Selling creativity

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G e ne va
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Tokyo

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Section 1 The truth about creativity

Section 2 The power to influence
I. Rapport
II. Confirmation Bias
I. Story Versus Facts
II. Asch Effect
III. Fear and Courage
IV. Fortitude and Determination

Section 3 Creativity in action

Our clients need
creativity more
than ever

creativity

“The capacity to bring together
knowledge and imagination”
Frank Barron, Psychologist

“Original ideas that have value”
Sir Ken Robinson, Education and Creativity Specialist, author and speaker

Forget titles, job descriptions,
and hierarchy—creativity is not
Creativity a skill set; it’s a mindset, an
opportunistic orientation that
is in Everyone resists habitual thinking and
invites courageous exploration.
To be human is to be creative.

The contradictions of creativity
contribute to the mystery
surrounding it. Creativity is
intelligent, yet requires a
willingness to ask questions and
Creativity be open to possibilities. It is
inspired by playfulness, but
is Paradoxical disciplined toward an end.
Passionate but objective,
energetic but reflective, individual
as well as collaborative—these
are just a few of creativity’s
contradictions.

Creativity is generative, productive
and open to many alternatives.
Creativity But at its heart, it seeks to make
a difference. Creativity values and
is Constructive celebrates imagination and
mandates the practical application
of its output.

Creativity values imagination over
image. It requires a willingness to
let go of certainties and think
expansively; it also demands a
Creativity strong dose of determination and
self-belief. History proves that new
is Courageous ideas and concepts are often met
with apathy, ridicule or even
hostility. This is why courage and
creativity are brothers.

Seeing and perceiving are two
different things. Sight is visual and
concrete; perception is individual
Creativity and interpretive. Highly creative
people have a well-developed
is Perceptive ability to see things in new ways,
detect patterns and make
connections that others may miss.

Environments that allow the
freedom to explore, exposure to
stimulus and time to reflect inspire
individual and collective creativity.
Creativity Imaginative thinking can be
can be Inspired suppressed by excessive rules
and regulations, siloed thinking,
or Suppressed stigmatization of failure, hyper-
focus on efficiency and the
elevation of conformity over
originality.

Children tend to be less self-
conscious than adults and this
natural naïveté leads them to ask
more questions and think more
laterally. Adults’ experience, and
Creativity expertise can lead them to
prematurely shut down new routes
is Childlike of thinking. Creativity is often
served when we “think like a kid,”
unfettered by all the reasons
something might not work but
inspired by what could be.

Human beings do not like
ambiguity; it makes most people
uncomfortable. The hallmark of a
creative thinker is a willingness to
Creativity accept ambiguity, embrace
discomfort, and focus on the
Accepts Ambiguity promise of possibility. Rather
than rush back to what is familiar,
the creative mind lingers, trading
comfort for potential.

The Truth About Creativity

It would be nice if great work always sold itself.
Sometimes it does

More often it doesn’t

The Truth About Creativity

All of us spend a great deal of our lives tapping into,
driving and building our capacities for creativity

We invest in it so that we can harvest it for our clients

We spend hours, days, nights and weekends
generating great creativity, brilliant ideas,
winning strategies, beautifully executed
campaigns, designs, promotions
We often spend very little time thinking about
how we are going to share this creativity

This is not
just about
selling

It’s about inspiring
your clients to see the
potential in the work
you have generated

Application versus Arrogance

If you think about it, there’s arrogance in the notion
that clients should be able to “see” the brilliance

And again, sometimes it is obvious

But when it’s not, you need to be as creative about
how you present the work, as you were in its
conception

creativity
courage & creativity

This session is all about arming
you with the knowledge and
strategies that will put you in a
position to more effectively
overcome the obstacles that
creativity faces

Rapport

you must work to truly
understand your client(s)

you must have empathy for
them and their situation

that means suspending your
own agenda and thinking
about their central issue

“When you have rapport with someone,
they are paying attention to what you have
to say. Without rapport they are not”
Stephanie Palmer, “Good in a Room”

Without rapport,
it is very hard to
influence others

It would be easy if we could
simply tell people what to do
Facts are seldom enough
Reason isn’t always enough
Brilliant work isn’t even
always enough

Creativity
is Not Enough

Creative thinkers must
navigate dynamic social
networks in the drive
to actualization
These dynamic networks
are easier to navigate
with rapport

Great work
is not sufficient
It must get produced
And getting it produced
takes guts and a lot of
influence

Connections must be
made to get great work
produced Creativity is
The more revolutionary Constructive
the work, the more
important the connections

obvious mandatories to getting great work produced

Meets project objectives Competitively strong

Grounded in consumer
Meets success criteria
understanding

Relevant to intended
Beautiful
audience

Unfortunately, even
surmounting all of these
hurdles is seldom enough

Connections
must be made

Others need to feel and
believe in the influence
of the work

Others need to
believe in you

“When someone with a great idea doesn’t present it
effectively, it not only hurts them, but all of us as well.
Why? Because mediocre ideas will get purchased and
produced if superior ideas aren’t pitched well enough”

“My point is not that pitching is everything. Rather, it’s
that good products deserve good packaging and great
ideas deserve a great pitch”

rapport and likeability
Likeability is a crucial ingredient

in building rapport

“Quick! Someone save the cat!”

Predetermination

Predisposition
To determine, decide or
establish in advance
None of us walks into a room
without firmly established
ideas and opinions already in
our heads
We come in with knowledge,
experiences, biases and
opinions

predetermination

People are biased toward confirming their existing beliefs

People regularly display a phenomenon called confirmation bias,
first noted by Francis Bacon almost 400 years ago. As he noted,
“The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion ...
draws all things else to support and agree with it.”

This is a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice
and to look for what confirms one’s beliefs and to ignore, not look
for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one’s beliefs.

Research shows that providing
reasons for change to those
who disagree with you only
serves to entrench them more
deeply in opposition to what
you are proposing.

—Francis Bacon’s Confirmation Bias
Charles Lord and Stanford University on
capital punishment

Stephen Denning: “The Secret Language of Leadership”

Why are people seemingly
so unwilling to reevaluate their
positions even when presented
with credible, factual evidence
that would seem to refute their
views?
It would seem that a rational,
clear– thinking person could be
influenced by credible evidence
Drew Weston and Emory University study


typical presentations

We typically start meetings
and presentations by:
Defining the problem
Analyzing the problem
Recommending solutions


typical presentations
“This is a rational appeal
to reason and, if the
objective is to share
information with an
audience that wants to
hear it, this is effective.

“But if the objective is to
get people to change what
they are doing and act in
different ways...[or be
open to different
solutions]...it doesn’t tend
to work as well.”


story versus facts
Story can help you overcome the confirmation
bias in a way that facts alone seldom can

Most business people persuade via conventional rhetoric

It is intellectually based and cases are built
using facts, statistics and credible references
This is rational, but not creative

Defining the problem
Analyzing the problem
Recommending solutions


presentation story

A creative presentation
should start with more than
facts. A more powerful
method of persuasion is
uniting an idea with an
emotion, and the best way to
do that is through a
compelling story, arousing
emotion and energy.
Storytelling is creative,
insight-driven and
imaginative and a great way
to deliver your idea.

Robert McKee
The Storytellers International
Storytelling Center

presentation story

“Stories can help people Even if you do mange to Facts are often pushed
learn, absorb, remember and persuade your audience, out, but stories can pull
share information and ideas. you’ve done so only on an people in
Stories motivate, persuade, intellectual basis and people But, your story and the
inform and inspire” are not inspired to act by way you present it must be
You need facts. You can reason alone-remember the truthful
fMRI studies
use facts and they are and Truth is more than factual
can be persuasive. accuracy

Robert McKee
The Storytellers International
Storytelling Center

Truth is more than factual accuracy

“Seven hundred happy
passengers reached New York
after the Titanic’s maiden voyage.

“It’s the authentic truth, including
everything that’s relevant to fully
understand the story”
Stephen Denning: “The Secret
Language of Leadership”

Story is a powerful pull
strategy of influence. If
your story is good enough,
people of their own free
will come to the conclusion
that they can trust you and
the solution you bring
Annette Simmons, The Story
Factor: Inspiration, Influence and
Persuasion Through Storytelling,

Get Attention
Define the Problem
Inspire Desire for
Analyze the Problem
Change
Recommend Solutions
Reinforce with
Reasons

Stephen Denning:
“The Secret Language of
Leadership”

The Asch Experiment

Gregory Berns: “Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently”

“Most subjects caved “When asked how often they
went along with the group,
to group pressure at
even the most conformist of
least 1/3 of the time” subjects underestimated the
number of times he went
along with the herd.”
“Without the group giving “We know what we see,
the wrong answer, 95% of we know right from wrong,
the subjects performed but with enough social
without a single error.” pressure, we give in to the
fear of standing alone.”

With the group, only 25% “Conformity is exerted at
were able to maintain this the decision-making stage
perfect performance in a capitulation to the
majority”


“A willingness to take risks...and the capacity for
independent judgment...are common
characteristics among highly creative individuals”
Frank Barron, psychologist, 1988 “Putting creativity to work.” In Sternberg (ed) The nature of creativity.

But many people Especially those with
lack a capacity for less than well-
independent judgment developed creative
capacities

There is a fear/stress
response innate in all
of us, and it usually
serves us quite well

Millions of years of
evolution have
produced a very active
stress system that can
actually override every
other system in the
brain (amygdala)


“The stress system is not rational. It reacts when
provoked, and the reaction is powerful enough to
derail even the most innovative thinkers out there”
Edward de Bono, “Lateral Thinking: Creativity Step by Step”

The inability to tame
the stress response, is
a design (innovation)
inhibitor
Fear can paralyze
action and inhibit new
thinking and responses
to new thinking


In this context, it is easy to
see why “decision-makers
And to see the
display a strong bias
toward the status quo” challenges that
new ideas, designs,
Stephen Denning, innovation face
The Secret Language of
Leadership

“Think of fear like alcohol. It impairs
judgment. Don’t make any decisions
while under its influence”
Gregory Berns, Iconoclast: A
Neuroscientist Reveals How to
Think Differently

familiarity

Human beings are comforted
by the familiar. The human
brain comes to like that with
which it is familiar
From the perspective of the
brain, it’s not that familiar
things are more pleasurable
or rewarding; it’s that
unfamiliar things tend to be
alarming and potentially
dangerous.
Familiarity quiets the
amygdala


familiarity–the mere exposure effect

In a famous 1960‘s experiment,
Dr. Robert Zajonc proved that
familiarity influences what we
like. He flashed pictures of
irregularly shaped octagons to
test his subjects, but the pictures
were flashed so briefly, the
subjects were cognitively
unaware of having seen them.

He then asked his subjects two questions:

How confident are
you that you’ve seen
this picture?

How much do you
like this picture?


People sometimes
have skewed views
of what courage
really is

Courage is sometimes confused
with daring and/or impulse

Daring is often lack of attention
to likely outcomes

“There is a big difference between
rushing ahead blindly and knowing the
danger and acting anyway.”
“Action upon reflection adds a
seriousness to courage that impulse
fails to demonstrate.”

Dr. Robert Terry

courage and creativity are brothers

“Creativity requires the
courage to let go of
certainties”
Erich Fromm

“Creativity requires taking
what Einstein called ‘a leap
into the unknown,’ putting
yourself on the line as you
‘suffer the slings and arrows
of ridicule.’”

Courageously bring Courage can and
passion to the presentation should be shared
of the work

Courage requires “Fear extinguishes
authenticity (truth) and leadership; courage ignites
invites action (actualization) leadership.”

Robert Terry

creativity/invention/
design can face
great adversity

You will be
fortitude questioned
& determination

You have to have stoic resolve
and unwavering determination
to do what needs to be done to
actualize the best work

You will not Barron analyzed ego strength
always be and defined it as the “power
popular to rally from setbacks and
hardships”

The application of
great creativity

Fortitude and determination
Not short-term focused
Iterative and many chances
along the way to lose resolve
But creativity is committed to
effecting positive outcomes so
the struggle is worth it

“There’s too much waste in banking.
Getting rid of it takes tenacity, not brilliance”
Carl Reichardt, former President of Wells Fargo
From Systems Thinking to Systemic Action by Lee Jenkins

Sometimes the
ideas come
fortitude naturally or
& determination easily; other
times not

Sometimes the work sells
itself; often it does not.
Hopefully you now feel better
equipped to help shepherd
your work through what can
be a maze of challenges

Creativity is
not for the
fainthearted
Now for some real-life stories

Many famous people have changed
the course of history. Some were
great orators, others used their own
special skills to persuade their
audience. What’s important is that
you find your most compelling
characteristics that help you to
persuade your clients to buy the
kind of work Mary has talked about.

So what lessons can we take from
these great persuaders?

Martin Luther King was the youngest
person to receive the Nobel peace prize.
Few people can forget one of the greatest
speeches of all time, which started with
four simple words: “I have a dream”. He
was a great, passionate speaker who
showed people a vision of the kind of
future they aspired to.

But not everyone is as powerful a speaker
as Martin Luther King. In contrast, Bill
Gates is a something of a geek, with little
stage presence. But he has turned that to
his advantage. A very sincere man, mild
mannered and totally committed to his
cause, he displays deep emotion and is so
passionate about his subject that it is hard
not to be won over. The point here is that
you should never try to be someone you
are not. But rather to think about the
qualities that will help you influence and
persuade when you need to.

Elizabeth I used her powerful skills of
persuasion in a different way. A woman who
laid the foundations of the British Empire in
the 1600’s, she had a hugely skeptical
audience to win over. She was brilliant at
recognizing her troops’ fears and addressing
them head on. She acted thoughtfully when it
mattered most and said to them when
preparing for battle in 1588: “I know I have
the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I
have the heart of a king, and of a king of
England too.”

Nelson Mandela provides us with great
lessons in inspiring enormous trust, being
completely honest and clear in stating his
objectives. He took people with him,
whatever their persuasion—even reaching
out to those who had kept him in prison for
27 years. What he does best is appeal to
people’s innate sense of what is true and just
through his personal experiences and
because people are interested in the human
condition, this technique can help build
rapport and empathy with your audience.

And finally, Steve Jobs, who is probably going to
go down as one of the greatest CEOs of all
time. He did all of these things at different
times. His great gift was to know when to be
personally humble and when a situation required
great showmanship and magic to be most
compelling. He learnt to be a great storyteller at
both Apple and Pixar. His other important quality
was total obsession with detail and preparation.
(Just think about how often we end up preparing
for an important meeting in the taxi on the way
to the client’s offices.)

He created a cult in every possible way, and he
walked and talked the talk better than most.

People couldn't wait for his next presentation
and the queues to get into any one of them used
to form days ahead of time.

In complete contrast, his address at Stanford
University displayed enormous humility and a
completely different approach (he had already
been diagnosed with cancer by then) when he
simply said: “Today I want to tell you three
stories from my life. That's it. No big deal.
Just 3 stories.”

Think about how you make sure your clients
feel the same way: excited about what you
will bring them next time.
Image courtesy of creative commons member acaban

Finally, 3 examples of different
approaches to client
presentations that created the
kind of theatre that was truly
inspiring for our clients:

One where we created the
drama in a meeting room at our
offices. One where we found an
authentic setting in which to
stage the presentation.

And one where we had neither
of these luxuries. . .

Captain Morgan is a great
example of displaying
courage and creativity in
presenting work to a long
established and client for a
traditional and somewhat
conservative brand.

We created the Captain’s
Table aboard ship to bring to
life a dark tale that inspired a
wickedly clever bottle. We
hired candelabra, feather
quills along with inkwells, and
we created beautifully found
personal writing stations for
each client.

Telling the story of Espolòn meant telling the
story of Mexico. But consumers were tired of
hearing the same boring old stories from
premium tequila brands about heritage and
the distilling process. So we took them on a
journey. Telling the story in a way that
brought the work to life, this time we found a
real Mexican restaurant as the stage upon
which to present our work.

Legend says that on one bright morning in
Mexico, the shrill crowing of Ramon the
rooster was heard throughout the land. In
homage to the brave men and women who
fought fiercely to create a free and
independent Mexico, we created characters
invited by the original posada engravings
that tell stories of the struggles and joys of
everyday life in Mexico. Each bottle label
depicts a scene that captures a particular
moment in that colourful history.

The brand launched on Cinco de Mayo 2010
and the results have been maravilloso.

Three world famous London Hotels are
the subject of our next case.

If you can't get the client to come to you,
and hiring a restaurant just isn't going to
hack it, and the client has no time, and
the odds are stacked against you, there

At landor we
is still no excuse. You create the mood
virtually.

The CEO had to see the work
immediately at her offices, and she only
had 10 minutes for us. So we had to find

believe
a way of bringing the idea of “nocturnal”
to life as quickly as possible. Why
nocturnal? Well, hotels are pretty
standard during the day, but it’s at night
that they become charged with sexual
possibility, an air of mystery, even

that our heritage
danger and thrilling discoveries. So we
needed to bring that sense of romance
to life—and quickly. We placed a
perfectly formed chocolate truffle in her
mouth, seated her in a sensual and
sleek brown suede chair and then we

is our future
blindfolded, painted the perfect picture
of what pure and unadulterated luxury
would feel like and taste like...for the
Maybourne Group of Hotels.

At landor we
believe
that our heritage
is our future

Selling creativity

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