Advertising Information

Creativity and Getting Outside of the Box


Sitting in front of a blank piece of paper? Wondering where in the world to start? I have a suggestion. Turn the page upside down. Or better yet flip it over onto it's backside. Let it know who's boss. If your first idea is terrible, write it down anyway. If the next one is silly, redundant or stupid, write it down. Who knows, it may end up being a comedy direction and that first terrible line may end up being the punch line. You never know. You are jumping off a precipice into the unknown world of creativity and you need to be a leaf at the mercy of the wind or you will come crashing down with your fears in a ball flames every time.

Throw as much as you can against the wall and see what sticks. I own a jingle and music production company and I had an assignment to create a jingle, positioning statement (slogan), campaign for Petaluma Auto Plaza in Northern California. They have a huge electronic sign on Hwy 101 and we decided that this landmark was our key. So, what do you do with a big sign? It's huge and you can see it from everywhere. It's so big, it's like a monument. And what do you do with a monument? We decided to worship it. So I brought into the studio Jeannie Tracy (from Whitney Houston's band), a gospel singing Diva, to sing the following full-on hand clapping gospel jingle I SAW THE SIGN: "I was lost in the gloom of auto dealers and sales pitches, then I saw a light shining bright standing tall (Where to turn?)... I saw the sign (chorus answers 'I saw the sign') in Petaluma ('Petaluma Auto Plaza')" and on and on... If you'd like to hear it go to: http://soundad.com/sounds/ and click on Pet Auto Plaza. It's a smashingly successful campaign.

Sometimes "getting outside of the box" is about simplicity. I had a chain of camera stores in need of a jingle to brand their company name and a positioning statement (slogan) to bring people in. We did a market analysis and concluded that they were trying to reach two buyers: #1)Professional photographers who were developing their film. #2)New camera buyers who were serious about learning the craft. We came up with a simple line that appealed and spoke to both: WE DEVELOP PHOTOGRAPHERS

Creativity is not something I pull out of thin air. There is a process that I trust will lead me to something spectacular. I throw everything possible up against that wall without judgement or self criticism. If doubt creeps in, I throw doubt up against the wall. If I'm getting bored, I throw boredom against the wall and suddenly there is a humorous side that begins to appear. If I don't need humor, I throw it up against the wall and a new perspective opens up.

It's all good in the creative process and those of us who live it should honor it. It keeps us young because it's all about letting go, letting things flow and crawling outside of the box for a few moments.

Barry Volk - EzineArticles.com Expert Author

Barry Volk is a former producer/staff songwriter for ABC, MCA & Screen Gems-EMI Music Publishing, a 20th Century Fox solo recording artist, Musical Director for the West Coast Theater Company and National Director of Marketing for Metro Networks/Westwood One. His music production company, Barry Volk's Sound Advantage http://soundad.com, creates and produces musical identities and jingles for radio and TV advertisers worldwide from small market to national campaigns.


MORE RESOURCES:

Los Angeles Business Journal

US court upholds LA ban on billboards
Los Angeles Times, CA - 8 hours ago
The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower-court ruling, saying the city's 2002 prohibition of outdoor advertising does not violate a sign ...
Laurence Tribe Tangles with Los Angeles -- and Loses! LA Weekly
Rare Victory: Sign Company Slapped Down By Court Curbed
Appeals court upholds LA's billboard ban San Jose Mercury News
Los Angeles Times
all 34 news articles


Reuters

New York Times now offers front-page advertising
MarketWatch - Jan 5, 2009
"In 2006 we began testing ads on some section fronts and received a very positive response from the advertising community," said Denise Warren, ...
Video: Money Minute: Times Ads, Hyundai, Construction AssociatedPress
How much are those front-page Times ads? Reuters
NY Times debuts front-page ad; new revenue source The Associated Press
Adweek - Western Standard- Shotgun Blog
all 362 news articles


NAVTEQ LocationPoint Advertising Services Unveiled at CES
SYS-CON Media, NJ - 1 hour ago
NAVTEQ LocationPoint advertising units provide rich ad creative including calls to action like click to search, click to call, click to navigate and click ...


Recession raises stakes for Super Bowl advertising
guardian.co.uk, UK - 23 hours ago
"The Super Bowl remains this incredibly unique advertising opportunity because you get all this focus and all this attention and all the PR buzz around it," ...


Telegraph.co.uk

Time Warner to Report Loss After $25 Billion Charge
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
The shrinking US economy hurt advertising at the AOL and publishing units more than anticipated, the world’s largest media company said today in a statement ...
Time Warner now expects a loss BloggingStocks
Write-downs send Time Warner into red CITY A.M.
Time Warner Sees Loss for Year Wall Street Journal
All Things D Blogs - MarketWatch
all 520 news articles


BeliefNetworks, Inc. Launches AffinityAgent Advertising ...
MSNBC - Jan 6, 2009
Utilizing this technology, BeliefNetworks is able to help a variety of customers in the advertising and publishing world develop relevant ad concepts and ...


Dallas Pushes for More Video Board Advertising
MSNBC - Jan 6, 2009
The city council is looking to add more video advertising boards and told city staff that the five currently planned for Main Street are not enough. ...


New Zealand Herald

Iliad, France Telecom CEOs Press Senators to Cut Public TV Tax
Bloomberg - 8 hours ago
President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a 0.9 percent levy on the telecommunications companies’ sales to make up for lost revenue from an advertising ban on ...
Is Nicolas Sarkozy really trying to Berlusconise French TV? Telegraph.co.uk
Strikes greet Sarkozy's TV reform BBC News
French unions decry TV advertising change Forbes
World Socialist Web Site - Voice of America
all 133 news articles


Accuray Receives Prestigious Awards for 2008 Advertising Campaign
PR Newswire (press release), NY - 4 hours ago
The ADDY Awards, presented by the American Advertising Federation, is the world's largest advertising competition. With more than 60000 entries annually, ...


Gaming Alerts

Online Casino Crosses Advertising Standards Agency
Online Casino News, CT - 6 hours ago
... context of toughness, and linked it to excessive risk taking and reckless behaviour', said a spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). ...
Ladbrokes's online casino broke advertising rules Reuters UK
Ladbrokes TV ads banned for linking gambling to reckless behaviour guardian.co.uk
LADBROKES CRITICAL OF ASA RULING RecentPoker
The Press Association - Financial Times
all 28 news articles

Advertising - Google News

home | site map | Recommended Partner Sites
© 2008