Great PR stories come from great creative ideas, and here at Spa PR, getting together to come up with unique ideas for clients is part of our typical working week. No matter what our client’s objective is, we’ll head to our ‘green light’ space armed with news stories, case studies and mood boards to discuss ideas until we land upon what we feel is a winning story.
To ensure that our team is operating to its full creative potential we regularly expand our knowledge through off site training. This week we headed to the PRCA, Europe’s largest PR and communications body, to undertake the training course ‘Creativity – Transform your Capability’ lead by PR expert Andy Green. The course outlined how the optimum creative process should look, highlighted the different types of creative thinkers and demonstrated a whole host of unusual ways of freeing those genius ideas that are locked away in our subconscious.
So how do creative ideas come about, and what journey do they take from conception to realisation?
STAGE ONE: INFORMATION
Before propelling your mind into the world of creative thoughts, you need to prime your thinking. Do your research to see what’s been done before you, what you have to work with and what your main objective is.
STAGE TWO: INCUBATION
With plenty of inspiration now buzzing around your brain, it’s time to mull it over. Move away from your desk. Change your environment. Sleep on it. Utilise your commute: this part of your day sees you surrounded by a huge amount of stimuli, from sounds, smells and sights before you’ve even reached your desktop. Before logging onto your emails, spend a few minutes reflecting on the thoughts you’ve had, as the morning can be when your mind is working most creatively.
STAGE THREE: ILLUMINATIONS
Having prompted periods of information and incubation, illuminations naturally flow. Ideas will begin popping into your brain. Make sure to jot them down, no matter how ludicrous they might seem.
STAGE FOUR: INTEGRATION
Stage four sees you fleshing out your idea and questioning how it might work operationally. This also allows you to really get to the core of the idea and why it will grab attention. Ask yourself: if this idea was a phrase, what would it be? What would the t-shirt for this idea say? What would the headline say?
STAGE FIVE: ILLUSTRATION
Finally, it is our job as a PR agency to illustrate the idea, presenting it to our client as clearly as we possibly can. We do not reach this stage unless we’re confident as a team that we can execute the idea and translate it into valuable press coverage. We walk our client through our plan to dispel any doubts or reservations they might have, ensuring they feel comfortable for us to go ahead. From there, we release our winning idea into the world and watch the story unfold.