Communication in every medium, old and new, can be tremendously effective if the work is backed up by insightful research, rigorous strategy, and the right execution, according to Pat Fallon and Fred Senn in their book Juicing the Orange: How to Turn Creativity into a Powerful Business Advantage. There are seven principles of creative leverage:
- Always start from scratch.
- Demand a ruthlessly simple definition of the business problem.
- Discover a proprietary emotion.
- Focus on the size of the idea, not the size of the budget.
- Seek out strategic risks.
- Collaborate or perish.
- Listen hard to your customers (then listen some more).
The relatively short book is filled with interesting stories about the creation and development of effective advertising campaigns for various well-known companies, as well as lessons learned from unsuccessful campaigns. Whilst not essential reading for business leaders, the book does provide inspiration for those who are involved in crafting communications, whether for businesses or other organisations. It concludes with the following thoughts on the future of creative leverage:
- Creativity will be an increasingly essential business tool.
- You can’t buy creativity, but you can unlock it.
- Creativity is not an easy path to walk, but the rewards are worth it.