“CleanPix is so good…” a January 4th 2010 feedback comment from a German journalist user prompted me to write the following:
The spark of an idea.
It seems that every day new gadgets are showing up, new computer tablets, new smartphones, new apps, new toys of trade. They all add up to give us the impression that with these tools come more ease and instant ways to connect with others. But is it so? Some would argue that this connectivity frenzy is setting us back, while others see it as an ever expanding land of opportunities.
Lionel Tiger postulates that Social Media cause users to become conformist, and as I understand it, we are somewhat eroding the path of creativity. He Says: “We have reprimated ourselves“.
Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University
Clearly we have the gear, the messengers and the audience, but what appears to elude us is the content. Content often seems like a cluster of darts thrown out there at random, unsure and insecure in direction, intent, target and substance. Opponents of social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc) call it White Noise. As a result, they are often knocked back by the typical argument: “You don’t get it.” In fact, it is true, and I am one of these that likely do not get it. I suppose I am one of those who do not starve for constant entertainment, nor do I fear to lose contact when I do not look at commercials in the breaks, nor for that matter, if the cell is no longer in “roaming” mode. The need to feed silence with substance is a disease that social media practices exacerbate to no end. I sincerely believe that the SPARK of an Idea, can only happen within a moment of silence, and not allowing space for it is a bad idea.
A fragile thing, “the spark of an idea”, comes with observation and lots of it, a kind of self-reflection, like a mirror one could use to tap in for one’s own creative juices. What does it mean? Can we teach that at school? Unfortunately, we do not teach creativity at school, and ever so rarely in the course of the highest University learning. Nevertheless, creativity is what we especially applaud in the best scientists, politicians, farmers, social workers, doctors and in just plain, ordinary folks. Let’s be clear, in art school we teach mostly about art, not creativity; in advanced marketing and design schools we often talk about “creative” as if it was an ingredient one adds to porridge (I know, I have been a student in some of the top Universities). What we too often teach is how to makes things provoking, how to annoy, how to disturb. We teach, promote and validate through our media broadcasts a culture of shock, we promote the peculiar, the extreme, the terrifying, the disgusting and the disturbing, as opposed to the wise. We all realize that very little of our news is about sparking imagination. This may account for the fact that many of our young adults are becoming bored and disinterested with this output. Perhaps the 101 course on “idea education” could be based in validating an idea’s newsworthiness through its potential to spark imagination as opposed to its entertainment shock value.
I’ve got an idea. If what you have to offer is blue sky, say it, if it is powder snow, say it, and if it is white sand and a beach ball, say it. Say it simply with real emotion as if you were offering it, fresh out of the box yet again… that will always work. Do this TODAY… and tomorrow repeat it anew, with the same vigor and freshness— that is what branding is all about.
