Category Archives: Creativity

May 10, 2010

Make It Funny

Humor is attention-getting, memorable—and persuasive It’s the funny ads that go viral. And funny ads regularly clean up the Clio awards, advertising’s Oscars. Marketers have always relied on humor, but now brain science is helping us understand why it works so well—and how best to use it.
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February 22, 2010

Keeping it simple wins every time

The brain loves shortcuts Enter…Green Lantern I was never a huge fan of superheroes, though I did read some Green Lantern. More recently, I just took the online superhero personality quiz, which pegged me as…Green Lantern. Let’s go with this. Let’s say I’m Green Lantern. First, I’d show off my washboard abs for my lady. (Grrrrr…I’ll rescue you [...]
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December 18, 2009

Hindsight Bias and Marketing Management

Why we say we can predict anything … after the fact Creativity needs room to breathe. There is no faster way to suffocate imagination than negative comments such as “I’ve seen that before” and “That’s not new.” Likewise, when a project doesn’t go well, somebody usually chimes in with “You should have seen that coming,” implying [...]
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December 9, 2009

Newcomers and Outsiders Raise Performance

Rocking the boat actually brings smoother sailing You may be surprised, but I’ve often felt that consultants are overrated. What they give—a binder of good suggestions—doesn’t always  justify the fee. But often consultants can provide something no insider can: a new perspective. A consultant’s success may have less to do with their product than their simple [...]
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October 27, 2009

A World of Inspiration

Podcast: Synaptic Branding 003: A World of Inspiration The 10,000 hour rule, dating other cultures, and creativity I grew up drawing and painting. With my grandmother’s intervention, I even had the opportunity to have my work critiqued by Andrew Wyeth. Andy’s advice: if you want to be good, you just have to put in your time. He [...]
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