The average person requires a few distinct necessities in life. He needs meaningful work. He needs meaningful relationships. He needs to know himself.

The creative man (and woman) has one other driving force within that is so strong, it can sometimes overshadow all these needs: The need to make new things.

This is a passion that only another creative person can understand. Now I know everyone is creative. Of course to an extent every person is. Everyone can draw. But not everyone is a Warhol. Everyone can sing. But not everyone is a Pavarotti. Ok. You get the picture.

To a professional creative, being creative is a big part of who they are. For some, creativity is synonymous with their existence. Sound insane? If it does, you are probably not a creative by calling nor profession.

For myself, I started out as an advertising copywriter busting my ass working myself to death for the next big idea. I dreamt of winning big, shiny awards. I did. But it was never enough. I needed new awards. Awards aren’t bad. They push creative thinking forward. They reward innovation and punish mediocrity.

A few years later, the digital wave emerged. I switched from mainstream advertising to interactive. I had to. I had to make new things. And digital was the new thing.

A few years into the digital scene, I realised that to climb the creative ladder, I had to think more broadly than I did already. I had to be more than just a creative guy. I had to be strategic in output. So I embraced strategy. I fused digital planning with creative. I found that I had what it took to dive into data to find pearls of insight.

To make new things, I first had to sell new things. Strategy doesn’t just inform creative work. It sells creative work. Now I had control over the thinking behind the creative solution as well as the solution itself. Score! So this is how my mentors succeeded in becoming the awesome creative leaders they were. Over time, they mastered both sides of the equation.

TWO LOVES

To do great creative work today, I believe you need to love information and ideas. It used to be all about ideas – stories that said one big thing. That was fine in the days of analogue media, where brand communication was a one-way street. Brands spoke. People listened. Those days are over. I don’t need to explain why because you know the reasons already.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying ideas aren’t important. Great ideas are how we will forever powerfully persuade people and create fantastic emotive experiences. Ideas built empires. Inspired the renaissance. Raised Disneyland.

INFORMATION

I’m talking about facts, statistics, trends. You need to love data. You need to understand how people plug into and use the Web. You need to keep abreast with ever-evolving digital technology. Have an awareness of how stuff works.

You don’t need to know everything in detail. Just enough to help you reach and talk to people in ways they care about. You need to know how best to bring your digital ideas to life. And you will only know how to if you love information.

I know how creatives generally like data as much as they like a butt rash. But, really, the more you work with information, the more priceless it’ll become to you. Especially when it’s time to ideate.

These days I look back and cringe when I think about how naive I was to believe all I needed was a kick ass idea and (a) the client will love it and (b) the product would fly off the shelves. My work would’ve been better if I hadn’t bought the lie that strategy wasn’t my business; that all I had to be concerned about was with my ideas, copy and art direction.

IDEAS

In addition to loving information, you need to love ideas. I think you, being a creative professional, already love great ideas and know how to generate lots of them. So I won’t elaborate here.

LET’S MAKE NEW THINGS

Information and ideas. These are keys to making awesome digital work happen. Think about it. All the most envied creative digital work in the world are great ideas founded on useful information. I think I’ll just end here.

We often begin the design or creative process with “what’s the problem we are trying to solve?”

This is not wrong, just myopic, in my opinion.

Because that starting point, more often than not, tends to focus on the CLIENT’S business goals above all else.

Somewhere along the line, the creative industry has left the USER/consumer/person out.

Example: Nokia and Apple make mobile phones.

Global mobile giant Nokia has lost out to Apple in the smartphone segment due to the latter’s broader product and services ecosystem and its smooth integration -meeting a need to fit everything together; its vast offering of entertainment (games, music and movies), practical apps, and other content (podcasts) – meeting a need to be entertained and learn; and a religious emphasis on usability and simplicity (notice how Apple devices come with minimal user manuals?) – meeting a need to use something quickly and effortlessly.

To end users, the iPhone simply meets needs better than Nokia.

Whether you’re making a digital or physical product, it all begins with the correct understanding of latent needs.

Upon that understanding or insight, build unmatched experiences and you will have a killer product.

Narrative.

Ad agencies are traditionally excellent at narrative aspects of brand communication. Everything they do tells and furthers a brand story. TV, newspapers, billboards, other unidirectional media, are regarded as a means to say something to people. One grand story, a meta-narrative, is expressed through several versions of it; also known as an ad campaign.

The creative challenge is to cut through the clutter of competing ad narratives. Media folks choose the best mediums to push the stories to a target group of “audiences” and “readers”.

Narrative thinking stems from a single-minded proposition. It is built on a highly distilled, reductive thought process.

That singular insight or proposition is believed to be able to persuade people to do something. Buy a car. Waste less electricity. Give money to charity. Brand guardians ensure that that one message is played out consistently on all forms of media. A brand cannot have more than one key message, it is argued, because people don’t have the time nor mental capacity to remember more than one.

Narrative thinking is generally linear. Like any good story, all ads have a beginning (headline), middle (copy), and end (call to action). Ad campaigns have a preset media flight: teaser, launch, maintenance, end.

Systemic.

Systemic thinking looks for relationships between discrete touchpoints in an ecosystem. It tries to determine how users flow from the use of medium to another. They try to figure out the best way to engage them at each touchpoint in the system. Digital agencies, by and large, think this way.

Systemic thinking is also interested in how well digital objects, code, and procedures work. They want to know how and how well people use and experience things. Processes are reviewed intensively. Metrics are scrutinised. Optimisation is a non-stop affair.

Systemic thinking is largely non-linear in direction and time. An interaction between a user and a digital object or service can happen anytime, anywhere, in any order or direction between touchpoints. Multiple interactions can happen almost simultaneously. Not just that, users can carry on interacting with a digital idea years after its public release, it lives on cyberspace as long as users want it to.

In contrast to reductive thinking, systemic thinking is expansive. It is relatively complex. But the complexity is derived from the notion that (a) they must locate relevant touchpoints (b) they must make individual touchpoints work well (c) each touchpoint must work well in harmony with others.

Narrative & Systemic.

While narrative thinkers want to say something to people, systemic thinkers want people to enjoy experiencing or using something.

Here’s an example from theatre.

Narrative types want to write the play, design the props, rehearse the orchestra, cast and direct the characters. Systemic types want to select the theatre, arrange the chairs, programme the lights, man the ticket booth, appoint security, plan the night’s itinerary, arrange for air conditioning or heating. The best performances are a sublime combination of both.

Creative agencies from mainstream and digital need to employ or at least understand both ways of thinking in order to stay culture current or relevant, and to do the most engaging work in the world.

Think of narrative thinking as the soul of a person. It’s the realm of emotions, intellect, logic, desire, motivation. Think of systemic thinking as the body of a person. The framework in which everything works in harmony.

Narrative thinkers need to be reminded that we are not all soul. We are bone, organs, five senses, infinitely complex, a hyper-connected Internet unto ourselves. A poorly functioning body is a sick one. And a sick body affects the soul.

Conversely, systemic thinkers must appreciate that we are not all body. We need the soul or else our intricate, clockwork-precision, supremely-designed body is meaningless, very much dead.

Complementary parts with bespoke messages in each one.

Nike Chalkbot is a machine/vehicle plugged into the Web that writes positive messages on roads for pro cyclists, and the world, to read.

The soul or message: you can express yourself any way you like; you can show the world you are fighting cancer with everything you’ve got; you have the power to spread optimism. Be like Armstrong. Just do it.

The body or system: all the parts that go into making it work well. Server. Website. Chalking mechanism. Social media links. Publicity. So much complexity and integration happens in the background. But to people, the experience is seamless, fast, easy.

Nike+ is another example of fused narrative and systemic thinking. It extends the Nike story – in fact you are an essential ongoing part of it. It integrates highly relevant touchpoints (running shoe, iPod, social media circle) flawlessly. Each touchpoint lets you do something different.

Nike+ is here for the long run. The recently launched Nike+ GPS is opening up new spaces of engagement, taking the story and experience further. Where are the boundaries of digital, branding, advertising and activation? Does it even matter to its fans?

Takeaway.

The next chance you get to do something “360”, think more broadly.

See the narrative perspective if you’re used to thinking systemically. What do you need to say? Do you have a strong story or idea? Is it something that will move people? Can you improve the production quality of the story? Can you tell several versions of the story yet stay true to its theme?

Think systemically if you usually think narratively. What do you want people to experience? Can you make something tangible or digital that people will want to interact with? Are there touchpoints you haven’t thought of yet? How can you link everything together seamlessly for people? How can you tell small stories in each touchpoint? How could your creations take on a life of their own, beyond a typical time frame?

Do this and more complete, memorable, relevant, innovative engagement will be the result.

//Essay written by Joel Lim and inspired by Nick Law’s comments on narrative and systematic thinking//

Contention: Social Media was created to facilitate social interaction, forge relationships, between people. Not to sell product. Pay heed to the relational aspect of social media marketing. Or risk mid to long-term disappointment.

Although the magic and charm of a sumptuous old yarn passed orally from person to person will never fade, the interactive possibilities offered by digital media promises storytellers and story recipients multi-sense and immersive appeal.

Everyone loves a good story. And you probably know certain elements that make up a typical story: the characters involved, a storyline, a beginning and an ending. I propose that in addition, there are certain factors you may have missed that you must consider to make your good story a great one.

Here are three tips to make interactive stories memorable, even powerful.

1. THE BACKSTORY

Every good story has a good backstory. What is the premise? What has happened in the past that has led to the present? To think up a plausible back story, imagine a series of flashbacks and what each flashback should be about.

The backstory or stories should provide the reasons why the characters in your story do what they do, are where where they are, and are what they are. Even if your backstory is never revealed to your user, having one will ensure your story is cohesive and consistent in every way.

2. CREATE TENSION

If your story has no villian, you have no hero. If there is no threat of dismal failure, you won’t have the possibility of a resounding success. If there is no dilemma, there is no need for breakthrough.

The Titanic was touted as unsinkable. But an iceberg was its nemesis. Romeo loved Juliet. But their families tore them apart. If the submariner sealed the door that led to a compromised compartment filling up fast with sea water, his fellow sailors trapped in that chamber would drown. If he didn’t, every single person on board would die.

Add tension to your tale or it will be, at best, ignored. And don’t wait too long to introduce it either.

Put your user in the middle of the tension. Let them ‘feel’ it. Is there a decision to be made?

3. REWARD THEM ALONG THE WAY

Thanks to the responsive nature of interactive works, you can encourage users to keep listening to your awesome story by rewarding their continued interest.

For instance, unlock backstories, let them collect knowledge points, hide ‘easter eggs’, or tempt them with a chance to win big fat prizes.

A NICE EXAMPLE

Breaka Island, a microsite I worked on with the team at Cru, is an example of a well-told interactive story. Log onto breakaisland.com.au and discover for yourself the factors of a good story used to great effect.

I end with this quote:

Brands are becoming our friends – on social networks like Facebook, on the messaging site Twitter and through corporate blogs … Brands, too, must lean to establish an identity through storytelling.

Pete Cashmore, CEO, Mashable.com

- Will treat people like people. And not ‘users’. To add, people never talk to organisations. We talk to people. Say hi to Mick.

- Will be conversant in online and offline communication and their nuances. People are not online 24/7. They drive. Play. Dine. Work. Shop (in shops). Go on dates. Draw. Read (books). Commute. Digital agencies need to be creative agencies first or play second fiddle to advertising agencies forever. Read this report.

- Will contain a very engaging idea. To earn attention in an increasingly crowded Web.

- Will be supremely findable. Invest in Search Engine Optimisation – and Marketing if you’ve extra dollars. As of 2008, your site is one of over 186 million in cyberspace. If people don’t find you, you might as well not exist.

Marketers no longer have total control over what their brands stand for. Gen Y are active participants in the brand narrative. No matter what you say to them, ultimately, they will decide what your brand means. Via Web backchannels (Twitter/Facebook/Digg) they control what your brand means to millions.

Classically, marketers would get their 4Ps in order and determine a positioning statement to set them apart from the competition. Then they would hammer their audiences with slogans and taglines that prop up their positioning. I propose that this may not be the best way to market brands today.

GOOD NEWS: YOU HAVE THE SAME TOOLS THEY DO

I’m not knocking the single-minded proposition or positioning statement. A brand should have a core “idea” or reason for its existence. What I am suggesting is that instead of forcing a one-size-fits-all brand proposition on all and sundry, marketers and advertisers should have a broader set of brand values that reveal different facets of the core proposition. Since consumers are going to expand the meaning of your brand whether you like it or not, you might as well broaden your brand territory – give them more space to play.

To do this:

1. Figure out your Core Brand Proposition. A statement. A word.
2. Expand your core brand definition by choosing related values, words, statements, the facets of your brand, to place within the green Brand Conversation Parameter. The green zone/parameter is where you want your brand to be or what you want it to be associated with. The red zone is the no go area for your brand.
3. Be a shepherd. Keep all brand communications you control within the green zone. Influence the ongoing conversation about your brand by users (whom you have no control over) by being vigilant online, creating spaces for offline and online activities and interaction, helping them discover and explore new facets of your brand, and so on. “Give us the tools, make it easy for us, and we will join your tribe” – Seth Godin.

Figure 1. Brand Conversation Parameters