Thursday, February 28, 2008

Ideation Madness. Logic… or Magic?

4Ps B&M's Monojit Lahiri attempts a dip-stick in troubled, mysterious, unpredictable waters…

Another school of though throws up environment, ambience, atmosphere. It has to do with good people. A conducive setting is ideal for great creative advertising, a seductive aphrodisiac, the real stimuli. “Like-minded souls, bold, fearless, always poised for that astonishing creative leap do wonders for the adrenalin! Defines the basic difference between the morons, the living dead, the boring, predictable dodos from the ingenuous, innovative & intoxicating ideators!” says a free-wheeling, award-winning, hot-shot, young creative animal.

There are other “takes” too. While some feel it’s good to feel scared when in the throes of ideation “because it automatically saves you from falling into the trap of doing something that’s too pat, easy, predictable or soft”; others believe that “isolating the key idea is critical.” It comprises putting down everything you know about the product, then isolating it with the essence intact, giving it personality, projecting chemistry & making it look it fresh, new, exciting. Its not easy, but it can really be an mind-bending discovery into a whole new world of benefits, rewards and attributes… What about imagination?

Every time the word comes up, the mind races to evoke images of some of the iconic guru’s who powered those elusive magical, mystical windmills of the mind… right? Gurus like Newton, Da Vinci, Piccasso, Van Gogh, Michaelangelo, Darwin, Madam Curie, Shakespeare, Stephen Hawkins. However, the eminent social/ behavioral scientist, Jacob Bronowiski insists that “imagination is a human gift & to imagine is a characteristic, not just the fiefdom of poets painters artists & scientist, but everyone! Animals don’t possess imagination. It’s about discovering new connects between things not by deduction, but by that unpredictable blend of speculation and insight that scientists call induction, which like other forms of imagination, cannot be formalized.”

At the end of the day – in the ad domain – what distinguishes the outstanding, unique, memorable & hence effective from the mediocre, is being more “human” & less “addy.” Create communication that is not spectacular, but resonating & essential to the people addressed. The need is to be warm, believable, credible, conversational, basically human. It comes from the three simple attributes (often overlooked, ignored, neglected and devalued) that belong to all of us, but seldom touched upon with the right quantities of passion, purpose, power or perspective. These are observation, imagination and experience.

So, go for it guys. More wind beneath your wings. Your’s is the power & glory…

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