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So you've had your brainstorm, now what? You need to assess your ideas in the cold light of day. Discover the 5 ways the criteria for sticky ideas can improve the creative process, and give you the best chance of creating something that people will want to share.
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ideas with legs: how to produce content that people will share
by mark johnstone
this is my friend Sean (on the left). he’s a chef. I once asked Sean, “what’s the biggest mistake amateur chefs make?”
he said, “you don’t taste your food enough when you’re cooking”
that’s good advice, but ONLY IF when you taste your food, you’re able to quickly tell what it needs
a good chef continually tastes their food while they’re cooking and decides “more soy, more salt, more ginger…”
if it’s your job to come up with content ideas, you need to be able to assess your ideas and determine what they’re missing
somebody asked me recently, “which idea do you still think’s good even though it failed?”
this one
thomson.co.uk/blog/infographic/superbowl/index.html#2010
in the lead up to the 2012 super bowl, we visualised the data from all the previous super bowl matches
take the 2010 super bowl for example…
Indianapolis Colts took the lead in the
first quarter
they stayed in the lead
throughout the second quarter
Indianapolis Colts took the lead in the
first quarter
Saints mounted a comeback early
in the third
Colts regained the lead and held on until the last 5 minutes
Saints scored 2 touchdowns in the last 5
minutes to win the game
only 37 Facebook likes! what went wrong?
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
a novel execution that allows you to see the game in a new way
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
it takes something abstract (the score line over time) and makes it visible
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
it’s based on sound data
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
it tells the story of the game
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
but it wasn’t a story people cared about
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
if your team is in the super bowl this year, do you really care what the score was in previous years?
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
without the annotations, people found it hard to understand
Indianapolis Colts took the
lead in the first quarter
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the 6 criteria of sticky ideas
without the annotations, people found it hard to understand
Indianapolis Colts took the
lead in the first quarter
if we’d used these criteria up front,
it might have saved us pain down the line
simple unexpected (different) concrete credible emotional (resonant) story
the 2 most important criteria
but things might not need to be as different as you think
these are all separate editions of Men’s Health released in America in the
last 10 years
journalists will cover the same content time and time again
an example from our own work
these infographics show the habits of famous creative people - neither of them allow you to easily make comparisons
http://infowetrust.com/2014/03/26/creative-routines/ http://nymag.com/health/bestdoctors/2014/genius-sleeping-habits-2014-6/
so we made this
https://podio.com/site/creative-routines
you can filter to compare sleeping patterns
or compare work patterns, etc
19,000 likes 395 LRDs*
* Linking Root Domains
the way in which it’s different is where the value lies
but how do you come up with different ideas?
dataviz
data journalism
digital awards advertising
you need sources of inspiration for different executions (and knowledge of resonant topics within your niche)
dataviz
data journalism
digital awards advertising
build a swipe file
epicviz.tumblr.com
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
the criteria: know when not to use them
concerthotels.com/100-years-of-rock
96,400
LRDs* 507
likes
* Linking Root Domains
success! but how would we follow it… ?
* Linking Root Domains
96,400
LRDs* 507
likes
hey Phil, you know we showed HOW the different genres emerged? what if we could show WHY they emerged?
or what if you took one tune and played it in different styles? start off blues, make it rock, make it funk?
I saw this thing called the Bonhamizer once, where you take a pop song and add John Bonham on drums
oh, what if you could make your own super group?
hmmm… I wonder if that’s possible…
static.echonest.com/bonhamizer/
I started searching for Jimmy Page vocal solo
huh, that’s interesting…
data!
I discovered this site
therangeplace.forummotions.com
we ended up building this
102,000 likes 777 LRDs*
concerthotels.com/worlds-greatest-vocal-ranges * Linking Root Domains
what if?
what if?
what if?
we started with the idea of showing why genres emerged and ended up producing a piece on vocal ranges
what if?
what if?
what if?
we started with something rather vague but interesting and ended up with something concrete and compelling
what if?
what if?
what if?
if we’d brandished the criteria too early, we’d have killed the process dead
what if?
what if?
what if?
we allowed ourselves room to explore what was interesting, making lateral leaps without knowing where they would lead
what if?
what if?
what if?
give your ideas room to grow
divergent emergent convergent
the 3 stages of idea generation
source: ‘Gamestorming’ by Gray, Brown & Macanufo
divergent emergent convergent
use the criteria to inform your research and idea generation
divergent emergent convergent
leave the criteria alone and give your ideas room to grow
divergent emergent convergent
use the criteria to coldly assess your ideas
so you’ve got your idea - now for the pitch!
this is honestly how we used to pitch ideas (in email!)
we’ve only described WHAT the idea is
we’ve done nothing to sell them on WHY it will work
how to sell clients on the WHY
a while back, the web was suffering from infographic fatigue
flowingdata.com/2010/02/15/data-underload-9-big-graphic-blueprint/
a while back, the web was suffering from infographic fatigue
but every now and then, a piece would come along that used the long, tall format brilliantly
ripetungi.com/shark-attack/
we used this as inspiration for a more light-hearted piece
side-note: this is one slide from the idea pitch deck (a bit better than the old emails we used to send!)
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
we explained the criteria to the client, and how the idea stacked up against them
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
you don’t have to tick every box,
you just need to know where the weaknesses lie
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
even with the weaknesses, we felt this idea was worth a punt. we were transparent with the client. he agreed. it worked.
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
25,400 likes 184 LRDs*
* Linking Root Domains concerthotels.com/ipod-visualized-as-vinyl
? ideation pitch production
we once had a client who lost faith in an idea midway through production
so we shared the criteria with him, and discussed the idea.
it turned out just to be an issue with the copy. peopledesign.com/creating-the-new
the creative process can be a rollercoaster of clarity & confusion, confidence and doubt
if you lose your way, use the criteria to assess the production.
it can get you back on track and everyone back on board. peopledesign.com/creating-the-new
five ways the SUCCES criteria can improve the creative process
focus on what’s different (unexpected)
what if?
what if?
what if?
give your ideas room to grow
(put the criteria down)
choose pain up front
I’d sooner choose the pain of going back to the drawing board than push through an idea that doesn’t have legs
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
sell them on the WHY
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Story
keep things on track
simple unexpected concrete credible emotional story
follow these steps and you’ll give yourself
a better chance of producing content people will share
thank you
@epicgraphic