Why Big Ideas are so Big

When it comes to developing creating communication, I am a believer in the need to focus first and foremost on the BIG IDEA.

Once you have the Creative Big Idea then you can get into the execution. Once you have a Big Idea it is then also very easy to globalise it or write new executions - as then all people locally need to do is create executions that work culturally or within the competitive set they have - but you end up with rafts of ads all with the same idea. For me one of the best examples of this is the Unilever Axe/ Lynx brand that has zillions of ads created it seems by different teams all over the world - but they all are about "The Axe/ Lynx Effect".

As I was scanning the cover of UK "Campaign" magazine (15 August 2008), a quote about Big Ideas really caught my eye. It said:

"Once you have a big, fat, great idea, you can adapt it around the world and adapt the media you use to make it relevant. That's the definition of a great idea". This quote was linked to an article about how alcohol manufacturers are trying to globalise.

A couple of years ago when developing some training about advertising in the beauty market, I found a great video online that spoke about creative ideas. I am not 100% sure who did it, but it is a group of agency people talking about ideas.

There were some very powerful thoughts in the video that include:

• A Big Idea is “Something that is so simple you can write it on a matchbook cover, but so big you can’t think of a place it cannot go”


• “(A Big Idea) has a lot of legs that can grow with the client’s products & services as they evolve and can maintain relevancy & consistency across all different mediums”


• “You look at (a big idea) and go “man that feels huge””


• “Big Ideas are pretty easy to sell because they’re usually pretty simple. Almost self evident. When you lay it out everyone in the room goes “you know, that’s a pretty good idea”

You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking here, or on the blog posting