Opinion: Four ways to inspire creativity in your PR campaign
“Creativity is the standard that sets people in PR apart”, says Sophie Chadwick, account director at PR and creative agency Peppermint Soda. With the majority of PRCA members citing creativity as one of the most important factors when it comes to winning new business, Chadwick offers four top tips to ensure you don’t lose your “creative mojo” when setting out on a new PR campaign.
Sophie Chadwick
Creativity is the standard that sets people in PR apart, and coming up with ideas for campaigns can be one of the best aspects of the job. But, in an industry where you’re constantly expected to ‘think outside of the box’, it’s easy to sometimes lose your creative mojo.
So, while according to members of the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA), creativity is one of the most important factors in PR when it comes to winning pitches, 71% of members in the PRCA’s Leaders’ Panel believed that the industry still doesn’t showcase enough creativity.
If you need an inspirational boost to help you come up with those outstanding PR ideas you’re known for, we’ve got four tips to help you start inspiring creativity within your next campaigns:
1. Have smaller sessions
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has a rule in business that if a team can’t be fed by two pizzas, then the team is too big.
Research by the consultancy firm QSM found that smaller teams were able to work much more effectively than larger teams – working up to five times faster. Having smaller sessions means that people feel less inclined to talk over each other and will listen to one another more, therefore increasing the likelihood of a good creative session.
Steve Jobs once said that creativity is just connecting things. Whether it’s a fun environment, new perspectives or the mindset of an audience, find what it is that helps you connect with your creativity. In PR, you’ll find that you’ll get the best out of yourself and your campaigns when you let your creative spark loose.
2. Bring someone new into your creative sessions
Collaboration is the key to creativity. Bring influencers into your ideas generation sessions and you’ll find that with new thought processes, you’ll have more perspectives at your disposal.
You never know, these perspectives may bring something to the table that nobody else had managed to think of, which could then launch you into a whole new world of ideas.
3. Put yourself in the mind of the audience
In any campaign, it’s essential that you take the time to really consider who the intended target audiences are. What will they be watching, listening to and reading? This is where you need to focus your energy.
Use insight to research the audience(s) and find out the key demographics and interests that you and your team should be aware of. By doing this, you’ll have a much clearer idea of where you need to go, and whether there are any potential limits to your creativity that you should be aware of.
4.Have fun when it comes to the campaign
During a TED Talk, Tim Brown, CEO of the IDEO consultancy firm, once said that offices where people had the security and comfort to play with ideas and have fun without being judged were more inclined to take chances and creative risks. In terms of PR, bringing fun into your decision-making will help massively.
It doesn’t have to be a massive commitment, but having a more fun and positive working environment will really help to boost how hard your team works. Occasional games and fun activities, or even regular social events, will help people to bond with one another and will also have a huge impact on creative ideas.
Sophie Chadwick is an account director at Manchester PR and Creative agency Peppermint Soda.
