Perspective: Join the Crowd
In 1943, an anthropologist named Abraham Maslow published a paper titled “A Theory of Human Motivation” that, while it appeared only in an obscure academic journal, has since gone on to influence generations of marketers. Maslow’s theory posited that human needs fall into categories. The bottom two are essential for mere survival—physiological (food, sleep, etc.) and safety (shelter, employment, etc.). The intense human desire to fit in probably never required a research paper to establish its validity. Both ads present coolness as shopping’s blissful by-product. In 1969, Chevy was two years into positioning its Camaro to compete with Ford’s Mustang—the quintessential two-seater guy car. Jump ahead 43 years, and Tommy Hilfiger is using the same implied promise to sell his clothing in the ad. That’s right, anyone—including you.
A Wandering Mind Is an Intelligent Mind
What's the Latest Development? Resent research suggests that mind wandering is associated with good working memory, itself a measure of intelligence, reading comprehension and IQ score. The new study, published in Psychological Science, asked individuals to perform routine tasks and monitored how often their minds wandered. Later, scientists measured each person's working memory and found that people with better memories were also more likely to have a roaming mind. The results are the first indication that memory may enable off-topic thoughts. What's the Big Idea? Despite humans' proclivity for self-conscious and intentional behavior, scientists estimate that our minds wander about half the time, demonstrating the complex behavior and purpose of our brain. Photo credit: shutterstock.com
Ads Worth Spreading
Ads honored through Ads Worth Spreading can be as long as it takes to communicate the idea powerfully, up to five minutes, whether that’s through state-of-the-art animation, lush imagery or an individual talking directly to the camera. What matters is the “a-ha” moment -- the central idea. The thing that makes consumers connect to the idea in the same way that TED speakers connect with their audience. Ads Worth Spreading began as a clarion call to the global advertising community in 2011, asking for ads that inspired and engaged audiences. TED received nearly 1,000 entries and picked 10 outstanding examples. In 2013, six nomination teams of two – made up of one renowned TED speaker and one rising star from the advertising industry – nominated compelling ads from diverse areas of interest: Talk, Social Good, Cultural Compass, Creative Wonder, Brand Bravery and Education. This is not an award show. This is a dialogue on ideas that brands should want to be a part of.
Jonah Lehrer on How to Be Creative
The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame
It's time the great advertising lines earned some recognition. Slogans, straplines, taglines, end lines, payoffs, claims and signatures - even some headlines. The Advertising Slogan Hall Of Fame, sponsored by AdSlogans.com, recognizes excellence and best practice in advertising, benchmarking creativity -- identifying the best in branding. Our selection panel reviewed 100 slogan nominations in the third round, to come up with 31 new members. Judging criteria included individual opinions as to whether a line did or did not merit inclusion in The Advertising Slogan Hall of Fame. Through a complex series of algorithms 31 more slogans were selected and inducted into the Hall of Fame. The top-scoring slogan in the third round was AT&T's "Reach out and touch someone." Listed alphabetically, click here to see our new inductees.
Jonah Lehrer on How Creativity Works
by Maria Popova Inside the ‘seething cauldron of ideas,’ or what Bob Dylan has to do with the value of the synthesizer mind. In his 1878 book, Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits, Nietzsche observed: Artists have a vested interest in our believing in the flash of revelation, the so-called inspiration… shining down from heavens as a ray of grace. Some 131 years later, Elizabeth Gilbert echoed that observation in her now-legendary TED talk. The origin, pursuit, and secret of creativity are a central fixation of the Idea Age. Lehrer writes in the introduction, echoing Nietzsche’s lament: The sheer secrecy of creativity — the difficulty in understanding how it happens, even when it happens to us — means that we often associate breakthroughs with an external force. He notes how the mysteriousness and hazy nature of creativity have historically confounded scientists, and how its study has become a meta-metaphor for creativity itself: How does one measure the imagination? Share on Tumblr
201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity
Arouse your creativity Electric flesh-arrows … traversing the body. A rainbow of color strikes the eyelids. A foam of music falls over the ears. It is the gong of the orgasm. ~ Anais Nin Creativity is like sex. I know, I know. The people I speak of are writers. Below, I’ve exposed some of their secret tips, methods, and techniques. Now, lie back, relax and take pleasure in these 201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity. Great hacks from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders
Crush the "I'm Not Creative" Barrier - Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen
Did you know that if you think you are creative, you’re more likely to actually be creative? This surprising fact pops up again and again in our research. In our database of over 6,000 professionals who have taken the Innovator’s DNA self & 360 assessments, people (entrepreneurs and managers alike) who “agree” with the survey statement “I am creative” consistently deliver disruptive solutions — by creating new businesses, products, services, and processes that no one has done before. They see themselves as creative and act that way. But what if you don’t see yourself as creative? Are you actually less creative? This is an important question to ask because many — probably half — of you don’t think that you’re creative. The bad news is that if you don’t think you’re creative, our survey data say that you probably are not. The magic materializes as people engage unique innovation skills (what we call their innovator’s DNA) on an everyday basis. The result?
Steal Like An Artist, a book by Austin Kleon
Download the cover, author photo, and flip through the book in the blogger kit. About the book ISBN: 9780761169253 | Foreign Translations | Ordering FAQ When I was asked to talk to students at a community college in upstate New York, I sat down and wrote a talk based on a list of 10 things I wished I’d heard when I was starting out: Steal like an artist.Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.Write the book you want to read.Use your hands.Side projects and hobbies are important.The secret: do good work and share it with people.Geography is no longer our master.Be nice. The text and slides from the talk “rocked the creative world” (GalleyCat) and went viral. The book now has hundreds of thousands of copies in print and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Praise for the book Amazon.com Top Best-Selling Book of 2012 Brain Pickings Best Art Books of 2012 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards Nonfiction “Brilliant and real and true.” “Beautiful.” “Alarmingly cute.” “Amazing.”
