Business Owner/Entrepreneur? Here is Where to Get Inspiration for Good Content

The world we are living in is a visual one. It seems that we pay less attention and take less time to read; the content monster of the social media world makes it even more difficult, so we prefer photos, videos, gifs, SnapChats — content that is more appealing. But the big question remains: how to create good content? Now, if that was an easy question to answer, we would see a smaller number of social media specialists, and I myself would have at least 1,000,000 followers, but I don’t have that and social media specialists are everywhere, so — how we can create good content?

I’m not a social media specialist, but I know what attracts my attention, thus I will share with you my perspective on where to get inspiration for good content: the arts.

Why the arts?

The arts include many types of “languages” or “visual speeches.” These “languages” can inspire and encourage us to express our own thoughts and ideas. How many times have you stood in front of a painting, seen a movie, or read a book and immediately had the urge to say something about it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? I imagine it probably happens to you from time to time. Why is it that everyone is so enthusiastic to see the Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel, or Las Meninas by Velasquez? Maybe it is because these artworks represent the greatness of humankind, maybe it is because they were and are inspiration for generations. No matter what the reason is, the outcome is the same: people are impressed, influenced, and excited, and in return, they share what they feel through their social media accounts.

What does it mean For Business?

The relations between art and business are deeper than what we can see. One example relates to an interesting trend we wrote about in the past: the rise of Artist-in-Residence programs in startups and large corporations. Why? Because bringing artists and art on board can inspire, encourage, provoke, and engage employees in fields not necessarily related to their day-to-day world. Furthermore, AIR or artist collaborations might provide you with the content you are looking for, which can influence your business results. Take, for example, the collaboration that took place between the Danish artist Michael Brammer and Volvo’s marketing department in Sweden, where he suggested that Volvo crash a car into a big red heart that would later fall into pieces — sounds crazy, no? His idea made some people at Volvo enthusiastic, disturbed some, and provoked some others, but one thing is certain — the Volvo Corporation received a lot of media attention. Now try to translate all the media coverage they got into financial terms. Can you imagine the difference?

Collaboration with art is not only good for content creation or marketing campaigns, but it also really affects your business innovation results. The influence of art-based training on innovation was tested by the Art of Science Learning organization in adolescents, and the study revealed a strong relationship between arts-based training and improved creativity skills and innovation outcomes. How strong? The innovation outputs of teams who had arts-based training showed 111% greater insight into the challenge, 74% greater ability to clearly identify a relevant problem, 43% improvement in problem solving, and 68% more impact. Steve Jobs is famous for saying:

“I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists … who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world.”

Art is not only good for improving innovation skills; it is also useful in improving your customers’ perception of your products. Three different studies conducted by Henrik Hagtvedt and Vanessa M. Patrick show that visual art has influence on consumers. Art has connotations of excellence, luxury, and sophistication that spill over to products with which the art is associated. The results revealed significantly higher product evaluations and perceptions of luxury when art was presented on products. Moreover, the results revealed that the presence of art favorably influences product evaluation when compared with a non-art image on identical content. “Consumers are constantly being bombarded by advertising messages, and the fact that something works despite the noise that exists in a retail environment is very valuable for marketers. Infusing art into products and services relies on the human ability to recognize the creativity and skill involved in artistic expression. It’s a universal phenomenon, and it stands out, even with all the stimuli competing for attention in contemporary society,” wrote Hagtvedt and Patrick.

Art, then, can improve innovation skills and products’ perceptions. It can provoke, stimulate, and encourage employees and managers; it can improve your products’ perception, and it can help in developing empathy and creating values. Having some second thoughts? Let us know info@theartian.com

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