How to be more creative

Brainlabs global chief strategy officer Sue Unerman and Pearl & Dean CEO Kathryn Jacob are on a mission to get everyone in the industry — not just those in the hallowed creative department at an agency — to be more creative.

They have highlighted three key takeaways for adlanders to consider.

1. Creativity is in all of us

According to research, eight out of 10 people think creativity is important to economic growth. However, most don’t think they are living up to their creative potential.

Getting more creative is not the preserve of those with “creative” in their job titles, the pair suggested. In fact, embracing creativity will help people enjoy themselves more at work and this, in turn, will lead to more successful businesses.

Quoting from Carl Jung, who said that we make decisions not based on logic but on emotion, Unerman noted this is worth bearing in mind when considering not only how you make decisions, but also how clients and consumers make theirs.

“Even if we analyse everything to the Nth degree, sometimes we have to act on gut instinct,” she suggested.

2. Exercise the creative muscle

In their book A Year of Creativity, Unerman and Jacob proposed 52 ways to get more creative.

One of the 52 ways Unerman put forward was called “random link” — whereby one takes a random object and tries to use it to solve an immediate challenge. It encourages us to think creatively about our problem.

The duo stressed the importance of doing something creative every day, likening the practice to exercising any other muscle to keep it active, much like going to the gym.

3. Go beyond the data

Rachel Corp, CEO of ITN, once said that 90% of content online will be artificial by 2026. This makes standing out against the competition more crucial than ever.

“Everybody’s got the same data,” Jacob pointed out. “You’re going to win by taking that data and bringing your own creative thought to it.”

As Warner Bros Discovery chief marketing officer Josh Goldstein said, data can only tell you where you’ve been, not where to go next. “Bring your magic and creativity to that step forward,” Jacob urged.

Watch their full talk below. The discussion was recorded at The Future of Media London in October 2024.