Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
The most effective and best campaigns are based on strategic insights that change the rules of the game, but the fact is that discovery of these insights is one of the most difficult tasks when setting up a strategy.
Thinking tools of the company Mindscapes, known in the advertising industry around the world, have been created by analyzing the most effective award-winning campaigns, and discovering the patterns of thinking on which these ideas are based.
How to recognize and understand an insight, and how to discover the inspiration in noticing the details we have so far ignored by looking at the situation from the perspective we are accustomed to? Where and how to identify conflicts? What are the frequent personal or social consumer dilemmas the brand can respond to?
Kuperberg will open the first HOWtoWOW Academy’s workshop How to Develop Powerful Strategic Insights? Participants of the workshop will have the chance to learn how they can go beyond the existing assumptions and conventional interpretations of data, and discover strong strategic insights, learn how to translate that into behaviors, and what kind of story is hidden behind the numbers a brand needs to respond to.
Ravid Kuperberg is a partner and trainer at Mindscapes. In recent years, agencies that have successfully completed Mindscapes training have won more than 25 Cannes Lions using their well-known thinking tools. In his career he has personally led projects for some of the leading marketing agencies and global brands, including Publicis, Grey, TBWA, Google, Unilever, Telenor and many others.
This is a short conversation we had with Ravid just before his departure for Zagreb.
What is the biggest challenge brands encounter when approaching the process of strategic thinking and thinking tools?
Ravid Kuperberg: The biggest challenge is to deliver a new, unique, different story. But at the same time keeping it relevant and giving people a sense of familiarity. Something they can easily connect with. Many times that something is already fostering in peoples heads or hearts. For example, the famous “you’re not you when you’re hungry” story by Snickers does exactly that. Delivers completely new perspective about the role of a satisfying chocolate bar, which people can understand and relate to in a second. Finding such a perspective usually means looking at the same familiar reality as others, and seeing something different. Something fresh. For that, many times you need to go against your initial intuitive thinking. Which is much easier said than done…
And of course today, it’s not enough to just tell a good story or to say something that makes sense. Consumers today expect more and respond to more. You need to deliver a story they can actively become a part of. You need a story that makes a real difference. Which is what the session at H2W will be all about.
What is the key advantage of using Thinking Tools?
Ravid Kuperberg: They can help send the mind towards specific thinking paths. Allowing you to explore new unexpected directions and making unexpected thinking territories more accessible. Especially when the mind is blocked or stressed or overloaded. So in a nutshell, they are very effective in making creative thinking more efficient. They are not there to replace people’s inborn creative thinking skills, but rather help people use their skills more efficiently. Going back to previous answer, thinking tools can effectively help overcome intuitive thinking, opening up counter intuitive thinking paths. They can help address cognitive fixedness in which our mind automatically associates systems with their known function and structure, thereby creating a wall which limits our processing and thinking. And they can do so in a variety of mechanisms, shapes and forms.
Is there a recipe for a successful campaign?
Ravid Kuperberg: Not that I know of. But I believe there is a recipe for increasing the ability to get there. And I believe there is a recipe for a more successful thinking process. The mindscapes thinking tools are all based on recurring patterns of thinking embedded in award winning ideas. Therefore they suggest thinking paths based on patterns which have proven to be fertile in the past. Over a long period and for a variety of tasks and markets. There is no guarantee of success, but I do believe the tools can help the mind think in a more efficient manner, which can increase the ability to achieve success.
When searching for successful campaigns it also important to combine mind and gut. Mind is where your knowledge, what you learnt and how you think make a difference. Gut is where your experience kicks in. And it should never be overlooked or under estimated.
Can you mention an awarded campaign developed by an agency using your method, which you are particularly fond of?
Ravid Kuperberg: One our biggest client, and friends, are McCann Bucharest which have developed campaigns for a local chocolate called ROM using our tools. All the campaigns aimed at reminding the younger generation of Romanians why they are proud of being Romanian, which apparently is not an easy task these days. It requires insightful strategic thinking combined with innovative creative outcomes. I highly recommend checking out McCann’s award winning work for ROM online. I am also always proud of agencies winning their first Cannes Lion after running a training with us. Not always with ideas developed directly by our tools, but I would like to think that we had some contribution in terms of spirit, creative energy and belief.
What will the workshop attendees at HOWtoWOW Academy have the opportunity to learn?
Ravid Kuperberg: that decoding creative thinking and talking about structure and patterns when searching for insights can be practical, not just inspiring. And helpful the very next day.
