When is a moat not a moat? When it’s a valuable creative metaphor. Because I’ve learned that if you don’t avoid the moat, you not only wind up soaked, you can wind up with soggy ideas.
In addition to being a creative director/copywriter, I also warp young minds as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado, where I teach an Intro to Creative Advertising class. Part of helping people new to making ads get better is not just pointing out the great ideas, but explaining why the weaker ideas don’t work. Over time, I’ve developed a couple of shorthand terms, and that’s where the moat comes in.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to participate in a brainstorming exercise with Tom Monahan. For those of you who don’t know him, Tom is an award-winning writer who founded an agency in New England, won a ton of awards, and now is a creative consultant/motivator/guest speaker. Learn more about him here: http://before-after.com/tom-monahans-advertising-accomplishments/
Tom has an arsenal of techniques to inspire people to think more creatively. One is a rapid-fire brainstorm where teams come up with as many ways as they can to solve a problem. No censoring or criticizing. You quickly generate ideas, scribble them down on post-it notes and make them into a chain from first to last.
That day, the assignment was “come up with ways to protect a castle.” We had several teams participating, and the first idea on every team’s list? Moat.
Things didn’t get fresh and weird until further down the idea chain. Around idea 20, you got to things like laser sharks or zombie knights. (So maybe you can go too far. But the ideas around 10-15 were pretty damn solid.)
Now fast forward to the University of Colorado and all those impressionable young minds. In the early weeks of each semester, I’m not shooting for great ads from them. I’m just hoping for ideas that make sense. And when you give beginner teams a classic ad assignment like a bike lock, many of them will come back with the same ideas.
We’ve taken to calling these ideas “The Moat.” It’s become our shorthand for the easiest, lowest-hanging fruit. In subsequent weeks, The Moat gets easier to spot. When five teams have the same bodyguard visual, that’s the Moat. Is that a visual of a broken hack saw? Nope, it’s a moat.
Gradually, teams realize that the best ideas come further in the process. And in later classes, they’ll actually figure out the moat themselves.
So, what’s in it for you, you ask? Does what works in the ivy-covered walls of academia have utility in the real world? I’d say so.
Since last summer, I’ve been a freelance CD/writer. I no longer have the option to sit back in a schwanky office and wait for teams to bring me stuff. Now, the pressure is on me to come up with ideas. Lots of ideas. To be clear: Every. Single. Idea. Fortunately, keeping The Moat in mind is a good way to edit myself and not fall in love with the first idea that my neurons fire off.
Try it for yourself. The next time you and your team are brainstorming, take a moment and make sure to stay clear of that metaphorical moat. The cool part is that the more you’re looking for it, the easier it is to spot.
Oh, watch out for real moats too. They’re still surprisingly effective.