Now Go Create is bringing back two of our most popular courses — How To Be A Strategy Ninja and How To Be A Creative Ninja — as public training with live webinars and in-person workshops for the first time in 3 years!

Bring your biggest communication, brand, or marketing challenge to life! We’ll give you the practical tools and strategies to tackle it head-on.

Our interactive, hands-on sessions will help you:

• Master the art of strategy: Confidently devise and articulate strategies that get results.
• Unleash your creative genius: Overcome creative blocks and generate innovative ideas.
• Solve problems effectively: Learn proven problem-solving methods and apply them to real-world challenges.
• Boost collaboration: Master techniques for effective brainstorming and group ideation.

Choose the format that suits you best: webinar or IRL.

Course: How To Be A Strategy Ninja – Webinar

Date: Monday 3^rd February 2025, 10-12

This course sets out to give you the confidence to devise and articulate your strategy. In this 2-hour live webinar will give you an overview of the steps to developing great strategy including diagnosis of the problem, interrogation of the brief, establishing what’s critical and prioritise using great questions and devising insights. With case studies and practical tips for developing your own. Bring your challenge along and work up a straw man strategy for your project.

How much is it? £120pp + VAT, live with Q&A.

Course: How To Be A Creative Ninja – Webinar

Date: Monday 20^th January 2025, 10-12

Overcome creative block and ignite your imagination! This webinar equips you with powerful tools and techniques to conquer the blank page and generate innovative ideas. 

You’ll learn how to:

• Unlock new perspectives: Explore tools like ‘related worlds’ and visual stimuli to spark fresh thinking.
• Harness the power of trends: Discover how to identify and leverage trends to fuel your creativity using a trends canvas to get you ahead for 2025
• Boost your brainstorming: Master techniques for effective group ideation and collaborative problem-solving.

We’ll also share selected award-winning creative work and deconstruct the work, honing your evaluation and effectiveness muscles.

How much is it? £120pp + VAT, live with Q&A

Workshop: How To Be A Creative Ninja – in-person, Central London, full day 

25^th February 2025 9:30-5pm

Dive deeper into the world of creativity and strategy with this full-day, in-person workshop. 

You’ll:

• Master the fundamentals of strategy and apply them to a live project.
• Explore a range of powerful creativity tools and techniques.
• Generate innovative ideas and refine your creative process.
• Learn from expert guidance and collaborate with fellow participants.

This will be a pacy, interactive, practical session where you’ll learn by experimenting, discussing, reflecting and practicing. You’ll leave with a knowledge of frameworks, with templates to ensure you can apply the learning back in your day-to-day work. Places are limited to 14. 

Want to bring this training to your team? Contact me for group prices or to book an in-house session tailored to your needs.

How much is it? £499 + VAT

Please contact claire@nowgocreate.co.uk for group prices or to book an in-house session for your group.

P.S. Register before 31^st December and receive a copy of Claire’s book In Your Creative Element worth £22

The post Level up your skills: Creativity & Strategy Training in 2025 first appeared on Now Go Create.

But do you know the history of Black Friday?

The day, now synonymous with deals, discounts, and doorbusters, has a surprisingly long and complex history. 

For a century, the term Black Friday was associated with a 19th-century financial crisis. According to the History Channel in 1869, two scheming Wall Street financiers bought as much gold as they could with the hopes of artificially driving up the price and selling at an astronomical profit. Instead, the gold market collapsed and took the stock market with it, bankrupting millions on Friday, September 24. 

In the 1950s the Philadelphia police force gave the derisive nickname ‘Black Friday’ to the flood of rowdy tourists that descended on the city before the Army-Navy football game, snarling traffic and overwhelming retailers. as a term to describe post-Thanksgiving chaos eventually evolved into the biggest shopping day of the year. 

By the 80s, retailers had reframed the name to signify the moment their profits went “in the black,” turning it into a celebration of consumerism. 

So, the day itself it’s a creative exercise in reframing/naming a problem! 

Black Friday: creativity sells 

Here are three of my favourite campaigns from recent years that standout that show how brands have used creativity to cut through and turn the chaos into sales, awareness or a take stand on anti-consumerism.

1. Mercado Libre’s Handshake Hunt: gamifying the shopping experience

Challenge: Black Friday in Brazil is an advertising battlefield. Competing against the noise of discounts and loud commercials, Mercado Libre needed a way to stand out.

The Idea: Using their logo’s handshake as inspiration, Mercado Libre partnered with Brazil’s largest TV network to create the “Handshake Hunt.” Every time a handshake appeared on TV, a QR code popped up, offering viewers a unique discount.

Why it worked:

• Data-driven creativity: AI-powered tools identified handshake scenes in pre-recorded scripts, ensuring precise execution.
• Gamification: Turning discounts into a fun hunt created a sense of excitement.
• Longevity: The campaign ran for 45 days, building anticipation and engagement leading up to Black Friday.

Results: Despite a tough economic year, Mercado Libre experienced an 80% sales spike on Black Friday itself and a 39% increase in sales for the month. 

2. REI’s #OptOutside: Saying no to Black Friday madness

Challenge: How do you stand out on Black Friday without screaming “Buy, Buy, Buy”? REI, an outdoor retailer, decided to say “No, thanks” to the shopping frenzy altogether.

The idea: REI closed all its stores, paused online orders, and paid employees to spend the day outside. They invited the public to join them with the hashtag #OptOutside, turning the day into a celebration of the great outdoors.

Why it worked:

• Bold contrarian / do the opposite move: Shutting down on Black Friday was a gutsy, headline-grabbing decision.
• Community over commerce: The campaign fostered a sense of belonging and aligned with REI’s values.
• Digital engagement: A website with trail-finding tools and personalized meme generators amplified the message.

Results: #OptOutside became a cultural movement, with 1.4 million people pledging to spend Black Friday outdoors. REI’s sales defied industry trends, rising by double digits, proving that authenticity can boost the bottom line.

The trailblazer: Patagonia No doubt REI would have been inspired by the trailblazer in the anti-consumerism movement by Patagonia, in a now-famous campaign.

In the run-up to Christmas in 2011, Patagonia ran a poster and PR campaign that told customers ‘Don’t buy this jacket’. The message was intended to encourage people to consider the effect of consumerism on the environment and purchase only what they need. 

3. ID_BR’s Black Salary Friday: A controversial conversation starter

Challenge: Black Awareness Day and Black Friday coincide in Brazil, creating a poignant opportunity to address racial inequality in wages.

The idea: ID_BR Brazil’s Identities Institute, an NGO, launched “Black Salary Friday,” a provocative campaign offering a fictional 47% discount on hiring Black workers—the exact wage gap between Black and white professionals.

Why it worked:

• Shock factor: The fake promotion grabbed attention and forced people to confront uncomfortable truths.
• Targeted messaging: The campaign aimed at corporations, encouraging them to take action.
• Cultural relevance: By tying the issue to Black Friday, it leveraged the buzz of the day for maximum impact.

Results: The campaign reached 35 million people, boosted website traffic by 522%, and contributed to an 8.6% increase in black hires in the following months.

How to use Black Friday marketing strategies year-round

Black Friday is a high-stakes and an absolute mine-field particularly for smaller business (IMHO), but the creativity and strategy behind these campaigns aren’t just for November—they can inspire marketing success throughout the year. Here are some of the most often used Black Friday strategies and tips for applying them year-round:

1. Scarcity and urgency

Black Friday strategy: Limited-time offers, countdowns, and exclusive deals create a sense of FOMO that compels customers to act quickly.
Year-round application: Use flash sales, limited-edition products, or “while supplies last” campaigns to replicate this urgency. For example, promote a 48-hour sale or launch exclusive products with time-sensitive availability.

2. Teaser campaigns

Black Friday strategy: Many brands build excitement with teaser ads, sneak peeks, and countdowns leading up to their Black Friday deals.
Year-round application: Use teaser campaigns for product launches, seasonal promotions, or big company announcements. Build anticipation with “coming soon” emails, social media hints, and early-access perks for loyal customers.

3. Create a sense of community

Black Friday strategy: Campaigns like REI’s #OptOutside build loyal communities around shared values.
Year-Round application: Foster community engagement by hosting events, launching membership programmes, or creating exclusive online groups where customers can interact and feel part of your brand.

Right I’m off to delete some more spam!

Happy Black Friday from Now Go Create 😉

The post Black Friday: a marketing bun fight first appeared on Now Go Create.

​I’ve been using Gemini as my first brainstorming buddy, but am also experimenting with Chat GPT, particularly the voice app, as you can literally have a chat with it and the prompts can be longer, and more conversational.

​Here are 8 prompts that I am regularly using at different parts of the strategic and creative process to get ideas flowing.

Let’s say I’m working on a launch for a new cereal in the UK. My first prompt is:

1. “I am researching for marketing ideas in the cereal breakfast category (replace with your industry, topic or category) in the UK, can you tell me 10 commonly held beliefs about this category?”  This gets me started on cliches, stereotypes and all the ‘obvious’ things about the category or topic.

2. When you get those 10 commonly held beliefs, then ask “provide the sources, references or evidence for these beliefs”.  Explore the references and see if it takes you anywhere unexpected.

3. Then ask, “give me an alternative view to the commonly held beliefs.”

4. You could also use this prompt: “Play devil’s advocate and argue why the opposite of the statements might be true.” Starts to get to more disruptive or unexplored territory.

5. “What are the top 100 words associated with this topic?”  This gives me ideas about the category and could be used as random stimulus for ideation – print them out, chop them up and use for ideation.

6. “Can you categorise these words in a different way?” This is one of my favourite prompts as the nature of the model means it is fast and flexible in terms of organising and presenting information in ways that I would not think of. You can iterate as many times as is helpful with this. I like the categories that the prompt has suggested below for cereal into stages of consumption for example.

7. “What is the future of category X? In the next 3,5 and 10 years with sources.”  A heads-up on what’s coming – you could ask for this information as a PEST analysis for more in-depth knowledge.

8. “Generate potential insights based on the information above.”  This gives me areas to explore that I might not have got to easily or quickly myself.

See some of the prompts and the responses below.

When I’ve done some initial research, I then start using AI ideation techniques with the information that I’ve generated, following the fact-finding, idea-finding and solution-finding process. 

I always treat the information provided as a thought-starter, and make sure I fact-check and substantiate anything that I think might be useful. It gives me places to start exploring further rather than expecting the answer.

Let me know what you are regularly using and finding helpful! In the next post I’ll share AI ideation prompts.

The post Boost Your Creativity: My 8 go-to AI prompts! first appeared on Now Go Create.

What would you ask them? How would you try to extract all their creative genius, wisdom and insights in the call?

I had the privilege of figuring that out as the course leader of the first LIONS cMBA cohort. Always happy to be the nosiest person in the room, I was lucky enough to host these weekly conversations over 10 weeks and speak to creative folk I have admired for many years. In a strangely intimate setting for an online call, we heard refreshingly honest, heartfelt insights and learnings from their incredible creative careers, which at times felt like confessions rather than a Q&A with industry legends. 

Based on what they’d been exploring in the course content that week, our learners of creatives and marketers from across the world could ask our creative star power how they’d managed some of those issues in their careers. 

The course content covered everything from how to have a Lion-winning creative idea, make it category disrupting, evaluate it, develop it, have the right culture to help it grow and then pitch it. Phew.

Over the weeks, the Lions cMBA cohort also had an opportunity to imagine themselves in the shoes of an official Cannes Lions Jury, and judge the work across several Lions, before hearing from the Jury Presidents who presided.

Know thyself

There’s a school of thought that getting into the habit of reflective practice – that is reviewing and questioning your actions and experiences to develop – is key to becoming a better problem-solver. Research suggests that it’s even what separates extraordinary professionals from the average. Since we encouraged our learners to reflect weekly on what they were studying and experiencing it seems only right as the course leader I do the same.

So, I’ve been reflecting on these 60-minute sessions over the past few weeks and revisiting the live calls. In doing so I’m stunned to discover that the transcripts run to over 200,000 words. Having written a book (80,000 words that took me the best part of a year) and with the average novel running at around 90,000 words, it dawned on me that this first cohort and our speakers have effectively contributed to two novels and probably a cheeky novella. 

That’s a LOT of conversation about all things creative. And doesn’t even begin to include the on-demand elements of the course, which includes reviewing 500 pieces of Lion-winning work and hundreds of hand-picked excerpts from Cannes Lions stage talks. It’s been intense!

I absolutely loved curating the learners’ questions, drawing out themes and facilitating the sessions, although at times the speakers seemed to be having so much fun that I felt like I was eavesdropping on a lively private chat (I’m looking at you Vicki Maguire and Susan Hoffman).

We covered so much ground – each week was different depending on the direction of the learners’ questions, the chemistry between the speakers and their diverse range of insights, experiences, geographies and points of view. An hour never went so fast.

Each part of the curriculum is backed up by someone who has stood on a Cannes Lions stage and shared their view on a key topic (from managing a relationship between a marketer and an agency to learning from failure and creating the ultimate – Titanium Lion-winning work).

So, what are some of the recurring themes from our incredible speakers? That being actively curious, raising your creative antennae, and being open to the world around you are some of the most important things creatives can do to get better at their craft. One of the other big themes was about talking less and listening more.

This quote from Trainingindustry.com seems particularly relevant: 

“Hearing happens in our ears, but listening happens in our brains. When you truly listen, what you hear can change you.”  

Hone your creative antennae 

Listening, I learned so much every single week about persistence, being yourself, finding your people, learning from every experience (the good the bad and the ugly) amongst so much more shared wisdom that our speakers revealed in their quest for creative greatness. 

They spoke of listening to your own innate wisdom and voice, to others, to sometimes hard truths. 

As part of a conversation we had about asking for, and giving, support, Hoffman said sometimes we have to be able to be open to hear the hard things:

“Have the courage to go ask for support, and have the courage to really handle the truth, and when you can, and it’s hard, believe me, but when you can, you learn so much.”  

If you want to hear more from Susan, check out her insights on empathy and support, by way of a decades-old letter from her then boss Dan Wieden in this short YouTube film.

On listening to culture, the inimitable Josy Paul, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer at BBDO India, had this to say in response to a question about how he identifies the ‘little and big cultural cues that grow into amazing ideas’ and he talked about the physical spaces in BBDO that facilitate that kind of approach: “I like to keep listening, because I find by listening, I get beautiful things fed to me. 

The white room: where confessions are encouraged

“Everything is white. You sit on the floor, there’s a red candle. People come and sit in that room 20-30 people, anybody. Everyone’s invited. And we talk about a subject, not about a brand or about a category, a subject. People start sharing stories. And through those stories, those confessions, they result in a very deep sort of a truth, and I find that that confessions go deeper than insights. From that personal comes the universal, and that’s what I do when I’m seeking insights. 

You’re always at play. You’re always listening. You’re always processing. You’re always cross-synthesising. You’re feeding off each other.

I am not an influencer. I don’t want to be an influencer. I’m an influencee. I’m an antenna. It’s like, just throw things at me. I try to receive all the time so that I can be influenced.”

Inspiration is everywhere

Our guests for week nine were Havas’s CCO Vicki Maguire in conversation with Wieden + Kennedy’s Executive Chief Creative Officer Susan Hoffman.  Frankly that call left me feeling like I’d stumbled into a fabulous, sweary, private conversation between great friends. No facilitation needed (in the best way possible). Vicki echoed Josy’s idea that creatives must have an antenna and be open to everything. 

She shared with us: 

“You can find inspiration anywhere, and if you can’t, you’re not looking hard enough. So, I just go on walks. I go and sit on a bus and listen to people, and sometimes I dive into other people’s imaginations by reading a book I would have never chosen, or a film that didn’t appeal to me.”

2023 Design Lions Jury President Quinnton Harris, the Co-Founder and CEO at Retrospect, emphasised the importance of listening to your inner voice when asked what advice he’d offer his younger self:

“I’d say, keep listening to your heart and take care of yourself. Prioritise your wellness and creative expression over everything else. As you build things that matter, your hands will get a little dirty. So, what I mean by that is you know, you’re not going to be perfect. Everybody’s not going to be happy with that and you may unintentionally hurt people as you shine brightly. But don’t be afraid, because you’ll just be fine.”

If you want to find out more about the LIONS cMBA and join the next cohort https://learning.lions.co/bundles/lions-creative-mba 

The post What I Learned from Spending 3 Months with Creative Legends 🦁 first appeared on Now Go Create.

While 60% of PR professionals report using AI for creativity, a striking 81% admit to feeling unequipped to fully harness Gen AI’s potential to assist with creativity.

This contrasts with the UK government’s finding that 68% of businesses overall are using AI and with IAB Europe’s research, which shows a whopping 91% of digital advertising businesses are already experimenting with or using AI, with nearly half (49%) predicting significant increases in adoption over the next year.

Key Findings about the use of PR & AI :

• Knowledge & preparedness: Over half of our respondents (54%) say that they are somewhat, or not so familiar, with how it can be used, with 46% saying they feel confident in their knowledge of how to use it.
• 47% say they don’t think that the PR industry is adequately prepared to embrace Gen AI fully in creative disciplines, with 45% saying they think it is somewhat prepared and just 8% citing extremely prepared.

• Adoption: While the PR industry is adopting AI broadly on a par with UK businesses in general, it’s lagging the digital advertising sector. This could be attributed to various factors, including budget constraints, a lack of specialized AI talent, and a steep learning curve.
• Mind the knowledge gap: A significant majority of PR professionals feel unprepared to fully utilise AI, highlighting the need for targeted upskilling initiatives. The digital advertising industry, on the other hand, is actively investing in talent development, with 32% of companies providing dedicated learning time for AI and 16% appointing an AI lead. 
• Whilst we didn’t ask these 2 specific questions in our survey, no anecdotal evidence suggests that either of these two aspects are happening in the PR industry in any meaningful way. 
• There are still some pockets of so-called ‘AI deniers’ who anecdotally told us words to the effect of “it’s useless” which seems at odds with an industry that seeks to innovate.As Harvard Business School and AI expert, Professor Karim Lakhani eloquently puts it:
•  “AI won’t replace humans—but humans with AI will replace humans without AI.”
• Focus areas: Both PR and digital advertising are primarily leveraging AI for content creation and ideation. However, the PR industry also shows a strong interest in using AI for research and insights, suggesting a potential advantage in data-driven strategy development.

Uses: 64% of those surveyed are using AI for idea generation and inspiration, with 51% are using tools to assist with brainstorming

‘Tackling the blank page’ is an oft-cited challenge when needing to generate ideas quickly or without much in terms of stimulus – it’s clear that tools like Chat GPT can be helpful in getting creatively unstuck. What’s not so clear and needs more research is how useful the ideas are in the long run and whether agencies are communicating where they’re coming from to clients.”  Claire Bridges, Founder Now Go Create

• 45% are using AI to help with research and insights – “This is an interesting area where PRs can tap into previously unavailable resources to improve audience targeting and insights to improve strategy.”  Claire Bridges, Now Go Create

Ethical Concerns: The PR industry, like others, is grappling with the ethical implications of AI, including intellectual property, bias, and misinformation. These concerns are shared across industries, underscoring the need for industry-wide collaboration to establish ethical guidelines and standards.

But AI is clearly fuelling innovation and impactful creative ideas. 

At Cannes, AI was used in 12% of entries this year. Winning work that had AI at its heart included Magnetic Stories which took the Grand Prix in the Pharma Lions, the Innovation Lions Grand Prix KVI Brave Fund Inc’s ‘Voice 2 Diabetes’ and the Outdoor Lions Grand Prix winner ‘Adoptable. By Pedigree’ – below – showed AI at scale.

At Cannes Lions, Jeriad Zoghby, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Interpublic Group, spoke about how the democratisation of tech tools could lead to what he called “enhanced mediocrity”. 

When working at pace as so many PR pros do, particularly when responding to the 24-hour news cycle, average output could easily become the norm. 

“AI tools should be considered an essential string to the PR creative’s bow. Learn the rules, play fearlessly, create ethically.” Claire Bridges, Now Go Create

Blog post image created using Openart.AI

The post PR & AI: Embracing the future, but knowledge and readiness issues abound first appeared on Now Go Create.

I’ll be in Cannes working and sucking up all the creative goodness for you, to report back in a few week’s time. In the meantime here are some of the marketing campaigns that I think will win big at the Festival🏆. 

The festival showcases the best of creativity in advertising and communication through various awards categories (the Lions), including film, print, PR, digital, design, and more. 

I want to dive into three case studies that have caught my eye, showcasing the power of creative thinking to overcome challenges and make an impact. The best bit: as you might know by now, I’m obsessed with unpicking creative ideas, so find out below how you can apply these principles to your own work.

On my radar 1: Stok’d Cannabis: “Next to Stok’d” 🍁

The campaign: Cannabis is legal in Canada, but advertising it isn’t. In a cheeky creative workaround of the marketing laws, the Stok’d Cannabis brand made the most of their local communities where their stores are based. The “Next to Stok’d” campaign promoted other local businesses in the area, like a nail salon, where the owners of those businesses play on all the ‘banned’ language in their ads. It’s a win, win. It’s cheeky and on-brand and I reckon this will do well in the direct category or outdoor.

How to do it in your next brainstorm:

• Think laterally: When faced with restrictions, explore indirect solutions. Ask, “What can we promote that aligns with our brand?” List all the rules and then explore ways to break them.
• Embrace playfulness: Use humour and lightheartedness to connect with your audience and make your message memorable.
• Build associations: Look for opportunities to create positive connections between your brand and other entities that share your values or target audience.

Watch it here.

On my radar 2:  Specsavers: Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” Remix 🎶

The campaign: Specsavers took a fun and unexpected approach to raise awareness about hidden hearing loss. In a reframe of the problem, they partnered with the legend that is Rick Astley to re-record his iconic song “Never Gonna Give You Up”. Instead of focussing on hearing loss directly, with the stigma that might have, they focussed on ‘mis-hearing’ which we can all relate to – with amusingly misheard lyrics, highlighting the challenges faced by those with hearing difficulties. The campaign not only generated buzz (pun intended) but also effectively conveyed an important message. I love that Rick Astley was also bang in the audience demographic and shared his own experiences. This was earned media first, and at its best, so definitely a PR Lion contender.

How to do it in your next brainstorm:

• Tap into cultural relevance: Leverage popular trends, memes, or nostalgia to create instant familiarity and engagement.
• Balance humour and empathy: Use humour to grab attention, but ensure it’s balanced with empathy for the issue you’re addressing.
• Seek authentic partnerships: Collaborate with influencers or individuals who have a genuine connection to your cause for added credibility.

Watch it here. 

On my radar 3: Heinz: Ketchup and ‘Seemingly Ranch’ 🍔

The campaign: Heinz jumped on a viral moment with lightning-fast creativity as they are brilliant at doing. When Taylor Swift was spotted eating chicken tenders with “seemingly ranch” at a football game, Heinz seized the opportunity and launched a limited-edition “Ketchup and Seemingly Ranch” sauce. Heinz and their agencies are on fire with their social game. I reckon this saucy fun is in the running for a social gong.

How to do it in your next brainstorm:

• Stay agile and responsive: Monitor cultural trends and be ready to act quickly when relevant opportunities arise.
• Embrace the unexpected: Don’t be afraid to experiment with playful and unconventional ideas that capture the zeitgeist.
• Create FOMO: Limited-edition products or experiences can generate excitement and urgency, driving consumer interest and engagement.

Watch it here.

Like this? Want more?

Book Your Own Cannes Lions Unleashed Webinar with Claire Bridges

I’m working at the Festival on-site for the 8th year, and I’ll be on the front line absorbing all the biggest trends and winning work. Someone has to do it 🙂 

Hot off the Croisette, in this 60-minute webinar, I’ll share the biggest trends and award-winning highlights from this year’s festival, giving you the tools to inject your work with a serious dose of ooh la la.

Key Takeaways:

• Feed your brain: Discover the trends making waves.
• Feast on the award-winning brilliance: We’ll dissect the campaigns that took Cannes Lions by storm, dissecting why they won.
• Get insider tips from the creative masterminds: jury members will spill the tea at the festival and I’ll share it with you!
• Apply: Think about how to apply the insights and trends to your own business challenges.

I’m going to run these sessions for in-house teams throughout July. Give me a shout if you’d like the low down and the costs.

The post Bonjour, Créatifs! first appeared on Now Go Create.

Last week, myself and co-facilitator Anahita, gave a group of 40 seasoned PR professionals a seemingly simple challenge: build the tallest freestanding structure they could using only spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow (which had to be on top!) in 18 minutes. That’s it. It’s based on a TED talk called the Marshmallow Challenge, and while it sounds like child’s play, it reveals fascinating insights about how we approach problems and think creatively.

Picture the scene: these normally polished communicators suddenly grappling with flimsy spaghetti towers and sticky tape. The room buzzes with competition, laughter, frustration, and the occasional “aha!” moment as teams figure out new strategies.

Marshmallow Challenge

The initial planning phase often mirrors what we see in many workplaces: discussion, strategizing, and conversations about what is ‘right’ and who’s in charge. But the Marshmallow Challenge highlights the value of action over endless planning – those who dive in and experiment often have breakthroughs faster.

So, why subject PR pros (or anyone!) to this delightful chaos? Here’s the thing:

• Challenging assumptions: The marshmallow seems light until it topples your tower! It’s a reminder to test our ideas against reality, not just what we think we know. This is probably the biggest takeout for people and something they can apply straight back to the day job.
• Collaboration gets messy: This forces teams to truly negotiate solutions, not just theorise. Real-world collaboration isn’t always neat and tidy!
• The designer mindset: Prototyping and iterating are keys to innovation. Plans can mean little when faced with the constraints of your materials – adaptability is everything. Anyone who knows us here at Now Go Create knows we love a bit of design thinking!
• We love giving people hands-on experiences and opportunities to be creative rather than just talking about it! This philosophy is at the heart of all our workshops.

The Marshmallow Challenge is a playful experience that highlights the core of a creative mindset: being willing to experiment,laugh at yourself, get a little messy, and embrace the fact that surprising solutions often emerge from unexpected places.

If your teams need a reminder to think outside the box, or simply want a good dose of collaborative fun, I highly suggest finding some spaghetti. It might be the most enjoyable way to build your creative muscle!

The post The Marshmallow Challenge: Why budding creatives should play with their food. first appeared on Now Go Create.

“I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there.” Richard Feynman

At its core, the Feynman Technique boils down to explaining a complex concept or problem to someone who knows nothing about it, typically a child. But don’t underestimate the power of this seemingly simple exercise. By forcing yourself to break down complex ideas into their fundamental components and articulate them in plain English, you unlock a potent problem-solving mindset.

Why is the Feynman Technique so helpful? Here are some key reasons:

1. Clarity Through Simplification: The act of explaining something to a layman forces you to identify the core essence of the issue. You strip away jargon, technicalities, and extraneous details, focusing on the fundamental principles that drive the problem. This process of simplification not only enhances your own understanding but also reveals gaps in your knowledge or inconsistencies in your logic.

2. Identifying Knowledge Gaps: When you try to explain something to someone unfamiliar with the topic, you often stumble upon areas where your own understanding is shaky. The Feynman Technique acts as a diagnostic tool, highlighting areas where you need to do further research or consult with others. This self-awareness is crucial for effective problem-solving, as it allows you to address gaps in your knowledge base before forging ahead.

3. Active Learning and Retention: The act of teaching is a powerful learning tool in itself. By explaining a concept to someone else, you solidify your own understanding and knowledge retention. This active learning process is far more effective than passively reading or listening to information. The Feynman Technique, therefore, turns problem-solving into a process of continuous learning and knowledge refinement.

4. Boosting Creativity and Innovation: Simplifying and explaining complex concepts often leads to unexpected insights and connections. By forcing yourself to think from a different perspective and articulate your ideas in a clear and concise way, you open the door to creative solutions you might have otherwise missed. The Feynman Technique can spark out-of-the-box thinking and lead to innovative approaches to old problems.

5. Enhancing Communication and Collaboration: The ability to explain complex ideas clearly and persuasively is a critical skill for any business professional. The Feynman Technique hones your communication skills, allowing you to present your ideas to colleagues, clients, and stakeholders in a way that is both understandable and engaging. This clarity fosters better collaboration and teamwork, as everyone involved has a shared understanding of the problem and potential solutions.

Putting the Feynman Technique into Practice:

Ready to harness the power of the Feynman Technique for your business? Here’s how:

Step one: explain the problem to a five-year-old. This forces you to confront the gaps in your own understanding and identify the core principles at play. 

Step two: build bridges. Are there analogous situations in history, science, or even pop culture? Think outside the box, folks. 

Step three: simplify and refine. Can you express the core concept in even fewer words? Brevity is your friend here. (See our blog on the one word technique)

Finally, step four: test and iterate. Share your distilled wisdom with others, gather feedback, and refine your understanding. It’s a beautiful feedback loop that leads to breakthrough solutions.

It is a habit-forming practice that can significantly improve your problem-solving skills over time. 

The more you integrate it into your approach, the better equipped you’ll become to tackle any challenge with clarity, creativity, and confidence.

Additional Tips:

• Use diagrams, drawings, or metaphors to simplify complex concepts.
• Ask yourself questions as you explain, like “Why is this important?” or “What are the implications?”
• Don’t be afraid to get creative and have fun with the process!

The beauty of the Feynman Technique is its iterative nature. Each step challenges your understanding, revealing blind spots and pushing you towards a deeper clarity. It’s not about dumbing down, but about building a rock-solid foundation from which creative solutions can blossom.

Check out our blog on the one word technique for a brutal distillation of your challenge, or try out the X Brief, to get your challenge into a short Tweet.

The post Think like a Nobel prize winner with the Feynman Technique first appeared on Now Go Create.

The creative mind thrives on both inspiration and constraint. While we may balk at limitations, the truth is, focused parameters often force out our most innovative and effective work. That’s the power of the X (Twitter) brief.

Despite the oft-talked about idea of blue-sky thinking, constraints might seem counterintuitive to the creative process, but think of them like guardrails. Without boundaries, it’s too easy to drift aimlessly or get overwhelmed by endless possibilities. Constraints provide a much-needed framework, forcing us to consider unusual combinations, find resourceful solutions, and hone our ideas down to their most potent form.

Studies show that the right amount of constraint can stimulate novel thinking and problem-solving. It prompts us to step outside our comfort zones, pushing us to discover unexpected approaches that might never have surfaced under less restrictive conditions.

By boiling down your brief’s purpose to tweet-length, you eliminate distraction and ensure every single word supports the central goal. Your time and focus are your most valuable assets. A Twitter brief can help sharpen that focus – not just for you and your aims, but for anyone who comes into contact with your brief.

Much like a haiku poem, the Twitter brief demands discipline and precision. Legendary ad man Dave Trott came up with this idea on how to brief better.:

• Imagine if your brief had to be written as a 280 character Tweet/X. 
• That’s about 50 words.
• If it was a matter of life and death, what is the ONE thing you’d want to be able to achieve, to change or affect?
• What’s the one single job we absolutely must do?
• That takes priority over everything else?
• There’s no room for anything that isn’t crucial.
• Clarity in, clarity out.

So, the next time you’re facing a creative task, don’t shy away from setting limitations. Try writing your creative or project brief as an X now!

If you like this technique see the even-more-focussed distillation tool – one word – here.

The post Can your brief survive the Twitter test? Find out now! first appeared on Now Go Create.

Hopefully your neck of the woods today has a sky full of those big, white fluffy clouds – your goal is simply to try and make interesting SHAPES from them. Maybe you can see a shark in one – perhaps there’s another one nearby that looks like a dolphin that your shark is chasing. You might spot faces or buildings – anything, really.

Great – but how does this help with your creativity?

Well, you’re reminding yourself that everything is not always as it first seems. There are a thousand ways to look at things – and it’s very useful to keep this in mind during the ideation process.

Looking at familiar objects in a new way or from a new angle yields different results.

Head out and look to the clouds – see if you can find at least five different shapes, and if you’re playing with others, offer a prize for the best find. Take a picture of anything you find. 

If there are no clouds today, you can try the same thing with tea leaves, coffee grounds, the foam in your cappuccino, or check out the wonderfully named Cloud Appreciation Society. This is a website that celebrates looking up. They say:

We believe that clouds are unjustly maligned and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.

We think that they are Nature’s poetry, and the most egalitarian of her displays, since everyone can have a fantastic view of them.

We believe that clouds are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul. Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save money on psychoanalysis bills.

Did you know? Klecksography is the art of making art and images from inkblots – taking the random and making sense of it. The history of using inkblots as tools for stimulating imagination can be traced back as far as the late 1400’s. Both Leonardo da Vinci and Boticelli used them. 

Perhaps the idea of blue sky thinking and cloud-watching is not so bonkers after all!

Hamlet: Do you see yonder cloud that’s almost in shape of a camel?
Polonius: By th’ mass and ’tis: like a camel indeed.
Hamlet: Methinks it is like a weasel.
Polonius: It is backed like a weasel.
Hamlet: Or like a whale.
Polonius: Very like a whale.

– Hamlet, William Shakespeare, Act III, Scene 2

So, look up and remember to live life with your head in the clouds! And if you’re still not sure how you’ll convince the boss tell them this:

“Breaks are not a deviation from performance, but are actually a part of it.” – Dan Pink

The post Want to be more creative? Blue sky thinking allowed! first appeared on Now Go Create.