My father grew up during the Great Depression. It may be hard to imagine now, but there was no TV during the 1930s, so the media of choice was the radio. My dad always said that TV killed imagination. How could he say that? With all of its special effects, and advanced graphics, I see a lot of imagination on TV. He would argue that a good radio show would cause you to draw up each scene in your own mind. What you saw was not what another person envisioned. It was interactive that way. It caused you to think during the show. TV, he would argue, is an unimaginative medium. You have given up any creative thinking to what the director wants you to see. If the show is poorly shot, you don’t think of a better camera angle. If the actors aren’t believable, you don’t think of a more effective way to pull off a scene. You just accept what is given to you. In this way, we all turn off our brains and let someone else do all of our thinking for us. This creates a sort of creative ignorance.

Let’s apply that to the creative side of marketing your business. A lot of time and effort are given to attracting people to your business, your products and your services. In marketing, we want all of these to stand out from the competition. That starts with the way you package your brand. From your web site to your collateral materials (brochures, business cards, folders, etc.) to trade show displays to the actual packaging that holds your product – it all needs to stand out from the rest of the brands that are trying to sell a competitive product or service. Your "look” needs to be unique and creative. It needs to reflect who you are and what you are trying to sell. The creative ignorance comes into play when we try to copycat what is popular right now and steal the latest trending design idea.

But is there anything new under the sun? Haven’t we seen it all before? American author and humorist Mark Twain said, "There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.” It may be that we keep recirculating the same ideas over and over again. Does that mean that creativity is dead? No, it just means we are looking at things from a different angle than we did before. So what works? Anything that will get the attention of your customer visually is a win. But copying all of the creative things your competition is doing is a big loser! Why? If you do what everyone else is doing, you will simply blend in with them. Blending is not effective marketing. So when someone suggests to you that you need to minimize your graphics on your web site because that is the trend, I say buck the trend and add the graphics. Likewise, when the trend is to put large scrolling banners at the top of your web site, why do it? Turn the kaleidoscope and come up with a different combination.

If you have trouble coming up with a new visual idea, I might suggest you hire someone who can help you create something unique. We live in a very visual world and that impacts our marketing in a big way. Without creativity, nothing really sells. And without the ability to separate yourself visually from your competition, you are merely wallpaper. Be creative, be unique, stand out from the background! Your marketing effectiveness demands it and your business relies on it.