Creativity: From Nebulous Notion to Meaningful Messaging

“Be creative.” This idea is nothing new and is tossed around the conference room like a hacky sack on a playground. While it can be difficult to wrap your mind around such an abstract notion, our friends at Bulldog Reporter have actually provided some helpful hints to get your proverbial creative juices flowing. Check out these tips from their latest webinar “PR Creativity: 5 Steps to Create Brilliant Campaigns that Generate Breakout Public Response.”

But why bother? The webinar pointed out that this attitude from clients and colleagues often stunts creative progress. However, creativity sells itself and raises profits since it resonates better with your audience. In fact, almost half of journalists feel that the pitches they receive are dull, meaning they are often ignored.

Well what lies at the heart of creativity, then? Content. Creative content should be easily shared, which is often where social media’s role comes into play. To be effectively creative, you need to put yourself in your audience’s shoes—examine your messages from their perspective and make sure that you are telling your story how they want to hear it, not how you want them to. Some good tactics to resonate with your audience are to incorporate humor and pop culture references whenever applicable. Use images and be as visual as possible.

Surely there is a method to this madness, right? Well, Bulldog Reporter recommends a good old fashioned brainstorming session. But believe it or not, there are best practices involved in something that seems so simple.

• Create a schedule and stick to priorities
• Appoint a session leader and a scribe
•  Prepare a session brief
• Absolutely no phones allowed

The webinar also provided a handy acronym to help keep you on track: NOODLE.

• Nail down results
• Outline responsibilities
• Organize environment
• Describe situation
• Lead brainstorm
• Evaluate ideas

So the next time someone casually suggests that your team should “be more creative,” combat those baffled looks with these strategies. Don’t let dull and boring plague your materials—step outside your corporate box and take cues from your surrounding culture to help you devise ideas that are truly relatable to your audience. If it makes you smile, chances are your audience will, too.

by Katie Bird