Digging For The Bone: How to Jumpstart Creative Thinking2. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
great ideasin advertising?
what’s it like
coming up with...
3. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
great ideaswhen problem-solving?
in advertising?
what’s it like
coming up with...
4. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
great ideas
what’s it like
coming up with...
when brain-storming
new approaches?
when problem-solving?
in advertising?
6. creativity is not a magical thing
that just happens.
great question!
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
9. (but more like a human dog)
dog
you’re a
It’s like
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
11. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
notOnly that one
because I
couldn’t get
the rights.
14. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
And the yard you’re digging in...
16. NO IDEA
And, you have
Where in this yard the bones are buried.
?
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
17. NO IDEA
Not only that, you have
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
How deep the bones are buried.
19. And some bones are
20 feet
underground
deepDigging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
20. And if you want one of those bones,
there’s only
one thing to do...
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
21. And if you want one of those bones,
iggin
Digging for the Bone
© 2014
Mark Simon Burk
there’s only
one thing to do...
23. place shovel in ground
doesn’t matter
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
26. And for a while…No bones.
But you
give up.don’tDigging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
27. You plant your shovel into the ground
in as many different places as possible.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
28. Until...
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
You plant your shovel into the ground
in as many different places as possible.
32. bone
You’re excited!
It’s your first
You pull it from the ground.
But as you hold
it up for all to see...
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
33. It crumbles to dust
right in your hand.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
34. Why?
The truth is, 99% of the first
ideas you’ll come up with
are garbage
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
35. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
You gotta dig past all
those run-of-the-mill
ideas, obvious analogies
and awful puns.
But that’s okay.
Enjoy it!
39. So what do you do?
?! (bummer)
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
Well, you still
have no bone.
40. You pick up your shovel
and you keep on
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
digging
41. And all the while
you’re never sure whether
you should keep where you are,
or stop and go
dig somewhere
else for ideas.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
digging
43. And it’s why you sometimes go back
to a hole you’d been digging before,
because now you have…
a hunch.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
44. Almost as if you’d been
given a glimpse of some
x
x
x
secret hidden
bone map
Translation:You revisit an idea you’d dug up earlier,
because now you have a better understanding of the
problem or
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
45. Translation:You revisit an idea you’d dug up earlier,
because now you have a better understanding of the
problem or
Almost as if you’d been
given a glimpse of some
you’ve uncovered an insight into your
customer’s behavior or...
secret hidden
bone map
x
x
x
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
46. you found a new way
into the problem by
Could be because of
happy accident.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
47. Could be because of
a conversation you overheard
on the subway
or a song lyric that hits you.
happy accident.
you found a new way
into the problem by
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
49. and then...
dig
digAnd so you
continue to
and
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
51. You hit something!
A rock? No.
How many times
have you hit a rock
before that you
hoped was a bone?
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
53. You dig around it,
and beholdit really is a bone!
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
54. And remembering how easily the first one crumbled,
You take it out gently and brush it off with your
bone
brushDigging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
55. This one doesn’t crumble.
woohoo!
and
whaddaya
know!
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
58. and you tuck it
into your bone pouch.
And you’re very excited
about this bone
so you carefully wrap it up
in a linen cloth
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
60. hove
You pick up your
and you get
back to your
digging
because now
you’re hungry
for more bones.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
61. GOODat this bone-finding thing.
And after a
while, you start
getting pretty
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
62. Good enough, that
your bone bag
is filling up with all
kinds of bones.
In fact, you’re
getting so good at
it, that one day
when you stop
for a break
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
63. nwrayou that first real bone you found,
which you’d swaddled in linen...
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
64. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
And you can’t believe it!
HUH?!
65. HUH?!Turning it over in your hands,
you say to yourself...
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
And you can’t believe it!
66. I thought this was a good idea?!
seriously?
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
68. Because since that
You’ve found
first bone
much more insightful bones,
funnier bones,
more thoughtful bones.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
69. And then you do
something very
BOLD
Because since that
You’ve found
first bone
much more insightful bones,
funnier bones,
more thoughtful bones.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
70. You let that bone roll
out of your hand and
to the ground
fall Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
72. When it hits the earth it
s plin erstinto a hundred pieces.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
73. There are others who see this happen.
And they can’t believe that you
They thought what you had was a pretty good idea!
dropped
iDigging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
75. But now you know better.
You know it
socavalier!
wasn’tsuch a great bone after all.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
76. And so, you get back on
your feet, and you continue
digging through the
day
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
79. night
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
Until one late night your
shovel hits something
that sounds different.
81. Not like a rock, but also not like the
other bones you’ve found.
WHAA?!Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
82. You throw down your
And get down on your paws
and knees and dig around it.
shovel
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
84. You paw around it
and finally unearth it.
You take out your special bone
brush and after a few strokes,
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
85. you catch your first
glintDigging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
87. And as you lift it from
the ground, you think
This bone is...
this bone has
my lord!
weight
like I’ve never felt
in a bone before.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
89. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
GOLD.
solid
Fully uncovered, this bone
reflects the moon so brightly that
the whole park is cast in its light.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
90. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
GOLD.
solid
One by one, all the other
diggers stop and stare over at
the Golden Bone you alone
hold in your hands.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
91. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
They are awestruck by its brilliance
92. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
They are awestruck by its brilliance
and truth be told
95. jealousy
YOU found it.
not them.
because
And
jealous?
uh,yeah!
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
each one seers with a small pang of
96. Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
And that’s what it takes
to dig up a Killer Idea.
97. And that’s what it takes
to dig up a Killer Idea.
It takes effort and
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
98. INSIGHTS
to find the
into how people think and feel
about a product or service
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
99. INSIGHTS
or the challenge you’re charged with solving.
into how people think and feel
about a product or service
to find the
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
100. INSIGHTSAnd it takes a lot of poking around the
human behaviors that surround it.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
101. It also means paying close attention
to your own creative process, so you
can more efficiently
triggeryour own
thinking
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
102. It also means paying close attention
to your own creative process, so you
can more efficiently
your own
thinking
trigger
Like knowing what time of day,
and where, you’re most productive.
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
103. (very important, especially
when under pressure!)
It also means paying close attention
to your own creative process, so you
can more efficiently
trigger
Like knowing what time of day,
and where, you’re most productive.
your own
thinking
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
109. The reward is well
WORTH IT
Digging for the Bone
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
110. Taught by Mark Simon Burk
School of Visual Arts, NYC
sva.edu/continuing-education/
advertising
BRANDnvinc.com
@BRANDnv
mburk@brandnvinc.com
‘Digging for the Bone’
© 2014 Mark Simon Burk
(how to do)
killer work!