauty, and one of the characteristics, of a good idea is that it takes on a life of its own.

It is what often happens when you write a short story or a play. Some character that you barely remember creating takes on a more and more important role, and actually starts to dominate the piece. And you sort of just sit back and watch and begin to feel more as if you are taking dictation from the character than creating. (This often happens with actors in television series. They start with a bit part and, thanks to chemistry, talent, and luck, their role gets expanded as the audience indicates it wants to see more of the character.)

That is what happens with a good idea. It does not, however, usually happen with a nice idea or a decent idea. Some ideas you may like initially because they seem comfortable and familiar, which is exactly the reason you should be careful.

I saw this happen early in my career, when we were working on a bear-shaped plastic jelly dispenser. The head of the production department, quite proudly, came up with a name for the product: "Mr. Jelly Belly." What ideas like Mr. Jelly Belly have is that they are nice, obvious, and unnoticed. ...