What Master Marketer Gene Schwartz can teach Marketing Executives about creativity—and it's not what you think

If you find any of my comments below alarming, you better hang on to your hat! Because it's widely believed that the way to produce ground-breaking marketing copy is to be 'creative.' But that statement is not precisely accurate. The approach is much simpler than that. 

At the end of this article, you'll understand the ONE thing savvy marketing executives do to produce powerful marketing campaigns every time and how many companies have used this powerful technique with excellent results.  

Let's dive in… 

Gene Schwartz's profound book: Breakthrough Advertising, sees the pressure on copywriter marketers to be 'creative' and how that is not what a copywriter marketer is at all.  

Better to leave the creative writing to creative writers and poets—that's their job. Not for us copywriter marketers. Not by a long shot. In fact… 

Savvy Copywriter Marketers use their logical brain

I know this may sound counter-intuitive. School teaches us that writing is a creative pastime, and for the most part, it is, but in the field of copywriter marketing, creativity is the graphic designers' domain.  

Gene saw this in his day, and this belief has not left the industry since he left us. Copywriter marketers still feel the pressure to be 'creative,' and it's just not necessary. 

According to Gene, the word creative is intimidating and highly misleading! Creativity implies that copywriter marketers must produce something out of nothing, which is impossible for mere mortals.  

Gene sees the role of a copywriter marketer as someone who connects the dots in the most unlikely of places 

Simply put, savvy copywriter marketers bring separate concepts, images, ideas, or anything else together in a NEW way. They join them in a way that's new and exciting. The stronger, more unique, and valuable the new connection they make, the more creative the marketplace sees it. 

So, How Does This Apply to Marketing Executives?

Well, the more copywriter marketers work with marketing executives and see what they do, the better they understand that they are constantly connecting past ideas, concepts, or strategies to new situations.  

That's all they ever do. 

They take something that already works—whether it be a strategy, a tactic, a headline, a theme, or anything else—and then connect that thing to a unique circumstance or situation they currently find themselves in. 

For example, in my article, 'What Do A-List Hollywood Actors and Copywriter Marketers have in Common? More than you think.' I connected the dots between the Hollywood elite and A-List Copywriter Marketers.  I explained how an A-list Hollywood actors' preparation technique is remarkably similar to an A-list Copywriter Marketer's preparation technique. 

But then there is Jay… 

How Polymath Jay Abrahams Makes His Clients Millions

 It's interesting to note that a polymath is someone whose knowledge is not only focused on one particular area of expertise. Their knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects. They're known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems, and Jay Abrahams is no exception. 

In the marketplace, he is regarded as one of the most creative marketers of all time because he is in the unique position to hop from one industry to the next, taking their best ideas and solutions to other sectors to try on for size.  

Every client who listens to Jay enjoys tremendous results. 

That's what gives Jay his advantage.

He constantly takes the every-day from one industry and applies it to a different sector for mind-boggling results. 

This is connectively at its finest.  

I Suppose You Could Call It Blue Ocean Strategy

 Three companies who have used the blue ocean strategy and seen phenomenal results are…

Nintendo:

Firstly Nintendo focused on reducing its costs. They discovered that they did not need the hard disk or the DVD functions most game consoles boasted and reduced the graphics and the processing quality. 

To make things even more interesting, they ushered in a wireless motion control stick to stand out from the crowd.  Allowing Nintendo to open up a suite of new offerings never seen in the gaming world previously. Like the option to use a games console to get fit or play in a larger social setting. 

Yellow Tail

Yellow Tail threw caution to the wind when they decided to turn their back on the 'old school' way of producing fine wine.

They ditched the industry speak, making their wine approachable and safe.  Taking things a step further, they developed a wine that was sweet enough to attract beer and spirit drinkers as well as wine lovers.  And to top it all off, they made buying easy by offering two varieties: one red and one white.  Life for Yellow Tail has been sweet ever since then.

Cirque de Soleil

Cirque du Soleil decided they wanted to be different from their circus cousins. They desired to reduce costs and stand out from the crowd.

They decided to do away with animal acts which reduced their basic costs immediately. They then turned to the theatre world for their inspiration, inspired by its live music and storytelling. And with a focus on the magic of human physical skills helped Cirque du Soleil to usher in new and exciting elements never seen before in the circus realm.

The result?  

Cirque du Soleil pioneered a new marketplace.  Attracting adults and corporate clients (rather than the traditional audience of families) willing to pay higher prices to watch their extraordinary spectacle. 

And I can attest to that fact… 

Behind Cirque Du Soleil's Red Velvet Rope

 Ticket checked. A well-groomed assistant welcomed me in with her broad air-hostess smile.  Clutching my newly acquired VIP Circus Pass and a Cirque Du Soleil swag bag, she ushered me into the tent.   

Inside the marque in the far corner was a small table decked in beautifully displayed canapés. On the opposite side of the tent was a small table full of cool drinks that we could take as we pleased.  

The small marque decored in tropical plants and soft furnishings beckoned me to sit and relax. I sat on a soft white chair in the cool, quiet tent and sipped my water, and like a kid, on Christmas morning, I prized open my swag bag to see what lay inside.  

It was a large, beautifully illustrated magazine revealing in amazing color all the work that had gone into preparing for the show I was about to lose myself in, plus a personal CDS flask. 

The music started. Curtain called. It was time to go to our VIP seats in the main tent. Gently ushered into the main tent, I found myself standing in front of a red velvet rope. I stood for a moment, enjoying the novelty of it.  

Smiling broadly, the pretty usher clicked the red rope to one side, and as I walked through, she handed me a small bag of popcorn then escorted me to my seat in the main tent.  I had the best seat in the house. 

I mean, it doesn't get any better than that! 

I was never interested in the circus as a kid. But will happily pay the higher ticket fee to enjoy another extraordinary experience with the Cirque Du Soleil family.  

But to be fair… 

What These Savvy Marketing Teams Did Is Not Radically New

 They were not creative in the sense we know creative.  

They cut away what was not working in their industries and looked at what they had left to make it into something delightful and unique for their customers. Grabbing a few cool ideas from other sectors 'swag bag' as they went. 

And because of their boldness to go the blue ocean route, they have shown themselves to be marketplace pioneers.  

And as a marketing executive, the same applies to you.  

Being connective is very much a matter of taking an idea… a headline… a principle, a strategy… or anything else — something you've seen or successfully done in one area—and then apply it to your present situation. 

Fortunately, you never have to come up with something from scratch.  

Simply, connect the dots differently. 

Can't you just feel the pressure melt off of your shoulders?

Here's to new and exciting blue ocean marketing campaigns!