Creativity is a Business Superpower

A problem I struggled with this year was trying to figure out how to connect with my right-fit clients and stakeholders. 

It was a problem that I kept circling around like a kind of doom loop. 

Finally, I stopped because when I'm stuck in a doom loop it means something needs to change: I need to do more research or I need to think about the issue more expansively or something else.

I did more research, I talked to clients and stakeholders, and I gave myself space to consider other alternatives.

Here's what I learned and how I'm moving forward in the new year.

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Transcript

Creativity is a Business Superpower 
 

Hi, this is the Marketing Rootwork podcast, and I'm your Pod Master Judy Murdoch. And today I'm going to be talking about creativity as a business superpower. If you keep circling an intractable problem, maybe it's time to think in a different way. So back when dinosaurs roam the earth, I had a pet brontosaurus named Missy. 

I worked for a large Chicago advertising agency. Not quite madman, but I certainly saw some crazy goings on, especially when the agency was competing for new business. 

I didn't work in accounts or creative services. I worked in the research department and I always felt crappy salary. Not withstanding that it was my best introduction to marketing because the focus was on the people who mattered most, the people who were buying all these brand name products. I spent a lot of time observing and talking to consumers, mostly housewives, but they could be doctors. 

Lawyers, engineers, and other occupation. If they were the person making the purchase decision, we wanted to talk to them. Creativity is a broad concept and it shows up in every human endeavor in advertising and marketing, creativity is applied, meaning creativity is used to achieve a particular goal. In advertising, the goal is creating the brand idea how we wanted consumers to think and feel about the product. 

Brainstorming and other creative techniques were often used by the research group to help clients come up with ideas. Usually clients were looking for ideas to create new brands or new brand extensions. Sometimes to come up with new ways to address a marketing related problem. So thinking about what kinds of promotions do we want to do this year? 

I discovered that I loved creative problem solving. What I love most about creative problem solving is the way in which it forces us to disengage from logical problem solving. Rather, we open up to solutions. We wouldn't have considered if we stuck with a linear approach. I learned too that like all things in advertising, creative thinking could quickly become categorized as gimmicky. 

Some people saw creative thinking as no more than a flashy dog and pony show that agencies put on to prove their value. And there's some truth in this. There's also truth in the fact that we still have a tendency to think that creativity is kind of a gift. Some people have it and some people don't. 

Some people are artistic and some people are accountants, but that's not true. You know, we're all capable of creative thinking, and it doesn't, it doesn't take away from the fundamental value of creativity, of creative thinking and its role in problem solving. Creativity does not begin and end. With your brand strategy. 

When I began marketing work, most of my creative thinking applied to creating a brand identity and creating a logo. This is what most people consider brand strategy, like once you have your statement of purpose, an identity, and a logo, you're done. You're good to go. Well, not so fast. Having a brand identity is a container. 

It sets up boundaries. For what your brand is and isn't, and this is very, very important. It just isn't ina. As time passed, I realized I had a lot to learn, especially when it came to who my best clients are. I started with a good guess, but the more I talked with people, the more I saw the need to revise and rethink my marketing strategy. 

A problem I kept circling around and around with was visibility. How do I connect effectively with my right fit client? It can feel so challenging in this noisy, competitive marketplace. So I did research. I talked to clients and stakeholders. I observed my own experience and I brainstormed with other people, and what I learned was. 

I needed to step back from social media. Social media was not the place my best stakeholders would find me. I realized that my best media for visibility was other people who knew me well and thought highly of my work. Now, this is not a new or revolutionary approach. Up until the early two thousands, this was how everyone built their business. 

Through word of mouth and referrals. If you could afford major media advertising, great, but that's out of reach. For most solopreneurs I've learned it's all about creating and attending trust-based relationship with like-minded like-hearted business owners, people just like you. Now, having talked about creativity, I wanna emphasize that there's a place. 

For both problem solving approaches, linear analytical thinking and divergent creative thinking are both human superpowers. They both have important roles to play when we're tackling business challenges. I would argue though that we tend to overemphasize linear analytics and underused the power of divergent thinking. 

I plan to use more creative, divergent thinking in the new year, and this includes experimenting with ai. How about you? Do you have a seemingly intractable, intractable business problem that you just can't think your way out of? It's creative problem solving and inquiry part of your business toolkit. I'd love to hear about your experiences. 

I'm wishing you a happy holiday season. A creative prosperous 2026. May we all connect with the people who genuinely appreciate the work we do and the way in which we do it. May we thrive in the new year. Judy Murdoch, marketing root work coach, writer, and artist.