Where to start?

I co-host a podcast called the Kids Media Club podcast. Our guest on a recent episode was Keith Chapman, the creator of Bob the Builder and Paw Patrol, two of the biggest ever children's brands. During our discussion, Keith recalled what had inspired him to create Bob the Builder. At that time, he worked as an Art Director for an advertising agency in London. Glimpsing out of his office window one day, he saw construction workers digging up the street outside. Keith remembered thinking that there weren't any big kids brands about builders, despite construction and building being one of the world's biggest industries and employers. There had to be millions of children whose parents worked in the building industry, yet there were no stories or characters on TV reflecting that reality. From this insight a huge kids franchise was born.

What struck me, I mean really hit home, was that many creators take the opposite approach - myself included. They have an idea they're excited by and then think about how to locate an audience to sell their concept. Keith went in the opposite direction, he started with an audience insight and then worked backwards to engineer an idea.

Now this method has its drawbacks, it can come across as too calculated, cynical even. Certainly, many cherished children's brands take a different approach. For instance, Bluey was inspired by its creator Joe Brumm's experience as a father of two girls and his ambition to create a kids' show with heart and story.

Regardless of whether an idea starts with an audience insight or is motivated by personal experience, producers have to keep in mind the end-user. Steve Jobs famously quoted Henry Ford, who said that if he'd asked customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse rather than a ford car. However, that didn't mean Jobs thought the customer was unimportant. He just didn't think Apple should be guided by what their customer told them they wanted. According to Steve Jobs, Apple should be focused on creating what customers needed but didn't know they needed.

Here is a clip of Steve Jobs responding to a hostile audience question. In the video, Steve Jobs says, "You have got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology you can't start with the technology and try to figure out where you're going to try and sell it" It echoes Keith Chapman's comment about the inspiration for Bob the Builder. There's a message for the artist and creator here as well as the entrepreneur.