No, this is not a superhero story.
Hey peeps, shall I call you mediums?
I’ve been struggling lately with creativity, kind of hard to deal with when your day to day job requires it. Is it just a momentary mental block? Is it something more? What is creativity anyway? Heads up! I’m not really going to answer these questions!
Are we born creative?
I think we’re not, creativity is acquired rather than innate. It’s something you develop not something you have. Do you remember when you were watching blockbuster superhero movies, or reading comic books?
Superheroes usually acquire their superpowers after some event that pushes their senses to their limit. That feeling of doing things on the brink of some tremendous realization or decisive moment (Not talking about you Superman, you’re not from earth).
When I envision creativity, I kind of see it as a superpower, not everyone has it but it is dormant inside each and every one of us. You might not be able to run as fast as Barry Allen, maybe your superpower is not being able to cross weird psychedelic and colourful dimensions like Dr Strange, but everyone has a superpower.
And it manifests in diverse ways, your creativity is not mine and they are not fueled in the same way. It might sound crazy but the only way for me to fuel mine is to talk to myself in a loud voice (Not crazy).
I try to imagine how a consumer would view a certain problem he’s facing, maybe he’s 45, he has kids, he lives in a village. To be able to get to that point, there’s one element missing.
You can have the fuel, the talent, but it’s not enough.
Yes, you need data, some piece of information, remember again superheroes, how were they able to defeat their foes? Through iteration, that process of try, fail, repeat. They get to know more about their adversary, discover what makes them tilt. Maybe it’s kryptonite, maybe it’s fire or ice but there is always some factor you can use to your advantage.
This advantage to me when thinking about a typical consumer and when trying to paint a picture of him or her (Yes, I assumed their gender, sorry) is the tension or problem they are facing.
What is it that could make them eventually see a concept and be like:
“Oh, this brand knows me”
This is how you can get to create that link between your creative idea and your consumer’s daily life. It’s not about saying that an idea is cool, innovative or amazingly well crafted visually or in terms of a the core concept. No, it’s all about the end user, viewer, consumer.
And I hope it will always be. The goal is to not be self-centered, the idea can not seem amazing to you, but if it is well perceived by your target audience then isn’t it all that you’d hope for?
Remember, you’re not the target.
So with that , I hope my creativity comes back knocking, and I hope yours is as shiny and bright as ever.
