Creative Advertising and the Power of Imagination

Creative advertising stems from the advertiser’s ability to engage with their own imagination. Instead of retracing the steps of those who have come before you, use your imagination to follow in their footsteps to places unknown. It’s up to all of us to improve on the discoveries and creativity of the past. To start, practice and develop your sense of imagination. Only then can you drive your advertising to new creative heights.

The Wizard’s Seventh Law of the Advertising Universe

“Engage the imagination, then take it where you will. Where the mind has repeatedly journeyed, the body will surely follow. People go only to places they have already been in their minds. ”Since you can’t go to a place you haven’t yet seen in your mind’s eye, use your imagination to think of and picture the countless possibilities. It’s essential to have this mental flexibility that stems from being comfortable with the unknown. If you’re comfortable with the unknown, then you can journey in your mind to any place that could ever be. And you can do so without the internalized judgment that would slow you down otherwise. Let’s look at a real life example of how the mind and imagination can work to chart new paths. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 18 of the book Secret Formulas of The Wizard of Ads: “Ludwig van Beethoven was capable of hearing music in a silent world, but his ability to hear symphonies in his head was nothing special. Beethoven’s brain was no more capable than those of the people with whom you deal every day. Physiologically, each of us is Beethoven’s equal. You can hear Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in your mind right now, if you’d like. Remember how it begins? Just like you and me and Ludwig, your customers have the amazing ability to see with their eyes closed and to hear when there is no sound. They can touch what isn’t there and taste what they have not yet eaten. In your advertising, don’t speak to the world outside your customers, speak to the world inside their minds. Give them a taste of the experience you have waiting for them in this meeting place we call Reality.” Let’s look at how you can engage with your imagination to achieve creative advertising ideas. It sure worked for Beethoven!

How Does Imagination Influence Creativity

Strong imagination comes from curiosity and practice. If you can find interest in a subject, you can let your curiosity guide you. What do you wonder about? What makes sense? What doesn’t? How have others thought in the past? How could you think differently now? First, learn what you can, and then see where your curiosity takes you. The more curious you are, the more you can imagine answers to the varied questions you think of. In turn, you’ll improve your facility with engaging your imagination. The more facile you are with your imagination, the more you can draw on it during the creative process. If it takes half of your mental energy to give yourself permission to imagine, and then the other half is spent trying to tap into it, you’ll be drained before you know it. When you make a habit of falling back on your imagination regularly, it’ll become comfortable, just like anything else in life. Ask yourself…How creative could Beethoven have been if he had never developed his sense of curiosity or practiced using his imagination?

What Makes a Creative Advertisement?

Creative advertising requires a fresh take on an existing or new situation, problem or solution. To make your advertising efforts work for you, you’ll need to make an impression on your audience. Encourage a new frame of mind or a more nuanced understanding of an aspect of your industry or services. When you can elicit an emotional or intellectual response in your audience, you’ll start to hit home with your advertisements. Otherwise, your audience will see your commercial or billboard and then promptly move on with their life. But by encouraging them to reframe their mind or reflect on what they feel, then you’ve planted a seed in their mind. Eventually, with enough seeds, sales will sprout when your messages resonate with your audience.

Does Marketing Require Good Imagination?

It requires imagination to market originally and to your maximum effectiveness. You might be able to copy the campaigns of your competitors, but you’ll never chart your own path or achieve your potential. Think of it this way: if you only do what has already been done, then how can you achieve more than before? You can’t. In order to rise to the top of your industry, you’ll need to market your products or services in a fresh way. If you’re having a hard time crafting creative marketing solutions, then you’ve come to the right place for help. At Wizard of Ads®, we understand the creative process and how much of an art marketing can be. With our help, we can foster your sense of imagination and achieve previously-unknown goals. Contact us today!

How to use the Power of Imagination in Creating the Most Effective Advertising?

Powerful imagination can spark your advertising creativity. In turn, watch your sales figures grow as you achieve previously-unknown growth. That sounds great, right? But maybe you’re wondering how, still. Don’t worry, we’re not done yet. Read on for actionable steps you can take to engage your imagination, spark your creativity and improve your business’ marketing methods.

Explore your Passion

It starts with passion. Do you care about the problem your product is solving? Are you passionate about the solution you’re offering with your services? If you don’t believe in your passion, then you won’t be able to market effectively. It might work okay, but it’s not going to pique much interest or change many minds. It’s okay if you don’t know what you’re most passionate about yet. Start by reflecting on what services or products you offer, how they help and who they help. For example, imagine you sell mittens, which help people keep their hands warm. What about that moves you? How is your product unique? Does the idea of providing comfort matter to you? Maybe they’re the coziest mittens around. Or do you care about offering safety to those who spend time outdoors in the cold? Maybe they’re the most protective mittens. When you know what matters, you can show people why it does. If you can grow to understand what you feel moved by, then you’re well on your way to identifying the most important aspects of your business to focus on.

Learn to Focus

Speaking of focus, we recommend finding some. If you’re using too many different ideas to create your ads, then they probably won’t feel very convincing or moving. Without a narrow-enough focus, the takeaways will be unclear to your audience. Messaging needs to be clear in order to drive sales. Hone in on the core principles that matter, and then dive deeper into those. It’s more effective than merely glancing over many different aspects, which tends to be surface-level and unaffecting.

Be Observant

Artists observe and reflect on their surroundings. Whether it’s a painter soaking in a landscape, a poet reflecting on the human experience or a dancer interpreting an emotion, it starts with keen observation. The same is true in the world of advertising, which draws from its surroundings to inform its content. Some of the best ads are reflections of the most common experiences that consumers in their space go through. By noticing what others have already done, you can take it from where they left off rather than repeating the past.

Enhance Your Visual Marketing in Promoting Ideas

You can explain your product or services in nearly-endless ways, but you’re still putting words in your audience’s mind. With images and graphics, the words will come to the viewer from their own subconscious after they begin to interpret the image. That’s part of the reason why people say “a picture is worth a thousand words.” With visual marketing, you can engage your audience’s creativity more easily, allowing them to do some of the creative work for themselves. If you’re having a hard time thinking of how you can put words together in a new and interesting way, try to lighten that burden with visual marketing efforts.

Learn from the Experts

It’s important to achieve some level of originality when you’re trying to be creative. If it’s already been done, it’s not very creative for you to do it the same way again. Instead, you’ll need to put a twist on it somehow. That all starts, though, with learning from the experts. Their experience is invaluable, since you can build on their work. Beethoven could never have written the musical compositions he did during the Classical era if Bach hadn’t first set the stage during the Baroque era. Don’t just copy the experts, but do try to emulate them before you start re-inventing the wheel. Once you understand where your industry has already been, you can decide where you want to take it.

Research and Ask Questions

Be curious, and ask questions. Research, and find answers. And if there isn’t already an answer, then discover the solution yourself. Creativity is generally thought of as an art, and it is. But it’s also a science, which means you have to drive your creativity with information and data. By doing market research, you can find out about trends to see what might work for you. Focus on understanding what your audience wants and needs, and then tap into the psychology behind them. With a constant cycle of asking the right questions and discovering viable answers, your creativity will infuse all aspects of your marketing efforts.

Listen and Never Stop Learning

Don’t forget that asking questions isn’t the end. You have to listen to the answers! And once you hear what other sources are saying, you’ll need to think critically. What are you convinced by? What do you still need more information about? Are you able to make an informed decision yet? What else do you need to know? Learning is a life-long process, so you’ll need to keep your ears and mind open. Otherwise, you’ll become stagnant, which is a death sentence for creativity.

Tell Your Story (Create Ads)

When you create your ads, think of them as a story. Each ad is a chapter, and they all fit together to paint a picture or tell a story to the viewers. You can use sequences to funnel your audience down a particular path, or you can have stand-alone campaigns that relate back to your company’s core passions. Either way, your marketing content is going to offer an impression for your potential customers. The way you present your products and services will mean something to your audience, and it will have a large impact on whether they’re moved to act. When advertisements tell a story, they come across as authentic and compelling. An important part of creativity is originality, and by focusing on your story, you’re tapping into that originality. Since every company has its own story, yours is guaranteed to be unique. If you’re having trouble telling your story, then let us help you. With Wizard of Ads®, you can increase your advertising creativity to best compel your audience. Contact us at today! We can’t wait to help you give your business the boost it needs.