Leap! A Revolution in Creative Business Strategy

256 Pages·2003·1.79 MB·English

by  Bob Schmetterer

LEAP
Adweek and Brandweek Books are designed to present interest-
ing, insightful books for the general business reader and for profes-
sionals in the worlds of media, marketing, and advertising.
These are innovative, creative books that address the challenges
and opportunities ofthese industries, written by leaders in the business.
Some of our writers head their own companies, others have worked
their way up to the top of their field in large multinationals. But they
share a knowledge oftheir craft and a desire to enlighten others.
We hope readers will find these books as helpful and inspiring as
Adweek, Brandweek,and Mediaweekmagazines.
Published
Disruption:Overturning Conventions and Shaking Up the Marketplace,
Jean-Marie Dru
Under the Radar:Talking to Today’s Cynical Consumer, Jonathan Bond
and Richard Kirshenbaum
Truth, Lies and Advertising:The Art of Account Planning,Jon Steel
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This:A Guide to Creating Great Ads,
Luke Sullivan
Eating the Big Fish:How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against
Brand Leaders, Adam Morgan
Warp-Speed Branding:The Impact ofTechnology on Marketing,
Agnieszka Winkler
Creative Company:How St. Luke’s Became “the Ad Agency to End All
Ad Agencies,”Andy Law
Another One Bites the Grass:Making Sense of International Advertising,
Simon Anholt
Attention! How to Interrupt, Yell, Whisper and Touch Consumers,
Ken Sacharin
The Peaceable Kingdom:Building a Company without Factionalism,
Fiefdoms, Fear, and Other Staples of Modern Business, Stan Richards
Getting the Bugs Out:The Rise, Fall, and Comeback ofVolkswagen in
America, David Kiley
The Do-It-Yourself Lobotomy:Open Your Mind to Greater Creative
Thinking, Tom Monahan
Beyond Disruption:Changing the Rules in the Marketplace,
Jean-Marie Dru
And Now a Few Laughs From Our Sponsor:The Best of Fifty Years of
Radio Commercials,Larry Oakner
Sixty Trends in Sixty Minutes,Sam Hill
LEAP
A Revolution in
Creative Business Strategy
Bob Schmetterer
ANADWEEK BOOK
JOHNWILEY & SONS,INC.
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Copyright © 2003 by Bob Schmetterer. All rights reserved.
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For Stacy

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION Why Leap? ix
CHAPTER1 Tales of a Left-Brain/Right-Brain Thinker 1
CHAPTER2 Creative Business Ideas 15
CHAPTER3 Creativity at the Top 33
CHAPTER4 The Creative Corporate Culture 49
CHAPTER5 Creativity at the Heart of Business Strategy 71
CHAPTER6 Do You Know What Business You Are In? 91
CHAPTER7 The End of Advertising . . .
the Beginning of Something New 137
CHAPTER8 The Entertainment Factor 159
CHAPTER9 A Structure for Creative Thinking 183
CHAPTER10 Make the Leap 217
Website 222
Acknowledgments 223
Notes 226
Credits 231
Index 234
About the Author 242

INTRODUCTION: WHY LEAP?
This is a book about Creative Business Ideas.
These words do not necessarily trip off the tongue. And there are those who
might suggest that “creative” and “business” are as unnatural a combination as
“business”and “ideas.”I can understand that. Most often, business thinking is based
only in numbers, research, analysis, and logic. These are comfortable staples ofpre-
dictability for business-trained minds and corporate decision makers. And for risk
avoidance in general. Creativity is for the artists and dreamers, poets and ad people.
It is fine to support business decisions with creative advertising, but not to have cre-
ativity be core to business thinking and business strategy.
This book is going to show you that there is another way. Before you have
turned the last page, I think you will not only be surprised by the excitement and
potential of creative thinking about business strategy, you will also be determined
to borrow some of the solutions we have developed and learned from others and
try them within your own organization.
These may sound like the words of a proverbial ad man. They are not. They
are not because I am not.
What I may be is a 1960s idealist who found himself in a business—
advertising—where outsiders believe ideals do not matter. They could not be more
wrong. Over the years, I have found myselfsurrounded by like-minded people who
have a passion for finding out deep truths about superior products and businesses
and presenting them to the public in the most creative of ways for the good of all.
Our frustrations stemmed not from a disbelief in the worth of our work, but from
the limitations ofour knowledge. We were like gifted physicians who were hired for
our first-aid skills (in our case, making funny or emotional TV commercials). Cer-
tainly important, but it did not let us get down to the basics of the problem. Then
we had a breakthrough:We needed to become our clients’ partners in the deepest