Apologies for being AWOL lately- thing have been busy! Summer is notoriously slow in the PR world- not so this year! I think I’ve been going non-stop since fall. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. Nope, today I want to know where you do your best thinking. You know, the place or time of day that you collect your thoughts, think up new ideas and solutions to problems, take account of what needs to get done and how you could have handled a situation differently.

For me, that place is on the treadmill. I can’t read on the treadmill as I run at a good pace and my gym doesn’t have TVs, so it’s just me, some music and my thoughts. I go to the gym in the evening and this is the time I use to figure out what I need to get done the next day, what I forgot to do that day, what I can do to improve on a project and what new ideas I can bring to the table. I don’t necessarily cover all that ground in one workout, but I have found that some of my best ideas have come to me during a run and some tasks that might have fallen through the cracks get remembered in that time too!

This isn’t a new concept for me either- in university, working out was an integral part of exam prep. I would compile detailed notes that I needed to learn, colour code them, staple them together or put them in a duotang of some kind and bring them onto the elliptical machine with me. The things I read through on the machine seemed to stick with me. My mind was clear, it was 30 minutes devoted entirely to memorization without anything there to distract me, such as MSN, TV, etc. When I started running, the same concept seemed to apply, only without the notes. I remember the things I have reminded myself to do on the treadmill the next day when I get into the office. I can’t tell you what I ate for dinner last night half the time, but I know that yesterday on the treadmill I had 5 things I wanted to take care of first thing Monday morning and they’ve all been done.

So, where do you come up with the good stuff? What’s your thinking place?

P.S. Sorry for the cheesy title. I couldn’t resist;)

I’m going to preface this by saying that I mean no offence to anyone who works in advertising. Some may say I fit into that mould, but unless I’m trying to get out of doing a phone survey (works like a charm), I will vehemently argue against you. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about Defining PR- this may be a bit of a follow-up as I continue on my quest to find the ideal universal definition. One thing that defines advertising is how blantant it can be; PR tends to be far more subtle. In fact the best PR affects consumers without them ever knowing it took place. Advertising on the other hand? It wants to be in your face. Advertising is often considered a success if it just gets you talking about it. So I’m playing right into their hands…

There are several things that bother me about advertising but one in particular really gets my goat: when one company puts down its main competitor in an effort to push product. Biggest offender? Pepsi. From what I can see, they seem to spend the majority of their advertising time and budget on putting down Coke. Now I haven’t seen their budget- I don’t know the figures and I don’t plan on guessing. I’m only going on what I see- but what I see isn’t so creative. If you have to put down your main competition in order to sell your product, somthing’s wrong with your approach. Just tell us why you have the better one. To me, it comes off looking pathetic. Same goes for the Pepsi Challenge, where kioks in malls and at events would have you guess which sip tastes better, hoping of course, that you’ll “unknowingly” choose Pepsi. So let me get this straight…you know Coke is better and you need to prove that we can’t tell them apart so that we’ll buy yours? Personally, I prefer Coke and as long as Pepsi spends their dollars putting Coke down, they will lose my money along with my respect.

A newer offender is Apple. Now I have always had a PC. I know them better, they work for me. I have worked on an Apple, however, and they are nice- nice looking, nice to use. No complaints. They worked magic with the iPod, everyone but me has one, good for them, it’s also a nice little gadget. They have done great things to revamp their image over the last few years and kudos for that. But as soon as they started their advertising campaign with the older, conservative “PC Man” and the young, hip and cool “MAC Dude,” they lost me. Find a more creative way to tell us why you’re better; don’t put down your competition to do it! If I was considering an iPod when my wonderful little Creative Muvo dies, I’m not now.

It’s advertisements such as those that make me proud to be in PR. We don’t put down the competition to push our product. We have to find more creative ways to get it in the media and on consumer’s radar. Blatancy doesn’t work for us. And while I know that advertising people work very hard, PR people don’t have the option of taking the easy way out.

One of my biggest challenges in public relations is coming up with new ideas for a client on a regular basis.  Or being asked to pitch for new business and trying to develop ideas that have that big “wow” factor.  I’m the first to admit that creativity is probably one of the areas in which I’m somewhat lacking.  However, one way to overcome this is to invite colleagues to participate in a brainstorming session.  Whether they’re called a “creative session” or “brainstorming session” (and I’ve heard both terms used), the end result is the same…developing great ideas that will win you new business or make you look great in front of an existing client.

In my many years of public relations, I’ve attended (and conducted) some great brainstorming sessions and some horrible and unproductive ones.  The difference between the two is preparedness and the amount of participation from those who attend.  When conducting a brainstorming session, it’s important to give the participants some background information in advance and to make sure that everyone who attends knows the goals and objectives of what you’re trying to achieve.  For those who attend, participation is key!!!  There’s no point in participating in a brainstorming session if you don’t contribute anything.  You probably won’t be asked back!  Also, it’s important to remember that no idea is a bad idea.  Some of the best discussions have come from an idea that might seem way out there at first but can be refined into a prize-winning tactic.  I have also discovered that it’s very important to invite colleagues with various backgrounds to participate.  We recently held a brainstorming session for a healthcare client and invited colleagues who specialize in different areas to attend.  Different views help spark great conversation and some of the best suggestions and ideas came from those who had no healthcare experience or real knowledge of the subject matter. 

If anybody out there has any great tips on how to run a great brainstorming session or how to get your “creative juices flowing”, please let me know.  I’d love to hear your ideas!