This blog was made originally for my COM14 class in which we engaged in creative thinking. Now, I've made this my own dump site, for recent realizations and unresolved emotions.
I do not aim to please anyone with my writing skills, I am here to express not impress, although I wouldn't mind throwing a joke or two to make you smile.
For this assignment, I've decided to come-up with things that apply to me or to my friends. These aren't necessarily things that bug me... they're just things that I notice on an almost-everyday basis.
ENJOY!
7. Clicktation (click + temptation): noun. the urge to "click" on a retractable pencil or pen for n amount of times just for the sake of hearing the sound or for the sake of anti-boredom
6. Shwatch (shake + watch): verb. to shake the wrist in order to check the time on a very loose wrist watch
5. Bread-over: noun. the left-over bread edges when someone only wants the "white" part or the middle part of the bread, the ends of the bread loaf which is usually left in the package
4. Optalnista (optalmologist + fashionsta) noun. people who wear grade-less glasses or sun glasses (even in the dark) to look cool, smart or attractive
TOP 3
3. Substibrush (Substitute + Brush)
verb. to put on eye shadow with the use of bare fingers instead of brushes; to substitute brushes with something else
2. Bollution(Baller + Pollution)
noun. the inevitable discoloration of ballers or wrist bands due to pollution e.g. a white baller turning black
1. Make-down(inspired by the word make-up)
noun. cosmetics applied on face that does not help in making you look beautiful or concealing what you want to conceal; the act of applying make-up that will result into the collection of insults not compliments e.g. mascara that got smudged and wet = black eye look or highlighted eye bags
Just when I was about to write about who I consider creative, I remembered this video...
I guess as a business student, I find creativity in marketing plans or ads. I always wonder how they come up with such campaigns and if I can make something that creative some day. When I first saw this video, I was truly amazed with the concept or the thoughts put into this campaign, I was like... "How much more creative can you get???"
I believe an effective marketing agent or consultant is an embodiment of what a creative person is, which is, as how Sir Ken Robinson would put it, someone who has original ideas that have value. The value of marketing campaigns can be reflected on profit or awareness or basically the reaction of the customers and it is not always easy to please them. With the conceptual age at hand, the market is more dynamic more than ever. The power lies not anymore on the business, but on the customer. What a customer wants now may not be what they want tomorrow and so businessmen are challenged to come up with marketing strategies that would create value for what they have to offer. Basically, marketing plans should be able to "sell" their product... of course the only way they will be able to do this is if they have the ability to be creative.
As I've mentioned earlier, I find creativity in marketing campaigns and I think the AFLAC Duck Campaign shows how it is so. The case study basically presents how the mere use of senses can create a big idea. The company was struggling because not a lot of people knew about what the company had to offer or even the company itself.
Because of the poor brand recognition, the company decided to hire Kaplan Thaler Group (KTG), an ad agency. While some of the agents had some trouble memorizing the name AFLAC, they decided to practice saying it over and over again which made them notice how the name actually sounds like a duck quacking... and this is what arguably saved the company. Sir Ken Robinson said something like creativity occurs when there is an "interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things..." I believe this is what happened with the agency. The case does not specifically indicate who the came about the idea to make a duck the spokesperson for AFLAC, but I do believe and consider that person as a creative thinker. That person was able to see the name in a different way, and he was able to see an opportunity not everyone would be able to notice. His/ her idea was originally thought of, totally random and unexpected if i may add, and it resulted into a very high recognition for the company. This person was also able to engage into intersectional thinking which I understand basically as focusing on the quality of information not quantity. The Medici Effect of Frans Johansson expresses ideas on intersectional thinking and how it can be used in marketing and product development. He says in an interview that: "Increasingly I think that marketing and product development should be much more taking advantage of the diversity of cultures that exist in our society - leveraging the diversity we have globally. It’s not happening even remotely to the degree it should." Also, his book indicates how interdisciplinary approach can set a group apart which can lead to the discovery of more valuable things. KTG's agents were able to merge a simple idea, well it could be a pre-school idea of a quack, and a brand name. This opened a lot of possibilities for the company. They were able to draw a lot of gimmicks with just the premise that AFLAC sounds like a quack. I believe they were also able to carry out divergent thinking as they have produced many different ways to solve the problem and also different ways to look at it.
1. Make-down (inspired by the word make-up)
