The other day a reporter asked me for some quick “sidebar” tips on “how to be creative.” Here are three.
1. Whenever you get even the germ of an idea, write it down. You don’t need to know how you’ll use that idea; you’ll have plenty of time to figure that out later. But most people won’t bother to put an idea to paper unless they already know exactly how they’ll use it. Big mistake.
2. Don’t try to be creative. Focus on solving a problem. Creativity should not be the goal; it should be the means to an end.
3. When all else fails, go somewhere you’ve never been before. Anywhere, as long as it’s unfamiliar to you. As you react to new stimuli, you will be forced to think differently…which is a great shortcut to creative solutions.
There’s an old saying in psychology circles: “If you keep doing what you always do, you’ll keep getting what you always get. So if you want to get something new, do something different.”
That’s more than just a catchy pop psychology mantra. It’s true. If you want today’s journey to be completely different from yesterday’s, all you need to do is begin it from a different place.
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There’s creativity in commerical radio? really? where? maybe at the major market level, but anything below that seems to be cloned at other stations.
How many stations have the tired “battle of the sexes” contests or use the same positioning statements? A local station today decided to call themselves “we play anything” so on a whim, I type that into google, and came up with more then a few stations turning up with the statement.
The other factor, it’s just plain laziness.If it works in one market in the chain, it will work in another right?
The truth is, few stations are truly creative. why? because your audience isn’t creative. You cater to the LCD, you have to communicate them on their level. and most of the average joes are just that, average and boring,
and like today’s sitcoms, a lot of the good ideas have been done, and often beaten into the ground.
You also cannot risk going off the beat path when $$$$ is at stake. tried and true will always win.
It isn’t too bad though, listeners listen, stations make money selling time, and that’s what matters.