Creativity in Public Relations

Author: Andy Green

Presented by: P.DODA

Few words about the author

Andy GreenAndy is an Ideas Expert; he helps people create and spread great ideas. He is  leading authority and author on flexible thinking, creativity, public relations, brand and personal communications inspiring audiences around the world – from San Francisco to Shanghai – to make the most of any situation to achieve more with less.

In these sessions we are going to discuss about:

1. A definition of ‘creativity’

2. Creativity: some myths debunked

3. How you think in ‘boxes”

4. The creative process

5. Green Light thinking: creative techniques

6. Green Light thinking: brainstorming

7. Creativity – the consultation tool

8. Red Light thinking: the evaluation of ideas

9. Creativity is not just for photocalls

10. Obstacles to creativity

11. You are never more than 12 feet from an opportunity

12. The ‘creative diamond’

13. The creative individual

14. Creating a creative culture

15. The ethics of creativity

16. The future of creativity

INDIV

IDUAL

INDIV

IDUAL

SKILL

SKILL

A PROCESS

PROCESS

COMBIN

ATIO

COMBIN

ATIO

NS OF

NS OF

ELEMENTS

ELEMENTS

ADDED

ADDED VALUE

VALUE

Creativity definition

‘Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.’- Arthur Schopenhauer

Creativity as an individual talent: William Wordsworth- “Creativity is whatcreative people do”

Creativity as a process: Arthur Koestler characterized creativity as ‘two disconnected notions accidentally coming together’.

Creativity as a product: Works of art or great achievements

Creativity as recognition by others :The recognition by a wider audience is seen by some as a crucial element in defining ‘creativity’.

Creativity definition

Professor Morris Stein: ‘Creativity is a process that results in novelty which is accepted as useful, tenable or satisfying by a significant group of others at some point in time’. By ‘significant group of others’ he means those who have influence or power to determine what is recognized as of value in a group. In a public relations context, ‘significant others’ could be defined as fellow practitioners, or users and consumers of our product or service, such as journalists and clients.

Creativity definition

Creativity is the ability each of us has to create something new by

bringing together two or more different elements in a new context, in

order to provide added value to a task. A creative act consists of not only originating but also evaluating the added value it contributes. It is not novelty for its own sake, but it must produce some form of value that can be recognized by a third party.

A DEFINITION FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS PRACTICIONERS

1+1+c=3+

C-Creativity, an integer number

Key Points

1. There is nothing wrong in borrowing or re-using an idea. Allideas are presented in a new context.

2. Added value is the fundamental element of anything that isdefined as creative. The measure of this added value is determinedby its context.

3. Creative thinking uses the same mechanisms as non-creativethinking.

4. Innovation is the use by a third party of a creative product.

5. Creative public relations practitioners have to work withinbrand values.

6. We all have varying degrees of creative talent.

Ways of thinking

• Green Light thinking.• Red Light thinking.

Ways of thinking

• Lateral thinking-solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.

• Vertical thinking-an approach to problems that usually involves one being selective, analytical, and sequential. It could be said that it is the opposite of lateral thinking.

Ways of thinking

• Incremental thinking-gradually adding elements to the ideas by regular degrees or additions.

• Big “C” and small “c”

“Inside the box” or “out of the box” thinking

Picasso-paradigm example

Americans vs. Russians for the space pen

The nine dots problem

Just think about it

1. Creativity is an incremental process – the instant Big Idea does not exist.

2. Rather than there being a distinct left- or right-hand side of the brain controlling our pattern of thinking, the brain actually has two distinct thought modes: Green Light and Red Light thinking.

3. Lateral thinking is a useful tool for creativity, but it is not the sum of creativity.

4. In similar fashion to those we have dealt with in this chapter, some of the ‘facts’ stated in this book are likely, at some point in the future, to be debunked as myths.

Thank you and see you again