10 Ways to Find a Creative “Idea”

Feeling good today. I delivered a great presentation on “How to break-free from the Creative-block” to a limited audience in Jeddah, and it was very well received. I felt good, because I too knew it went well.

Art directors, copywriters, creative directors – we all go through these moments when we run out of ideas and hit the brick wall. Once in a while, we run dry; we run out of “ideas.”

With a deadline imposed upon us, hovering above us like a huge dark cloud, we somehow tend to do something and escape the imminent embarrassment. In simple, we bullshit from time to time. The Client Servicing and the Clients are none the wiser – and since creativity is an art, no one can nail you for the “crime” you have just committed. (We are not only creative, we are clever too..!)

Deep down, we know the truth. We just wish that we had done something better.

But How?

I shared with my audience TEN closely-guarded industry secrets or 10 techniques rather, that empowered them with the knowledge to break-free from their creative-block next time when it strikes. Taking “Toyota RAV4” and its positioning (USP) as an example, I delivered a good presentation that even made the research guys think of “creativity in advertising” in a new light.

It just felt so good.

Which made me wonder if I should write a book on “10 ways to find a Creative Idea” or should I just become a creative trainer. Or perhaps its just a momentary emphatic feeling of achievement – I’ll know what to do with myself when I wake up in the morning.