The Marketer’s world runs on ideas. You must have noticed that people are always looking for inspiration to come up with great campaigns. Searching for that “out of the box” idea while sitting in cubicles, writing thought leadership with Adolf Hitler running in their brains, that’s their boss probably. Also, many people start looking up as soon as they have to start thinking, that’s why most pigeon faeces is seen to drop on people’s foreheads. That doesn’t seem right, then how do you develop an idea?
Go back to the basics
Before an idea comes to your mind, a lot of other factors play their part, including the interpretation of information. Every time you struggle for an idea and call for heaven’s blessing to impress your clients or promote your brand, go back to the basics. Understanding the communication and the exact purpose of it will make you understand what needs to be said.
Each person looks at the world through a different lens. Some prefer ray bans, some devils like Prada, some have a number, therefore, not a choice. And that’s what makes each one’s thinking process unique. Your life and experiences have made you develop an idiosyncratic perspective that leads you to focus on a different aspect of the same problem. This is how unique solutions come to being.
Don’t look up, Look around!
The next step for developing an idea is to decide how to communicate it in a way that grabs attention. Here’s where you look for inspiration to do so. Just like solutions, inspiration is hidden inside your unique lens. The only thing is not only seeing through it but noticing. Ever look at a sculptor taking note of every movement of a human body to carve a figure. Every curve and bend needs to be captured in the mind to create a sculpture resembling it. A writer reads other works and picks up on the nuances of the world to weave the story. A photographer waits for the elements to align in the perfect way before capturing the moment. The common factor between them is noticing what all is going around.
To notice correctly, you will have to build your observation skills. Being aware of your surroundings, people, their habits, situations and reactions guide you to understanding behaviour. Once that happens you can decide how to present the communication for it to have the most impact.
Understand why you looked
While noticing certain aspects it will be clear to you that some elements, facts, colours, thoughts are more attractive to you, compared to others. This is because of your distinct personality and interest. Similarly, your audience also has a personality. They are individuals but certain traits bind the masses too. They get excited when India has a match against Pakistan, they became happy when Kurkure and Maggi didn’t have plastic in them. And, they probably thanked Netflix when it broke the taboo of only partying to celebrate the new year. That came as an unusual solution to the same problem, probably suggested by a binge-watcher for other binge-watchers. But this was possible only because the binge-watcher was looking through the lens of his spectacles and not the swimming goggles of a deep-sea diver.
Now, keep noticing!
Inspiration comes from observation and develops creativity. If you get into the habit of observing and noticing you will keep being inspired. Your mind and your perspective will keep being creative until and you will keep looking to get more ideas. This is because you can never know when an idea is going to strike. You could be sleeping and get inspiration in a dream. You could be talking to people when the light bulb in your brain suddenly sparks because of what they said. There is no set formula to get inspiration, that’s why the other thing drops from the sky when you stand under a tree. All you can do is keep looking, around!