BradAttitude

A great idea is as much context as it is content. The “where” and “with whom” you make something happen for a brand really matters; a great concept that gets lost in a crowd (or misses the crowd entirely) is useless.  You have to stand out. 

This was proven again earlier this week when we were working on a conference attendance program for a client.  The company is an industry leader, and the event is a major gathering of the digital and entertainment elite. 

We built a comprehensive campaign, filled with strategic social media activation and digital conversation.  We showcased the brand with a variety of smart and engaging widgets, updates, links, Tweets, hubs, data streams and Webcasts. 

But we needed more. 

We wanted to make sure our client stood out on the show floor; for them to connect, they needed to get noticed.  And in an ocean of flat screens, monitor walls and handhelds, the way to do that is to go low-tech and high-touch.  Be “awesomely analog.” 

So we integrated some old-school tradeshow tactics – themed face-to-face events, hourly contests, live sweepstakes – to create a brand experience that grabbed and held attention.  We used a distinctly non-tech approach to tap into the timeless human desire to connect, compete, play and laugh. 

Our awesomely analog additions rounded out the program and guaranteed our client high visibility at an important event.  Proof again that context is critical, and sometimes you go low to hit new heights. 

(For Karen and Joy)

Delivering good marketing ideas on demand can be draining.  And finding “just the right words” is more epic quest than jaunty scavenger hunt. 

Creativity is hard work.  Finding new ways to showcase a brand and engage an audience requires the ability to redefine and reshuffle, continuously dissecting and rebuilding points of view and points of connection.  The job is to manipulate the images in your head, excavating, disassembling and linking them in a way that redefines consumer realities.

It just makes sense, then, to refill the creative well from time to time.  It’s important to replenish the source.  The smart creative thinker takes full advantage of this imagination-jingling time of year when inspirational stimuli goes into blinking, blaring, pine-scented overdrive.

Holiday time is a gift to the idea maker in need of a recharge.  It’s a creativity feeding celebration of light and noise and unexpected perspectives.  Go out and feast your eyes, your ears and your imagination.

Where to look?  Some ideas, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas:

Store windows (large visions in miniature)

Decorated homes (because too much is sometimes just the right amount)

Kid’s art (where else would Santa ride a camel?)

Places of worship (soaring light, sacred and sublime)

In-store displays (big ideas in a tight space)

Holiday cards (who knew you could do that with glitter?)

Flashmob holiday videos (the power of community)

An empty park (a blanket of silence)

The holiday pageant (again with the glitter)

A blockbuster movie (bombastic and mind-blowing bigness)

The holiday table (pine cones meet Wedgwood)

Busy city street corner (stand still and drink it in)

Where else might you look?