Someone once said that creativity is taking tow opposing ideas and making them work together in a clever way–sounds easy, doesn’t it?

If you look at many creative ideas you can see that there is a twist on the norm–the inventor of the idea or art or piece of work was able to take a different mental pathway than what most others would. Is this a learned skill or are some people just born with creative aptitude?

This is the question the Global Shift Blog addresses in this post.

What do you think? Is creativity born or bred?

We had a wonderful visit with some clients last Friday to talk about Brandeli. Included in the group was a fellow affectionately referred to as ‘Gum Guy’ by one of his colleagues. Of course, Gum Guy isn’t his real name (it’s actually Stephen) but at the university where he works he’s become the ‘Gum Guy’ because he hands out packs of gum to the students that he encounters.

How did this begin? According to Stephen, he was too shy to talk to students when he first began his career, so he used gum as an ice breaker. Now it’s just a fun–and popular–conversation starter. As Stephen’s colleague pointed out the gum experience that Stephen brings with him is, “his brand”.

Do you have a brand like Stephen?  Tell us about it!

P.S. Thanks for the gum, Stephen!

Super Bowl 2010 is over and as the play-by-plays of the actual game continue in the media, so does the debate over the best (and worst) Super Bowl commercials. It’s amazing, but not really surprising, the response these million-dollar ads get every year. The ads are meant to evoke at least a response…if not a purchase of some kind. If the ads are not offensive to at least one group, we might wonder what went wrong for these companies and the ad agencies who produce the creative for them. Humor is the safest way to score an advertising touch down, and there’s plenty of that. But to really strike a chord, sometimes advertisements have to take a point of view, it may not be shared by eveyone, but it gets attention, makes us think, and raises a topic for conversation. In our minds, that’s the real value of this type of ’show piece’ advertising: fulfilling the need for communicating with many individuals representing of all sides of a story or issue.

There are many problems in the world. Some of them minor and temporary, like headaches, and some of them that seem almost impossible to resolve, such as global warming. Fortunately, there are usually multiple ideas available to help solve a single problem, although they may not necessarily be implemented. This theory holds true when we talk about marketing products and services.

To be successful, a product or service needs to solve a problem that is experienced by a large enough group of people (i.e. the target audience) to make it worthwhile (profitable) to develop it and sell it. If this is achieved by one organization, it is almost certain that competitors will try to gain some market share. Then it becomes a case of which solution is better, as determined by the customer base. May the best solution win.

By now many of us have heard about Domino Pizza’s new marketing campaign and maybe seen the TV ads or heard the radio spots. We must admit, the website featuring the Pizza Turnaround Documentary is pretty cute. And the strategy is a bold one–as bold as their new pizza sauce? The votes aren’t in yet. It will be interesting to see if this is enough to bring the pizza delivery market back to Dominos again. So check it out at http://www.pizzaturnaround.com/ and let us know what you think.

A final note…from our perspective this type of ‘consumer transparency’ campaign is cool, but the questions that come to our minds is: why did it take Dominos so long to improve (that’s subjective) their product. And secondly, how did the pricing strategy play into the equation?

Wake-up call to those who still don’t think its fair that they have to do something different to stay afloat. The world has changed. Don’t take our word for it, read:

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/what-every-marketer-needs-to-learn-from-groucho-marx.html

Don’t be offended. Be inspired.

As with most things in life, when it comes to making information or content available, balance is everything. Too little, or too much,  information can leave people frustrated or apathetic.

The trick to effective communication is to use just enough content to capture interest, state your case, and give a clear call to action. The end. Even if your copy/message is really well-written. Save it for later. Quit while you are ahead.

By breaking down your content into manageable pieces, you have a much greater chance of earning the opportunity to share a little more with your audience in the future. The moral of the story: more frequent bite-size chunks of content will provide more opportunities to engage your prospects than an overload of information ever will.

Practice finding your sweet spot when it comes to providing content for your audiences to digest. They will reward you in the long run.

Why does everyone think they are a marketer? Google this question and you’ll find: http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2009/05/the_value_of_a_marketer.html

Read it and you’ll have the answer to one of life’s great mysteries.

“Celebrate what you want to see more of,” advises management guru Tom Peters. Tomorrow is Friday…the perfect day for a celebratory pick-me-up at work. (Our Brandeli  team is going to celebrate a major new deployment that they have just completed. Ice cream all around!)

Why not celebrate with your own team? There are so many reasons to celebrate–and it doesn’t have to cost a lot: new customers, loyal customers, employee anniversaries or birthdays, jobs well done, major or minor project completion, a new logo, the arrival of a new team member, the fact that you belong to a viable organization!

While celebrating may at times seem hokey or trivial, the positive reinforcement sends a clear message: we’re celebrating X–because we want to see more of it!