Creative Fuel for 2021

"THE BIG THREE“

Passion: You just KNOW when a product is one created by passion…and one that’s created purely as for profit only exercise.

Character: That extra dimension. Often two products are identical,  but one kicks the others butt. "Character" is that intangible that usually drives the victory.

Muscle: Using “bigness” to your advantage.

CULT/MAINSTREAM: The magic balance. Whacked enough to have a cult following, mainstream enough to have a massive circulation.

NUMBERS OR FANS? Marketing people acquire the numbers for ad sales to use, programming creators turn numbers into FANS. If the “Numbers to Fans” component is missing, the product will never be more than a utility. Utilities can be enormously successful, but the “fan” element ultimately makes the utility invulnerable.

ER: BiggER, BettER, or whatever…”ER” where it counts needs to be a focus.

SOUL: Ya need SOUL to cut through in today’s soul-less environment. Soul is that intangible that might be among the strongest competitive tools…and it’s off the radar in today’s conference rooms. Soul has to be developed…by people who have it.

ECLECTIC...ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK: Properly channeled eclectic…done smartly, is golden.

THE MIND CLOCK: Memories are as important as "now." Classic and Archive are key words in peoples lives. 16-20 remain the cultural roots for most that define their M.O.  this applies to all ages,  and everyone from a toddler forward has memories.

SCANNABILITY: The world moves faster. Need to deliver content at the speed of Now. What was the right length in 1960 is too long today. What was too condensed in 1970 may be perfect today.  Programming at the speed of 2021.

TUNE OUT PARANOIA:  People WILL tune you out—there are too many options out there.  If you’re well defined and amazing enough,  they’ll be back. Programming to avoid tune out will make you too safe for 2021.

INTELLECT: Can be mass appeal and mainstream. Intellect is too often confused with elite and stiff.

MISSION VS. MISSION STATEMENT: A Mission Statement means nothing. A Mission is all about action. The difference between Talk and AFDI….between what you want to do and what you’re doing.  For a modern day laugh,  look at the mission statements for some of the more evil companies.

2020 was one historically bizarre year... I can’t think of a more historical (sickly hysterical) year that only paves the way for some new thinking. Onward to 2021!