The Ins and Outs of Standing Out
In the creative world, standing out from the crowd is usually a good thing. Every marketing student knows that having unique ideas is what separates the winningly successful from the ho-hum.
But standing out can also be the kiss of death if you don’t know how to use the concept effectively. An ad campaign that aims to attract attention by being distinctive can sometimes have the opposite of the intended effect, turning off potential customers in the process.
A bad concept is a lot like that guy at the office. You know the one: the guy with the wacky tie who thinks he’s really shaking things up, fashion-wise. He cracks terrible jokes constantly, thinking he’s the funniest guy in the building because of the nervous laughter he receives from a couple of co-workers trying to be polite.
The saddest think about wacky tie guy is just how clueless he is. A comical tie isn’t a forward-thinking fashion concept. It’s still a tie after all. In fact, the most creative guy at work may be wearing no tie at all.
Bad jokes don’t make you funny either. The funniest guy in the office may not even tell jokes: he cracks everyone up with his hilarious way of describing everyday events.
The problem is, a lot of ideas are the creative equivalent of the wacky tie. They stand out from the rest, but not in a good way. When used car salesmen first started shouting in commercials, they probably startled people into noticing.
Those commercials are certainly different from others, but if having a fat guy in a bad suit yell out car prices was effective, you can bet the big auto makers would be doing it in national ads.
Do you want an ad campaign that stands out like a bad tie or a screaming salesman? Or do you want something that makes people stop, think, and say to themselves, “I’ve never seen that before.”
Creative thinking is organic. It comes from deep within. You can’t put it on like a Looney Toons tie. The good news is, if you can spot the difference between a bad joke and a good joke, or a good campaign versus an annoying campaign, you’ve got an ear for it. If you can’t, you may be guilty of trying too hard.
At Oozil, we’re looking for people who know the difference. People like you, with standout ideas. You can even work at home. That means no tie is necessary (especially not wacky ones.)
By Elizabeth Kelly
Tags: ad campaigns, advertising, creativity, marketing