EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

“THE CAT IS ON THE MAT,” is not the story.

“THE CAT IS ON THE DOG’S MAT,” now that’s the
story.

Advetising is both art and science. The science of advertising is the

analyititcal part that we have been looking at up yo this point: setting
goals, deciding strategy, choosing among different creativity styles. Some
people call this step convergent thinking because the process is to distill
lots of information into the core advertising strategy.
What is it that adds sparkle and life to a well-planned and implemented
advertising campaign? It’s th ‘ah’ factor: that brilliantly simple,but inspired
creative edge.
In Advertising the world is flat. Agencies are structured on a linear basis.
Campaigns are created in linear formats. There are all kinds of rails and
fences and obstacles to keep creative thinking linear. Advertising is a big
business and ranks among the top industries in the world. The growth of
the top advertising industry in any country is in direct relation, its creative
senses and talents if the advertising professionals.
The word advertising is derived from the Latin word ‘adverto’, that means
“To turn towards”. Advertising leads to attention towards something i.e.
the advertising message, which is the purpose of advertising and the
objective of the advertising Creative Advertising starts with proper
creative planning. This includes the conceptualizing of basic ideas to

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their final implementation. The ideas are visualized considering basic
human motives.
Advertising is nothing but selling ideas. Creative thinking is the sound
ground where one can reap a rich harvest of ideas.
The creative part of advertising is what comes before the potential
customers and it is here that the fate of the campaign and consequently of
the product being sold could be decided.
Objective of the Project:
Creativity is something you cannot think of as ‘Let’s stop and be
creative’. You need to think of “Creativity” as a discipline, just like
‘Organization’, ‘commitments to results’, or ‘responsibility’. This project
tells us the importance of Creativity in Advertising as creativity demands
abundance. The foundation of creativity is in individual, and so the
techniques and methods discussed in this project are just mere tools to
enhance and liberate one’s creative skills.
So don’t confuse the menu with meal
It is observed that “Far too many people are leading their lives lie they’re
driving their cars with brakes on” this projects will enable you to know how
your foot is taken off that brake pedal.
Research Methodology:
The information is gathered from various sources like books, periodicals
and journals and sites.
Limitations:
Creativity is a gift most of us desire, but only a few seem to have. Project
report debunks some of the myths surrounding creativity and then
carefully takes through the five I’s of the creative process. It also gives the
insight of future creativity and the tools that can be helped to help

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advertising professionals to enhance and enliven their work.The subject of
creativity in advertising is something of an enigma. Project shows how
creative director in an ad agency goes ‘under the skin of creative’ to use it
to greater effect in their work and in wider aspects of their lives.

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 WHAT IS CREATIVITY

There are many definitions of creativity. A number of them suggest that

creativity is the generation of imaginative new ideas (Newell and Shaw
1972), involving a radical newness innovation or solution to a problem,
and a radical reformulation of problems. Other definitions propose that a
creative solution can simply integrate existing knowledge in a different
way.

Definitions of Creativity

There are many definitions of creativity; dictionaries give the following

meanings:

Heritage Illustrated Dictionary:

create: To cause to exist, Bring into being, Originate, To give rise to, Bring
about, Produce, To be first to portray and give character to a role or part
(appropriate to creating fictional characters and writing stories) creation:
An original product of human invention or imagination.
Creative: characterized by originality and expressiveness, imaginative

Macquarie Dictionary (an Australian dictionary)

Create: to evolve from one's one thought or imagination to make by

investing with new character or functions.

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Create: author, bring into being, compose, conceive, parent, form, give
rise to, and throw together

Creative: generative, ground-breaking, innovative, originate, handmade

According to Boden (1998), there are three main types of creativity,

involving different ways of generating the novel ideas:
• The “combinational” creativity that involves new combinations of
familiar ideas.
• The “exploratory” creativity that involves the generation of new
ideas by the
• Exploration of structured concepts.
• The “transformational” creativity that involves the transformation of
some dimension of the structure, so that new structures can be
generated

Other related words re: creativity:

Creativity creativeness, formativeness, innovation, inventiveness,

originality, productivity, craftsmanship, authorship, creatorship
"Being creative is seeing the same thing as everybody else but thinking of
something different"

There are many aspects to creativity, but one definition would include the
ability to take existing objects and combine them in different ways for new
purposes. For example, Gutenberg took the wine press and the die/punch
and produced a printing press. Thus, a simple definition of creativity is the
action of combining previously uncombined elements. From art, music and
invention to household chores, this is part of the nature of being creative.

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Another way of looking at creativity is as playing with the way things are
interrelated. Creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and
solutions to everyday problems and challenges.

Creativity involves the translation of our unique gifts, talents and vision
into an external reality that is new and useful. We must keep in mind that
creativity takes place unavoidably inside our own personal, social, and
cultural boundaries.

The more we define our creativity by identifying with specific sets of

values, meanings, beliefs and symbols, the more our creativity will be
focused and limited; the more we define our creativity by focusing on how
values, meanings, beliefs and symbols are formed, the greater the chance
that our creativity will become less restricted.

In the creative process there are always two different (but interrelated)
dimensions or levels of dynamics with which one can create:

• The system which may be a particular

medium (e.g. oil painting or a particular musical
form), or a particular process (like a problem
solving agenda, or an approach to creativity
like Synectics). The creative person
manipulates that means to a creative end. The
second dimension is described by the
conceptual "content" which the medium
describes. Again, the creative person depicts

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 changes, manipulates, and expresses
somehow the idea of that content.

There is no one definition of creativity that everyone can agree with.

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Creativity researchers, mostly from the field of psychology, usually claim
at being creative means being novel and appropriate. Subsumed under
the appropriateness criterion are qualities of fit, utility, and value.

At least three aspects of creativity have drawn much attention.

The creative process, receiving the most attention, focuses on the

mechanisms and phases involved as one partakes in a creative act.

• A second aspect of creativity is the creative

person. Here, personality traits of creative
people are central. The environmental
atmosphere and influence are concerns of a
third aspect, the creative situation.

• Lastly, the criteria or characteristics of

creative products have been sought. This area
is of particular importance because it is the
basis of any performance assessment of real
world creativity and may provide a window on
the other aspects of creativity.

Briefly stated, creativity is often thought to exist on at least five levels:

1. A higher level versus a lower level

2. Grand versus modest
3. Big "C" versus little c
4. Paradigm-shifting versus garden-variety
5. Eminent versus everyday

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Some researchers claim other categories of creativity as well:

1. Expressive versus Productive

2. Expressive versus Inventive

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 3. Expressive versus Innovative
4. Invention versus Discovery
5. Theory versus Invention versus Discovery
6. Accommodative versus Assimilative
7. Personal versus Public.

There are three general ways of achieving a creative solution:

• Serendipity
• Similarity
• and meditation

Also, the mode of activity one is in when being creative differs. For
example, there is a distinction between real-time creativity and multistage
creativity. Real-time creativity is spur-of-the-moment, improvisational, and
demands output in a short interval of time; whereas in multistage
creativity, sufficient time is allowed for the generation and selection of
ideas. Creative thought can be divided into divergent and convergent
reasoning.

• Divergent thinking is the intellectual ability to think of many original,

diverse, and elaborate ideas.
• Convergent thinking: the intellectual ability to logically evaluate
critique and choose the best idea from a selection of ideas.

Both abilities are required for creative output. Divergent thinking is

essential to the novelty of creative products whereas convergent thinking
is fundamental to the appropriateness. To combine this variety of
definitions, we can say that creativity involves the generation of new ideas

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or the recombination of known elements into something new, providing
valuable solutions to a problem. It also involves motivation and emotion.

Creativity “is a fundamental feature of human intelligence in

general. It is grounded in everyday capacities such as the association of
ideas, reminding, perception, analogical thinking, searching a structured
problem-space, and reflecting self-criticism. It involves not only a cognitive
dimension (the generation of new ideas) but also motivation and emotion,
and is closely linked to cultural context and personality factors.” (Boden
1998). Thus, any general definition of creativity must account for the
process of recognition or discovery of novel ideas and solutions and
hence most of the definition fall into one or more of these categories like
as an individual talent, as a process, as a product and last but not the
least as a recognition by others.

OBJECTIVES OF CREATIVITY
Main objectives of a creative thinking process is to think beyond existing
boundaries, to awake curiosity, to break away from rational, conventional
ideas and formalized procedures, to rely on the imagination, the divergent,
the random and to consider multiple solutions and alternatives (Candy
1997, Schlange and Juttner 1997).
The result of the creative thinking process is especially important for
businesses. Managers and managerial decisions and actions, confronted
with fast-changing and ambiguous environments in business, need to
develop creative solutions and creative action-based strategies to solve
problems, as they allow to increase understanding of problematic
situations, to find multiple problems, to produce new combinations, to

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generate multiple solutions that are different from the past, to consider
possible alternatives in various situations that could occur in the future and
“to expand the opportunity horizon and competence base of firms” (dt
ogilvie 1998).

DESCRIPTION / STRUCTURE OF THE METHODOLOGY /

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
Creativity is not an innate quality of only a few selected people. Creativity
is present in everyone. It can be learned, practiced and developed by the
use of proven techniques which, enhancing and stimulating the creative
abilities, ideas and creative results, help people to move out of their
normal problem-
solving mode, to enable them to consider a wide range of alternatives and
to improve productivity and quality of work. “Creativity is thus constructed
as a learned ability that enables us to define new relationships between
concepts or events, which seemed apparently unconnected before, and
which results in a new entity of knowledge” (European Commission 1998).
Knowledge and information are the basis for creativity. There are
numerous creative techniques, which are also classified in many ways
(Higgins 1994). In general, a certain type of question or a certain area of
application (such as marketing, product or service development, strategic
and decision planning, design, quality management, etc.) often calls for a
certain type or a certain group of creativity techniques.
Fundamental concepts for all creative techniques are:

• The suspension of premature judgement and

the lack of filtering of ideas.

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 • Use the intermediate impossible. Create
analogies and metaphors, through symbols,
etc., by finding similarities between the
situation, which we wish to understand and
another situation, which we already
understand.

• Build imaginative and ideal situations (invent

the ideal vision).

• Find ways to make the ideal vision happen.

• Relate things or ideas which were previously

unrelated.

• Generate multiple solutions to a problem.

Main points to increase or encourage creativity in a company are:

· To be happy, to have fun
· Keep channels of communication open
· Trust, failure accepted
· Contacts with external sources of information
· Independence, initiatives taken
· Support participatory decision-making and employees’ contribution
· Experiment with new ideas.

EXPECTED RESULTS / BENEFITS

Creativity, through the generation of ideas with value, is needed in order to
solve concrete problems, ease the adaptation to change, optimize the
performance of the organization and best practice manufacturing, and

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changes the attitude of the staff of the organization. Creative thought
processes are also important at all stages in the R&D process.
Some expected results of the creativity process are:

• Innovation through new product and process

ideas

• Continuous improvement of products or service

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 • Productivity increase

• Efficiency

• Rapidity

• Flexibility

• Quality of products or services

• High performance

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROVIDERS
The implementation of creative techniques within work groups, requires
the assistance and advise of external consultants. One or two consultants,
experts in creative techniques, is normally enough to undertake the
implementation process in a company. His/hers job normally consists of
presenting the different techniques and their application method, defining
the problem to be studied for the participants, initiating and clarifying the
rules of the technique, gathering the necessary data and information to
approach the problem, stimulating the generation of ideas of participants,
and evaluating the ideas before proceeding to put them in practice.
Training of management staff by experts may also be very useful.
Management staff must be trained to stimulate creativity in employees, to
provide motivation, to facilitate a creative climate and to encourage the
use of creative techniques. Managers can also be trained to implement
creative techniques by themselves.

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 APPLICATION

Creativity processes are used regularly by many private and public sector
organisations of all sorts in manufacturing, services, banking, or
construction companies. Big firms such as Xerox, AT&T, Frito-Lay, as well
as car manufacturing firms, software development firms, railroad
pharmaceutical firms etc., use creativity techniques to increase efficiency
and quality, especially in their research, strategic planning and marketing
departments.
Creativity techniques may be applied in almost any functional area of the
company: strategic planning, corporate business strategy, product
development, improvement of services, functional strategy, finance,
human resources, marketing, management of collection of information,
product design, software design, quality management, etc.

TYPES OF FIRMS / ORGANISATIONS CONCERNED

Creativity techniques can be implemented by all firms and public
organizations that confront with problem solving and focus on innovation
in processes, products or services.
In case where the implementation of creative techniques is focused on the
support of personal creativity, such as to support individual designers work
for new product development, or to support individual scientists work in
the laboratory, very small firms or a person can implement creative
techniques for individuals.

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In case where the company focus is to increase group creativity and to
create environments where a collaborating team works creatively together,
the firm must have at least 20 employees, including 3 members as
management staff.

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 WHAT CREATIVITY MEANS IN ADVERTISING

I once read a quote somewhere that said, "We do not separate

advertising from life."
Creativity is a very subjective term. Who can really say what is creative,
for we all have different opinions on what we individually think is creative.
Some people believe creativity is an engrained concept that you are born
with it. Other people believe it is a talent that can be learned and taught.
I personally believe it is a little of both. The essential elements of creativity
are really imagination and inventiveness disciplined by routine skills. Your
imagination is something you are born with, it can be large and wild or it
can be small and constrained. Inventiveness is something that can be
disciplined, it can be taught and learned with practice and skill.
Put those two concepts together and anything is possible. In advertising,
agencies live and die by creative communications. Creativity is one of the
reasons clients justify advertising and their choice of agencies
So what exactly is creative in advertising? Some creative commercials are
effective, some effective ads are creative, and other ads are neither
creative nor effective. Creativity and effectiveness ultimately join in the
consumer’s minds rather than remain separate.
We must then ask, what is efficiency? Well, efficiency of an ad is
determined by the correct combination of its impact and retention. Impact
being the ability of an ad to attract attention and retention being the ability
of an ad to stay on viewers’ minds. We can thus say with certainty that an
advertisement needs to be creative to succeed. Its creativity needs to be

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effective in both its impact and retention. I found the quote at the
beginning of the page and thought it was just great. Although creativity in
advertising is an important factor, one must remember to not be creative
just for creative sake. The creativity must also be effective.
Successful creative strategies result from pinpointing an idea, a nuance,
an insight, or a nugget of information gleaned from research or sometime
from an intuitive understanding or quickness of human nature. The true
role of the strategy is to make that intuitive leap which defines the
relationship between the brand and its user.

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 HOW CREATIVITY IS DIFFERENT FROM
INNOVATION

Creativity versus Innovation

As this is an advertising study on the subject of “Creativity” it is only right
there should be some advertising efforts to create greater understanding
on behalf of the subject “Creativity” itself. For many the word ‘creativity’
has what may be called a touchy –feely nature to it, not really suitable for
the hard world of business. Yet, mention the word ‘innovation’ and
suddenly the act of creating new ideas takes on a more credible
resonance in certain quarters, such as the business media and various
government-backed development agencies.
Professor Simon Majaro of Cranfield School of Management defines
innovation in this manner in his book Managing Ideas for Profit (Majaro,
1992): ‘Creativity is the thinking process that helps us generate ideas.
Innovation is the practical application of such ideas towards meeting the
organization’s objectives in a more effective way.’ But this means all ideas
are creative. In reality, many ideas will be rejected. Using the working
definition of creativity, it would recognize that, to be ‘creative’, the idea
must offer some form of added value.
Innovation can instead be defined as the ‘adoption, adaptation, or
implementation by a third party of someone’s creativity (ie an added value
product)’. When appraising a painting, one does not say: ‘artist is being
innovative.’ Should another artist adopt some element of this work , such
as its style, subject matter, materials or techniques used, then the original

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work can be said to be innovative; it has inspired the application of some
creative element of the original work by a third party.
Thus, creative thinking in a disciplined manner can play a real role in
innovation. “Creativity and innovation are normally complementary
activities, since creativity generates the basis of innovation, which, in its
development, raises difficulties that must be solved once again; with
creativity…It is not possible to conceive innovation without creative ideas,
as these are the starting point.” (European Commission 1998).Innovation
results when creativity occurs within the right organizational culture. The
right organizational culture is one that provides through creativity
processes (creative techniques) the possibilities for the development of
personal and group creativity skills. We can define creativity IMT as the
establishment of skills by implementing creativity generation techniques.

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 BASICS OF CREATIVITY

Creative Thinking Skills Can Be Learned!!

What can I do to Increase my creativity??
The first task in becoming more creative is giving you permission to do
things creatively. The second is overcoming your personal blocks to
creativity. For some people, being creative involves trying not to be
embarrassed by their own ideas; for others, it is a matter of being aware
that things can be done in many different ways. Some people are self-
aware or confident enough to have fewer inhibitions and can just let their
creative natures work.

Surround yourself with people who love and support you and you will be
even more creative. Spend time meditating on your own worthiness,
reading about other creative people and creative solutions, concentrating
on the positive power of your own creative forces - these activities,
combined with a belief in your own intuition and creative abilities, will help
improve your confidence.

Action Steps
Here are a few additional things you can do to improve your creativity:

• Study books on creative thinking techniques and put them into

practice

• Attend courses on creative thinking and put the ideas into practice.

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 • Keep a daily journal and record your thoughts, ideas, sketches, etc.
as soon as you get them. Review your journal regularly and see
what ideas can be developed.

• Indulge in relaxation activities and sports to give the mind a rest

and time for the subconscious to digest information.

• Develop an interest in a variety of different things, preferably well

away from your normal sphere of work. For example, read comic
books or magazines you wouldn't normally get. This keeps the
brain busy with new things. It is a common trait of creative people
that they are interested in a wide variety of subjects.

• Don't work too hard -you need time away from a problem to be
creative after periods of intense focus. It really helps to think of
creativity as a skill or set of skills. By practicing, one can get better
at using them. So whenever you have a chance try and do
mundane things in novel ways - it will make them more entertaining
and you will get more used to expressing your abilities.

Practicing at overcoming irrational inhibitions will also help to improve your

creativity. When you're at a standstill, and you witness somebody with a
vital and flowing creative force, it can be intimidating. The thing that's easy
to miss when you're caught up in the magic of somebody doing something
effortlessly that seems impossible is that it doesn't happen all at once.

Anything can be achieved by breaking it down into its component parts.

Creativity requires patience and a willingness to work for a creative
outcome rather than simply wait for enlightenment. Still, it is important to
creativity to happen. This can be encouraged by setting up an

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environment that encourages creative output, a comfortable space within
which you feel non-threatened and able to create.

A program to improve your personal creativity might include the following

steps.

1. First set a measurable goal. Some goals might be:

 to generate 10% more solutions within 6 months to come

up with

an original solution for problem "X" within 2 weeks to practice generating

ideas bybrainstorming (for example, "find at least 100 ideas for a new
pen")

 to find a new and effective way to relate to my children

that results in them wanting to spend more time with me.

2. Second, set up criteria to indicate whether or not you have or are

reaching your goal. Typical criteria are:

a) the ideas are novel (in that particular context)

b) the ideas are useful, they solve the problem or meet the
challenge

c) the ideas can be implemented within an appropriate time and

budget

3. Third, read and learn about creativity techniques which are one of
the sections of the Creativity Web. This information can be

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gathered from books, conferences, other people, software products
and the Internet. Spend time with people who you believe are

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 creative and ask them how they did it. There are many paths to
creativity.

4. Fourth, surround yourself with people who love and respect

you; people who encourage you to take risks.

5. Fifth, celebrate your progress in reaching your creativity goals.

6. Finally, begin thinking of yourself as a creative person.

Surround that identity with beliefs about your creative abilities.
Learn the skills of creativity, act creatively every opportunity you get
and find environments that support creative behavior.

Creativity is increased by acknowledging that it exists and by nurturing it.

Create a sensory stimulating environment, increase awareness of that
environment and provide sufficient quiet time to allow that ensory
stimulation to be translated into external reality ... a poem, a bridge, a
meal, a song, a quilt, a business report, a game, a dance, a garden.

Flood yourself with information in your chosen area of creativity then

deliberately expose yourself to information outside your area. Respect and
care for your creativity as you would a child. Attend to your needs, listen to
your creative inner voice, and spend time with yourself. Manage stress in
your life as much as possible.

Practice meditation or some kind of peaceful, relaxing activity such as

handwork or quiet exercise. Avoid becoming too entrenched in your
routines. Don't allow your beliefs to distort your perceptions. A useful
technique is to deliberately and consciously attempt to integrate opposites

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at every opportunity within your own mind. Develop the attitude that your
creative work is important even if others do not share your belief; allow

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such judgmental attitudes to be their problem, not yours. Practice using
affirmations and reframing (seeing things from another angle or in another
context) to de-program your self critical habits.

Creativity is not a gift of some sort, it is a state of being ("un etat d'ame",
as they say in French). Learning a creativity- increasing technique of some
sort will give you some tools and help you, but will not automatically
change your point of view about yourself and your creativity; your belief
and value systems about creativity and creativity myths must change as
well.

Creativity and Leadership

"Everyone has creative potential, but creative people think they are
creative."

Self-esteem is one of the most important elements of creativity. People

must believe in their ability to develop original ideas and they must
continue to believe in themselves after repeated failures.

Creativity flourishes in an environment that rewards attempts, as well as

successes, and is conducive to failure. People must feel comfortable
failing before they will repeatedly take risks or attempt creative
approaches. Roger von Oech labels four stages of the creative process:

• Explorer. Finding new ideas and resources

from which an idea may be built.

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 • Artist. Transforming ideas (gathered by the
explorer) into something new.

• Judge. Ideas developed by the artist are

evaluated and their merits are weighed; suggestions are
offered on how they can be improved or further
developed.

• Warrior. Implementation of the ideas approved

by the judge requiring persistence and determination.

Secrets to Creative Problem Solving

• Be an optimist
• Take your time
• Get enough information
• Brainstorm by yourself
• Redefine the problem
• Plan for results
• Break the routine
• Make a minus a plus
• Don't give up.
• Allow yourself to daydream
• Ask questions
• Have a sense of humor
• Tolerate ambiguity

CREATIVE FORCES

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Force-Field Analysis

Force-field analysis characterizes the conflicting forces in a situation. The

recommended approach to this method is to outline the points involved in

30
problematic situations at the problem exploration stage, followed by
recognizing factors likely to help or hinder at the action planning and
implementation stages.

1. Members of the group identify and list the driving and restraining
forces (perhaps using a suitable brainstorming or brain writing
technique) openly discussing their understanding of them.
2. The group leader is representative of the current position as a
horizontal line across the middle of the page. The leader will draw
all the driving forces as arrows that either pull or push the line
upwards, and all the restraining forces as arrows that pull or push
the line downwards (see below). Where driving and restraining are
paired use arrow thickness to signify strength of impact of a force
and arrow length to show how complicated it would be to adapt. It is
normally best for the team to reach agreement on these details.

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3. The diagram should then be used to find as many possible
combinations of moving the centre line in the desired direction. Try
to:

Find ways to strengthen or add positive forces

a. Find ways to weaken or remove negative forces

b. Recognize that the negative forces are too strong and
abandon the idea.

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 REATIVE ECHNIQUE

“How do you come with a creative idea when faced with a

blank sheet of paper?” ‘Easy. Don’t have a blank sheet of
paper.’
Every working day, creative directors are faced with emands to come up
with creative solutions to the problems. Some outstanding creative heads
may display what is called unconscious competence in appearing to be
able to come up with ideas inuitively. There is no magic wand for coming
up with ideas, but there are some echniques and process to help being
creative. These tecniques, coupled with a knowledge and understanding
of the creative process -- with its five stages
 Information
 Incubation
 Illumination
 Integration,
 Illustration -- will help considerably to improve one’s creative
abilities.

CREATIVE RANGE:
Whenever faced with a well-defined task, such as coming up eith an idea
for a launch product or phottocall, establish a ‘Creative Range’. Pose what
is called ‘the Safe Bet’ questin: ‘What is the very least, the safest, most

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conservative idea that can be used?’ Then check ‘ what is the most
outrageous idea that could solve the problem?’ so as to create the
Extreme Option. By these two question , intial limiting parameters are
created.
The above can be visualised as below,

Safe Bet Extreme

Option Option
THE CREATIVE RANGE

After creating the Creative Range of the situation see, ‘What further ideas
can you come up and then jot downall the ideas that come to mind. Thus,
by establishing the ‘Creative Range, you have already taken the pressure
off yourself and at the very least you have a safe option to fall back on,
and more importantly you ar harnessing the incremental nature of the
creative process. This also helps to suspend judgements because you are
not automatically screening every idea but merely filing in the ‘Creative
Range’.

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35
SNAKES AND LADDERS:
Snakes and Ladders is good technique that helps use of the incremental
nature of creativity to quickly establish an overview of a
situation,identifying strengths and weakness, and to establish tactics to
improve the positives and reduce the negatives of a task at hand.
Draw a grid on a sheet of paper to represent the squares of a snakes and
ladders board. Imagine the objective of the task is at the top left-hand
corner on the winning square. You are the start, at the bottom left-hand
corner. Draw five short ladders and five long snakes. The objective can be
anything from: ‘ How can I improve my creativity’ and so on…
This is an excellent way of getting a handle on everything you need to
consider. It also facilitates incremental to\hought as you come up with
deas.
.

36
 Below is give one example of how to launch a product creatively

Lack of
Personality Brand
of MD Credibility

Lack of Brand
Awareness
Media Interesting
Apath Photograp
y hy

Forthcoming
Competitor
Events-
Activity
Exhibition

Limited
Budget
News value Timing
of Story of lanch

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Group Techniques to Generate Creativity

Brainstorming - Groups generate as many ideas as possible, listing ideas

on a chart so that group members may modify them or combine them to
create additional ideas. Criticism is not allowed during brainstorming, nor
is evaluation of ideas.

Storyboarding - An adaptation of brainstorming, but it is primarily

nonverbal so articulate group members are not able to dominate the

Finish

Start

process. Storyboarding uses a process similar to parliamentary procedure

to gain support of an idea before it can remain part of the discussion.
Storyboarding allows group members to produce data and solutions to
problems generating ideas off of previous suggestions.

Nominal Group Technique - Focuses attention on individual members'

ideas by having members write down their ideas/solutions on their own
before sharing them with the group. Ideas are all recorded, everyone
votes to prioritize ideas, and then discussion is held on only the top ones

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before another vote is taken. This technique allows everyone to participate
and contribute ideas before the group reaches its decision.

Roadblocks to Creativity

Thinking there is one right answer - Many of us have the tendency to

stop looking for alternative right answers after the first answer has been
found. Often it is the third, fifth or tenth right answer that is what we need
to solve a problem in an innovative way. "That's not logical" - Logic is an
important creative thinking tool when you are searching for ideas,
however, excessive logical thinking can short circuit your creative process.

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Following the rules - You often have to break out of pattern to discover
another.

Being practical - Practical people know how to get into an open frame of
mind, listen to their imagination and build on the ideas they find there.

Avoiding ambiguity - Too much specificity can stifle your imagination!

Being afraid of making a mistake - Errors are a sign that you are
diverging from the norm. If you are not failing every now and then it is a
sign you are not being very innovative.

REAM EAM: A FRAME WORK FOR

GREAT CREATIVE PERFORMANCE
Dream Team is a list of rules of creative teamwork that form the
foundation of all the methods. Whichever technique you’re using, Dream
Team rules is like a framework whenever you’re working as a team. They
provide creative space to let imagination fly and launch all the team
members on their way to original ideas.
Dream team Tools in the company would keep the playful atmosphere, in
order to refine their tem-working skills and build up creativity. They are
both rules for the top-quality creative performance and strategies that can
be used as highly effective methods of communication in meetings.

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DREAM TEAM RULES:
• Switch On All Five Senses
The best ideas take time. The more one thinks about the product,
analyses it, examines it from every angle - plays with it, in other words the
more freely great ideas will flow. Get the information you can get hold of
which can be used as triggers. Feel the product to activate all your
senses. The key factor is that physically coming face to face with the
product itself will stimulate all five senses and have positive and inspiring
effect on the process of generating ideas.

‘Creative without strategy is called Art. Creative with strategy is

called Advertising.’

• Set Clear Goals

The goal and solution are like question and answer. Only a good question
can give a satisfactory answer.
What Does A Goal Achieve?
The goal is in clear view and acts a focal point, leading to a clearly defined
objective. It helps to prevent chaos and time-wasting discussions.
Fine - Tuning the Goal Saves Time and Nervous Energy
Of course it isn’t possible to achieve a clear goal and straightforward
definition of the goal at the first attempt. Often it is only while you are
formulating the goal that you realize that brief does not describe the
product fully, that the target group is not defined precisely enough or that
there is no clear strategic positioning.

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 • Always Separate The Ideas Phase From The Evaluation
Phase:
Ideas need imagination more than knowledge, so it’s important to keep the
stage when ideas are being generated strictly separate from the stage
when they’re being evaluated. In this stage people should set their
imaginations to roam free, and no limits to be set on creative game-
playing.

• Avoid Idea Killers

How would you like your ideas to be received – Sabotaged, Sniggered at
or simply Ignored? Idea killers have one thing in common: they always
work!! Everything from verbal stun-gun to the wry twitch at the corner of
somebody’s mouth is capable of trampling down the first little shoot of an
idea.
Idea Killers in Your Own Head
Often the killer phases of others do less damage than the little voice inside
our own heads, whispering, “Forget it, it doesn’t work”! Our own ideas
killers are particularly are deadly because we often are not conscious of
them. They are the product exaggerated expectations we have of
ourselves, or of the belief that we have to
come up with ideas that are brilliant from the word they go—a strategy
almost certainly doomed to failure.

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The 10 Best Responses to Idea-Killer Phrases
 Nothing will come out of that.
Not if you just dismiss the idea
 Let’s just wait and see what happens
What, until everyone else has overtaken us?
 That doesn’t work!!
But it’s great idea
 We do things differently!!
So, no change there
 This mail shot idea doesn’t work!!
But what if…?
 That’s ridiculous!!
So what it is
 We’ll come back to your idea.
All right. When?
 The client will never accept that!!
Give it a chance
 What’s so original about that?
The fact that no one else has thought of it
 Anyone could come up with that.
Exactly

• Use Doodles To Visualize Your Ideas

Your ideas must be visual if it’s really going to take root in others
people’s heads. Often it only takes a quick scribble, a few lines to bring
the idea to life. Think about it: your ideas are mostly internal

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images that only you can see. A doodle releases the idea from your head
and so raises your chances of enthusing others.
Three Arguments In Favor Of Doodles
 Doodles are an essential means of communication, enabling the
others in the team to see, and therefore understand, the images in
your head.
 Doodles reinforce the associations of internal images and so trigger
new ideas new playful way.
 Doodles enables teams to develop raw ideas in gradual stages and
so prevent good ideas from being killed off prematurely.

• Look For The Positive In Other People’s Ideas

If you want to promote the flow of ideas, look for the positive aspects
of other people’s ideas. Even if you don’t get anywhere with an idea
first, put forth the question, ‘What’s in it that we can use?’ There
will always be some aspect that can be build on; replace your inner
CRITIC with an inner CREATIVE and exploit all possibilities from
this new perspective. Take the idea’s good point and improve it by
developing and cultivating the seed of the idea. This strategy makes
flexible and opens new perspective.
One can learn to think What if…? And this will develop in time into
an inner attitude, which will open doors to new ideas instead of
closing them.

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 Thinking What If…?

What would be the advantage of losing your job tomorrow?

Anything that looks like a catastrophe at first may reveal a whole,
surprising series of positive aspects on a second look. Develop the play of
ideas a little more and losing your job opens the door to new freedom,
new opportunities, and a new future.

Thinking “What if…? Is a conceptual switch, a change of perspective?

You look at the very same thing from a different perspective. And you can
be sure that there are hundreds of other standpoints that you’ve never
envisaged

• Make Mistakes And Have Fun Doing It

“To swear off making mistakes is very easy; all you have to do is
swear off having ideas”

Mistakes are basic learning principle, accompanying all great

discoveries and often lending to brilliant ideas. Get rid of the
compulsion to come up with nothing but good ideas that are ready to
use! Say everything that occurs to you, no matter how silly it sounds –
it could be the raw material for the brilliant idea. So Make Mistakes &
Enjoy it!!

A Fool’s Freedom

The greatest fear of many people is making mistakes and looking silly I
front of other people. Learn to live with this fear, by making a fool of
you deliberately but staying in control. Put yourself in a ridiculous

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 position by making an abstruse suggestion, and exaggerate it to the
point where you have to laugh at yourself. By doing so you can
achieve a degree of inner freedom that allows you to leave familiar
paths behind and let your imagination run free.

• Develop Your Sense Of Humour

Humour is the healthy way of creating a ‘distance’ between one’s self and
the problem, a way of standing back and looking at a problem with
perspective!!

Humour reveals new aspects. Humour disarms, relaxes, and releases

happiness hormones, it’s also infectious, and so it’s one of the most
important creative tools for teams looking for great ways to
communicate ideas. Don’t just make jokes at other people’s
expense, however. Instead, look out for a really funny topic in
meetings – yourself. Learn to laugh at yourself. Anyone who can
see what’s absurd and laughable about him gains a new freedom
and gives the team a creative boost.

• Select Ideas Creatively

Sometimes the really interesting ideas are simply eliminated or talked out
during the evaluation phase. Anything unusual, wild, uncomfortable, or
harder to translate into action, gets dropped. At this stage, you need to
make new ideas from old, in order to save potentially great initiatives.

Three Ways to Evaluate and Select Ideas:

In the final analysis, there are three ways to reach a decision

about which of the basic ideas should be worked up:

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  Democratically: - The team leader invites every member of the
meeting to give a score to the ideas they think are best and
deserve to be worked up for the presentation. The idea with most
points wins.
 Use the Brief as a Yardstick: - The main criteria from the client’s
brief are used as the yardstick for assessing which ideas have
reached the objectives.
 Creative Director or Art Director: - Depending on the agency
culture, it is of course possible that the creative director or the art
director will be the one to decree which of the starter ideas will
developed for the presentation

• Turning Ideas Into Action

Art Direction brings an idea to life, determining whether it gives the
campaign the boost that it needs or weakens it by going off on the
wrong course.

To Decide the Best Course of Action

 What does the basic idea need, for the solution to hit the
bull’s eye?
 What change could give the idea an emotional kick?
 What weak points does the idea have, what seems
implausible? How could it be improved?
 Is the idea to the point? What works better?
 What substitute or alternate can be used to improve the idea?
 Add new elements

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  Change a copy
 Develop new headlines
 What could be done to make idea so appealing
that people will want to see it more than once?

What results Can You Expect From The Dream Team Rules?
 They produce a bigger catch of valuable ideas.
 They give the team a creative boost.
 They build structured freedom and prevent sessions of
destructive chaos.
 They foster faith in the team and enhance motivation.
 They allow a brilliant ‘group brain’ to develop.
 They promote all sorts of fun and increase individual
creative potential.
They save time, money and nervous energy in the hunt for ideas.

ICKSTART ATALOGUE

What is Kickstart Catalogue?

Kickstart Catalogue offers strategies likely to promote great ideas for
campaigns. There are no discussions within the catalogue itself about
what is good or bad advertising, nor are the tips on how to improve layout
or copy.
A Toolkit for the Brain

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Systematic analysis of the work produced by creative reveals certain
patterns and strategies in their thinking. Some creative strength lies in
analogy, while others always try to induce a change of perspective and
others develop ideas by turning every day’s situating on their heads. One
thing is clearing every case even the best creative use only the part the
spectrum of possible ways of thinking. If your strengths lie, for example in
the filed of metaphor or comparative juxtaposition, then you probably don’t
combine or reframe things very often. This catalogue is a tool box
containing an inexhaustible supply of new brain tools which one can use
to expand their own strategies.
This is incredibly useful when you are looking for new unusual campaign
ideas for the press, TV and cinemas, events, promotions, packaging, web
banners, brochures or direct mailing.

 Without Words
“A picture is worth a thousand words”
The object of this little exercise is to display the central advertising
statement about the product at a glance and without using the words. It’s
the best to start by working out a goal with single-minded proposition. For
Example: ‘How can you show without words that the new sports car
accelerates faster than any other car?’ Here, first look for pictorial way to
represent “Acceleration”. The key question is: ‘What are the key features
of “acceleration” and how can it be represented pictorially, without words?’
Think of the era of silent movies and how ingenious the actors had to be to
convey complex situation and feelings without words. Jokes which don’t
need words are another fruitful source of non-verbal stories to tell.

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  Mixing & Matching
The goal of Kickstart questions is to represent the central advertising
statement clearly and convincing by combining or associating different
things. This method of developing visual advertising messages is one of
the most frequently used today and offers infinite possibilities. Try it for
yourself- there are no limits in your imagination.
Combination as Creative Strategy
One of the most important creative strategies is to combine two concepts
or objects that were previously unconnected, so as to produce
something completely new. The result should be a simple,
unambiguous advertising message. Combine elements in such a
way so as to make the benefit immediately apparent: the product, parts of
the product, people from the target group, the product’s raw material, the
original problem, the benefit, the context, plants, packaging, or people who
have nothing to do with. The less things you combine have to do with each
other originally, the more exciting and surprisingly the result will be.

 Comparative Juxtaposition
Comparative Juxtaposition such as ‘before and after’ are undoubtedly
some of the classics of advertising. To tap into new sources of inspiration
for comparisons, one can use the method to compose typical pairs of
opposites, like ‘before and after’, which can then be used to stimulate
advertising ideas. List of Pairs of Opposites:
• Old-Fashioned- Fashionable
• Blindness- Vision

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 • Ugly- Attractive
• Mass produced- Exclusive
• Past- Future, etc.

 Exaggeration
Exaggeration in the depiction of features of the product, problem situations
or solutions can grab the viewer’s attention and emphasizes the benefit.
Use distortion and overstatement to develop great ideas; with stating clear
message and simple, to avoid any misunderstanding that would lead the
target group to make any negative associations. Don’t have any qualms
about exaggerating things, but do it with a wink so that the credibility of
your message doesn’t suffer.

 Provocation & Shock Tactics

Attention is in short supply nowadays, so if you want people to notice your
campaign, be provocative! Provoking means challenging, inciting,
stimuling. But be careful: being seen is not the same as being looked at.
Provocation takes you across a frontier, but it requires skill and will only
lend you to your goal if you think about what you’re doing: for example,
drawing attention to social issues, or warning people of dangers.

 A Change of Perspective
A change of perspective is first of all an excellent way to
generate a creative impulse during the process of looking for
ideas,and secondly it can be used in advertising to show the
target group new or interesting perspectives on the product.

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There are two ways to use the Change of Perspective as a creative tool.
First, they can be used spatially, by showing objects or situations from
unusual viewpoints: bird’s eye view, extreme close-up, extreme distance,
detached from space and time. From outer space, or simply from possible
angle. The second way is to imagine yourself leaving your body and
slipping inside other people, objects or animals. Many creative
symbolically take on other identities to get a creative boost from the new
view point of view. For example: Walt Disney, used to “become” the figure
he was currently drawing, going so far as to speak, gesture and stand like
the character in his imagination.

 Symbols & Signs

A symbol is a visual image that stands for an object, a concept or a
situation. The drawing of a stylized car next to a spanner represents a car
workshop, a cigarettes with a line across it means “No Smoking”.
The meaning of Some Signs derives from a casual connection-
Smoke is a sign of fire. Another function of many symbols is to
convey information that can’t be expressed in words.

 Absurd, Surreal, Bizarre

Plunging into the world of the absurd, the surreal and the bizarre is
fascinating in itself, and it also opens up a rich source of ideas.
Contradiction, exaggeration, distortion, fantasizing and zany ideas are the
tools one need to create something absurd or surreal.

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  Change the Product
Altering the product means changing its shape, cutting it into pieces,
adding things, subtracting things, bending it, squeezing it, bringing it to life,
blowing it up, making it transparent, transplanting it to another body or
letting it rot. There are endless possibilities of changing it physically or
giving it a new meaning. Talk non-sense and really take off. You can’t
judge whether what you have is good or bad

 Alternative Uses
Playful approaches to the idea of finding new uses for the product. Where
the product could be used, outside of its original context? What new
situations could it be put to emphasize the benefit, highlight a feature
through exaggeration, or reveal a new perspective or an unexpected
function

 Double Meanings
This refers to visual and as well as non verbal double meanings. Most
visual ambiguity is based on optical illusions which are a playful way to
attract the viewer’s attention. Most verbal ambiguity, on the other hand,
makes its point by wordplay or suggestions, leading the reader along a
path that usually ends in an alternative meaning. Both types involve
people playfully by inviting them to see both meanings in a context that
makes sense.

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  Play With Words
Playing with words means making pictures with them. Its an invitation to
experiment with type, so that the copy turns into pictures and the
typography becomes the message. Try to break down the bounds of
normal copy to make the content leap out. Then style your words like a
clue in a crossword puzzle. This will help you to scrutinize your Ad copy as
a source of ideas about design (preferably fun ones) and present the
message even more clearly and effectively.

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 LET’S TAKE A BREAK…

A group of carpenters are at work. ...and a TV set, where a man hanging

However, their attention is divided over a chasm is clinging on to a woman
between their work... for dear life.

"Pakde rehna," the woman screams. ...as the couple on screen keep up
"Chodna nahin," the man pleads. the "Pakde rehna-chodna nahin"
The workers watch... strain for an incredibly long period.

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Fed up with the melodrama, one Wanting to continue with his
of the carpenters gets up in work, he walks over to the TV
disgust. "Arre, yeh bhi koi film hai!" and picks up a can of Fevicol
he exclaims. placed on top of it.

Instantly, the man on screen ...and eyes another TV, atop

plummets. Surprised, the which a tub of Fevicol is
carpenter peers at the can of perched. The man on screen is
Fevicol he has picked up. still dangling over the chasm.
Slowly, he turns... "Chodna nahi..."

Headline: Fevicol Ka Jodd Hai Tootega Nahin…

Agency: O&M (National Winning Award)
Client: Pidilite Industries

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Anti- Smoking Campaign

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Best Social Message Award

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 onclusion:
 The foundation for creativity is in individual, and so these
methods and techniques are to be taken as tools and stimuli, to give you
more freedom of choice and so enhance and liberate your creative skills.
 There is no one right way to be creative. Creativity is a living
process with many possible strategies, and the creative outcomes to
which they lead will depend on the context and the individual.
 If one person has learnt how to develop really creative ideas,
it stands to reason that everyone else can.
 Creativity demands abundance, which is why the objective is
to increase the possible choices, and so improve flexibility.
 Don’t confuse the menu with the meal: theoretical knowledge
will do nothing to increase your creativity. Try the methods out, experience
will nourish you and become a part of your strategies in future.
 If something doesn’t work for you, stop using it and try
something else.
 Have fun!

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 ARTICLES

“ What’s The Future Of Advertising”

After Hours Correspondent DNA
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
It cannot be denied that as one of the most rapidly growing professions in
India - advertising - is undergoing a lot of change. To tap these changes,
to incorporate consumer and media perspectives, and to celebrate their
60-year existence in the industry, the Advertising Agencies Association of
India (AAAI) is organising a three-day symposium discussing the future of
advertising in India.
Primarily focusing on traditional and contemporary methods in advertising,
the symposium will include consumer reactions and influences with
respect to the profession. “Predominantly, we are trying to identify the
current challenges in advertising and the different ways to meet them. The
industry per say is witnessing a lot more ways to reach out to their
consumers like MMS, blogs, the internet, and ad guys need to catch up on
these new techniques,” says Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India, who is also
one of the keynote speakers during the event.
Targeted towards the burgeoning and existing advertising, media and
marketing professionals, the symposium will examine the future
consumers, communication challenges and new media. “The industry
today needs a thrust and much greater recognition in the international
scenario. Though it has been advancing rapidly, there needs to be a lot
more effort to speed up the growth,” says ad man Piyush Pandey, who will

60
be addressing the event with respect to positioning of advertising beyond
boundaries. The symposium will attract a galaxy of eminent speakers
(including the minister of state for tourism Renuka Chowdhury and ad guru
Prahlad Kakkar) who will share their unique perspectives on the future
world in the areas of connecting with audiences.

“Agencies Need To Think Creatively”

PTI [FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005
MUMBAI: Advertising agencies in India should come out of their traditional
styles and start thinking "out of the box" in order to push the creative
frontiers to new heights, Piyush Pandey, a well-known advertising expert
said on Friday.
"We have to struggle to see that the good ideas are accepted by the
clients, and see the day of the light and eventually converted into a real
creative Ad," Pandey, Executive Chairman and National Creative Director
Ogilvy said at a symposium, organised by Advertising Agencies
Association of India (AAAI) here.
"Instead of convincing the clients, we always make excuses that the client
does not accept the new idea or say why tinkle around with the idea that is
working, as sales figures are doing well," he said. "This very attitude has
to be changed and the creative people should come out with ideas that
touch the psyche of a common man and see to it that they convince their
clients about the non-conventional ideas and give their gut feeling a
chance", Pandey said.
He was of the opinion that the advertising community should develop a
habit of not seeing beyond the obvious, and starts seeing beyond the 30

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yard circle in cricket field, "so that we could clear that and see the
boundary lines".
"We, as creative people, should always do constant soul
searching to do things better and in a different manner and
not think of any framework and boundaries to restrict our
creativity", he said and gave a recent example of the Hutch ad's with the
`Chhota Recharge' offer.

“Piyush Pandey Adds Another Feather To His Cap”

The Indiantelevision.com Team
(13 December 2002 12:30 pm) MUMBAI: There's no stopping Ogilvy &
Mather group president and national creative director
Piyush Pandey who is moving from strength to strength.
Pandey has bagged yet another international award. This
time he has been judged the 'Creative Person of The
Year Asia Pacific for 2002,' by Hong Kong based Media
Magazine. The award comes in recognition of his
contribution to the advertising industry and efforts to raise the creative
standards across the industry. “It’s an achievement for us as well as (for)
India. We are happy that India has made its
mark at yet another global forum.
And we're sure many more Indians will walk this
floor," Pandey was quoted as saying in The
Times of India.
Ogilvy & Mather has bagged quite a few awards
this year: the most memorable one being the
Gold Lion in the press and poster category for its `Second-hand smoke

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kills' anti-smoking campaign for the Cancer Patients Aid Association
(CPAA); and silver for the `overloaded bus' spot for Fevicol, at the Cannes
Lions, International Advertising Festival held in June this year. The anti-
smoking ad also won a silver Pencil at the One Show 2002 and a bronze
at the Clio Awards 2002.Similarly, Pidilite Industries Limited --- the makers
of Fevicol ---- has won several international advertising awards.

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 IBLIOGRAPHY

Reference Books
• Creative Advertising Mario
Pricken
• Ogilvy in Advertising David
Ogilvy

Search Engines
• www.google.com

• www.angencyfaqs.com

Name: Khushbu.H.Ojha
College: Chetana’s Management Institute, Bandra(e)
E-mail Id: rkhushi_dayma@hotmail.com

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