Creative Director // Content Maker // Brand Protagonist // Writer // Lateral Thinker // Raconteur // Art Director // New York + Asia-Pacific

Jan 1, 2016

New Year Thinking

Here we are, starting another year, and as with every New Year most people have made some resolutions to make changes in their lives. I have my checklist, and as usual it is ambitious on many levels, but I do love a challenge.

But aside from people wanting to start exercising more, eating better, and quitting bad habits, shouldn’t businesses, companies, and brands also be making some resolutions? And I’m not talking about more Donut Mondays or Casual Fridays to rally morale. What’s needed are some real changes to keep up with the times, technology, and constantly shifting consumer behavior. Many companies still operate like it’s 1950, or earlier.

As Tom Goodwin wrote back in March 2015 — “Uber, the world’s largest taxi company, owns no vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most popular media owner, creates no content. Alibaba, the most valuable retailer, has no inventory. And AirBnB, the world’s largest accommodation provider, owns no real estate.”

The taxi industry got blindsided by Uber, many of the biggest publishers didn’t foresee the impact Facebook would have, and hotels are taking a hit from AirBnB.

If you snooze, you lose. Now everyone has to think on his or her feet. Now, more than ever, we have to be proactive and not reactive.

We need to rethink how we think, act and work, how we generate ideas and how we can get them to market faster.

Way back in June 2011 (and it does feel like a long time ago), Rei Inamoto wrote a piece for Fast Company titled — WHY AD AGENCIES SHOULD ACT MORE LIKE TECH START UPS. (I’ll link it at the bottom of this post).

In it he wrote — “Telling stories is an important aspect of what we do but that alone is not going to get you much. We have to figure out how to enable stories. Put another way: In the 20th century, copywriters had film scripts hidden in their drawers. In this century, creatives should have product ideas ready to go.”

We need to act and think faster, that doesn’t mean that we sacrifice quality, it just means we get more ideas off pin boards on walls and out into the world. The tech start-ups excel at this. They launch in beta, get feedback from users and test and tweak and keep moving forward.

Twitter is no longer what it was when it launched, neither are Facebook, Instagram, and so on.

Too many layers and processes before even getting out into the marketplace are the boat anchors for new ideas and creativity. Instead of a five tiered wedding cake approach to bringing ideas to life, we need to aim for more of a simple single layered plain sponge cake approach, as in — here it is in its most basic form now let’s see what we can do with it.

We (and I am talking about those of us working in brand communications, advertising, and the like) need to change our ways. If we don’t I fear we run the risk of becoming redundant, brands will start to look elsewhere for the kind of thinking and ideas they need.

Complacency is the death of creativity.

Do I have all the answers? I wish I did, but alas, I’m not omnipotent. But I have some and I want to go looking for more. I want to try new ways of working, explore new methods of thinking, basically embark on a creative adventure and see what can be done.

It’s all too easy to write articles about change and what’s needed, I know because I am sitting on my sofa with a cup of tea in front of me writing this one. What we need is less talk and more action, some good old-fashioned risk taking, and bravery.

As Elvis sang — “A little less conversation, a little more action please.”

So now I’m in search of those who want to go on an adventure too, to see what can be created or re-invented by approaching things differently, I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking this way, at least I hope I’m not.

The next big ideas for a brand or a breakthrough new product could be right around the corner, or scribbled onto the back of a napkin at a coffee shop.

My vision for 2016 is to make it a year of change, something different, something challenging and exciting. And it starts now.

As the ancient Chinese philosopher and poet, Lao Tzu, wrote — “The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.” Well, I just took the first step.