Feeling ‘Boxed-in’ lately?
Beyond the ‘Creative’ label. Who are you?
Maybe an experienced Art Director, a seasoned Copywriter, one half of an award-winning Creative Team?
You know how to ‘cook’ fresh ideas for every brief , working with any audience, in any sector on every media.
Yet, some recruiters or headhunters will box your creativity into specific titles or stereotypes. ‘We need a ‘fanatic about football or fashion’ or fitting into certain media disciplines, gender, or age group. They’ll look at you as if you were a bunch of bananas, or apples or a piece of meat on a market stall …
‘A fiver, a fiver, fresh Creative for a fiver!!’
After a quick glance… ‘You’re not suitable’, they’ll say. If you hear from them at all, that is.
Yet, as an experienced Creative or Creative Team worth your salt, what defines you is your curiosity and skill to jump on any brief and shine, no matter what. At the drop of a hat, whatever the brief, the media, the audience.
That’s how it used to be… and it’s coming back.
Media vs. Creative Output: The Real Issue
Have you experienced #Media vs Creative ideas bias, within agencies?
Since 2000 #advertising has been slowly moving from creative ideas into ‘social media first’ . Younger and younger content creators and influencers are often prioritized over seasoned Creatives. ‘They get social media,’ ‘They use #TikTok, ‘They know their #algorithms’, you might hear.
Does this mean they can create, award-winning ideas and consistent astonishing results that build brands… that last?
Not surprisingly, I’ve heard client’s complain: ‘These results aren’t what we were promised.’
Hence, they walk away. Agency managers replace experienced staff with cheaper, less experienced hires. The cycle repeats itself. Focus on media, less so on ideas. Poor results. Back to square one, all over again. An agency owner friend of mine even said to me ‘My team don’t want to learn’. Oh, well.
Shifting the Focus Back to What Matters: Creative Ideas and Service
Imagine now, agencies focused back on delivering powerful, original creative ideas…. Whatever the media, the audience, the sector. Sounds crazy now? It’s all coming back. Have you heard of ‘Social Cooling’?
One of thew latest trends in society at large. #Adland should keep an eye. It reflects audience’s growing awareness and concern over privacy, mental health, and the addictive nature of social media platforms.
Why?
You and everyone around you look for deeper, more purpose-driven, more meaningful experiences, both online and offline. Even #Google have altered their algorithm to prioritise ‘people-first content’. Plastering endless hashtags all over to be seen and old SEO tricks? For Google, value driven original, memorable ideas and content is the new SEO magic sauce.
This shift is transforming how smart brands now think, and how they engage with users, with trust, value and transparency.
Why?… bottom line.
Brands care about results, about selling more. And if that means re-shaping their values, so be it. Adapt or die.
And who does really know about original ideas with ‘legs’, more than anyone? Shocking, funny, entertaining, informative or just amusing ideas, with value built in at the core? Ideas that build brands, and sustain them?
If you’ve been around long enough to tell the difference, that means you. You and other experienced creatives like you.
Why?
Because you’ve been ‘through the trenches’. and know your shit better that any recruiter will. You’re open-minded and tech savvy. You built the internet and created Social media. Remember the Cluetrain Manifesto? It was all there in big fancy letters. Now more relevant than ever!
Seasoned creatives like you can find inspiration under a stone or just looking a rain drop falling down your window. For you inspiration it’s all around. Then you go the extra mile.
You care about social changes, #AI and technology. You care care about global warming, politics, human rights abuses, genocide, hunger, social justice, music, local communities and the whole damn world. As Tony Cullingham once told me, ‘Become a sponge’. Soak up everything around you, from the mundane to the extraordinary. Then bring it all to inspire your ideas across everything you do. ‘Be a problem solver, entertain, inspire, do everything but bore.’
The Potential of Creative Problem Solvers
You too know that at the core, ideas mean solving problems. And the good news? Today you have countless opportunities to make an impact. More than ever!
Leaving an advertising agency doesn’t mean the end of your creative career. Far from it.
Think like a producer!
Engage your network, team up. Your ability to think outside the box, to communicate and to inspire is precisely what the world needs right now. Someone is waiting out there for your ideas!
Remember, if you don’t create your own narrative, others will.
Here, a helper…
Have you heard of the Eureka Programme and it funding rounds? Despite Brexit, you still have access to EU funding for innovative projects and fresh ideas. Yes, you do!
In fact, if your creative problem-solving spark is till going, the upcoming Proposers Brokerage Day on 18th September in London, could be perfect for you.
I’ll be there with two of my own: Block4Bricks and IntelligeniePlus.
Block4Bricks is a gamified war-bond platform to rebuild war-stricken areas, like Ukraine or Gaza and natural disaster-stricken areas, using #Minecraft.
InteliGeniePlus is a new AI platfom which combine several programs to create endless, highly tailored, specialist GPT Genies with personal training and consulting. All designed to help you tackle ANY challenge.
Want your own Genie? Message me directly. So far I’ve created 50 GPT Genies, for others just like you, creatives, professionals, start-ups, brand and more. Intrigued? Check it all out here.
Ready to Take off Again: Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full?
Looking forward, how does you glass look like? If you’re unsure, maybe it’s time to explore new opportunities.
Harness the right tools that can support your unique skillset. Why let your creativity be confined by outdated expectations or someone else’s labelling system? Recruiters or headhunters don’t return your calls as they used? Get your own AI Headhunter Genie. My #1 TopTalent Tracker’ GPT works just for you, your specific needs and goals. It’s always there for you 24/7.
Embrace a new way to open more opportunities just for you. Nurture them. Let them take you places you never thought possible, until now.
Alternatively, join Robert Campbells #TheSilverAcademy.
Just found about it today. Superb initiative from one of adland’s top chaps.
He’s now joined #AI as well. Some people say ‘AI is scary’. To them I say, we only fear what we don’t know. Time to learn then. Embrace the fear and make it work for you. Own it!
Keeping an open mind
Can you see the glass half full too now?
Ready to redefine what it means to be creative? Join us at The Proposer’s Day in London and message me if you’d like to know more about #IntelieGeniePlus and how it all works. Have any questions or challenges that you’re not sure how to address?
Tell me in a sentence or two and I’ll create you a tailored, highly specialist #GPTGenie just for you. In exchange for a fair and honest feedback, this is totally free this week before launch.
Get richer answers just for you, on the spot.
Then explore how your creative skills can go beyond the ‘Creative’ label and make a real #impact, with your re-discovered superpowers.
Just because you can💪🏻🦾💪🏽💪
