The Big Idea vs. The Low Traffic Light, or "How I didn't decapitate a bunch of Girl Scouts."

Building creative is always a balancing act between innovative thinking and all the terrible things that could happen.?

Here's a great example.?

I worked for a startup a while back. The company launched a "shop local" kind of app and program into midsized towns. I had a limited budget and had to develop great ideas that would get everyone in town to know who we were and want to use us. We did murals, team sponsorships, unique billboard stunts and more when it occurred to me that if we could perform an actual service to local organizations, we could become part of the city's fabric.

Buy a vintage, open-top double-decker bus and wrap it in our logo.

Hire a driver to take Senior Citizens on an outing. Drive the Kiwanis to a game. Show up at every festival and event in town. Who doesn't love an open-top double-decker bus??

I jumped on it and found some for sale, and figured out the cost of wrapping the bus with our logo and marketing pitch.?

I sold the CEO, and it looked like a go.?

Then I spent the next week in one of our client cities, setting up partnerships with civic organizations, meeting with city hall leadership, and scouting locations for murals when I noticed something.?

The traffic lights were pretty low.?

How low were they? And how high was the open-top double-decker bus??

Too low and too high.?

I was standing on a corner, looking up at the light, and realized my wonderful, civically minded idea would cut a bunch of Girl Scouts in half if they were standing on the top level of the bus. ?

I saw the headlines... "Tragic bus accident sends startup Creative Director to prison forever."

I had to kill the idea before it killed someone.?

I called the CEO and explained the potential of my great concept. Nobody at the office had thought of this, and he agreed we had to rethink the approach.?

That's the balancing act we all must face in our brand development. How can we stand on the edge of the cliff and not fall over and take our companies with us??Have you ever pulled back from a great idea and saved the universe?

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