As a busy PR agency working across lots of different sectors, including food & drink, natural health, beauty and lifestyle, creativity is at the top of our agenda. We are constantly challenging ourselves to come up with new and different campaigns, product launches and coverage ideas.
Of course, when we’re working with new and different products, this is a fun and exciting part of the job we do. But what about when we are asked to come up with ideas to promote a product or brand that has been on the market for some time or a company that has no new news. This is when our creativity is really put to the test!
Here’s what we do when we look for inspiration …
Brainstorm creativity
When it comes to creative brainstorming, these are some top tips:
– Change the scene – don’t brainstorm in the same place you always work – dive out to a local restaurant when it’s not busy or, if you are all working from home that day, everyone can have a lively, colourful background on their video conference
– Bring new people on board – if the same team of people have worked with a brand for some time, it’s helpful to bring new people into the mix to get some fresh thinking
– Act fast – keep brainstorms short and snappy – this kind of time pressure is often the trigger for the best ideas!
– If someone has an idea, ask everyone to focus on this for a short time and try to take it somewhere, rather than have a constant flow of random top level ideas
Spin it!
It’s often the case that the core information is there, it just needs a different spin putting on it to make it more media-friendly. There are many ways to look at things from a new angle:
– Review the collateral you already have, turn an idea on its head and look at it differently
– Think about current trends and how these products might fit in
– Look at seasonal awareness days, weeks and months; maximise these opportunities
– Repurpose existing content into a format that might appeal to a target journalist or influencer such as ‘hacks’ or ‘top tips’
– Offer product as a competition prize to guarantee coverage
Reactive vs proactive
Rather than a proactive approach it can sometimes be beneficial to take a reactive one instead. We constantly monitor the news environment for relevant stories that our clients can react to. This could be stories put out by the government, changes in laws or more light-hearted news around celebrities or the royal family. Having an expert on board can really help to bolster reactive commentary, giving it credibility and a much greater chance of being used in the press. Just make sure your experts are fully briefed and can work with a tight turnaround!
Testimonials
Many journalists specialise in real life stories so having a database of case studies to use when there is less new news to talk about can be a hidden gem in your PR armour. Case studies work well because readers can empathise with other people telling their personal stories; it’s believable and credible content. Obviously, these won’t work for every product or brand but when relevant they can be a handy mechanic to have up your sleeve when the current well of stories runs dry!
