In an age where ‘content is king’ and everyone is trying (and often failing) to get a slice of the action, the way that ideas are generated, developed and eventually produced can be a crucial component to success. This presentation gives a brief overview of ten key aspects of the creative process, through the lens of several case studies and campaigns, aiming to deliver transferable tips and insights to help supercharge any creative process.

1. 10commandments
Demystifying
creativeprocess
to
the
the
vicke cheung
@vickekaravan

2. where
i work
We are Distilled, an online marketing agency
From SEO and technical consulting to creative content and digital PR,
we help businesses make the most of the online world.
We also love sharing what we’ve learned while doing this, via our blog,
training courses and conferences.

3. distilled
creative
team

4. creative
lead
senior
designers
pr exec
creative
lead
team
manager

5. We’ll get together and chat until we have a real
understanding of what you want to achieve. We’ll set
some KPIs too. Then we’ll go away and write everything
up before sending back to you for the final say so.
This is where the magic happens. Based on the creative
brief, a designated team of creatives will spend 4 weeks
coming up with, stress-testing and validating a set of ideas
that will knock your socks off.
We’ll make a beautiful deck outlining the concepts that
survived our rigorous stress-testing process. Then we’ll
dazzle your key stakeholders with our creative know-how.
You’ll be asked to select 1 or more ideas based on the contract.
Creativity can be a bit messy so we’ll put together
a brief based on your objectives. That keeps us on
track when we start our ideation process.
THE CREATIVE BRIEF1
We’ll put our brains together to come up with a
bunch of ideas that not only suit your business
needs, but hopefully excite you too.
IDEATION2
This is where one of our Creative Leads will wow
you with a presentation of our wonderful ideas.
PITCH3
CREATIVE THE DISTILLED WAY
ourcreativeprocess

6. this process has
served us well

9. 10
the
commandments
creative

10. Question
the brief

11. our brief
template

12. campaign requirements
the most important
part of the brief

13. What clients ask for
isn’t necessarily what they
want or need
really

14. keep
and
focused
objectives
KPIs

15. michael
bierut
problem
“
“
solution
The
Thecontains

16. Assemble
your A-team

17. TEAM
MEMBERS
primary Creative lead
Copywriter
Designer
Developer
PR executive

18. TEAM
MEMBERS
primary
secondary
Creative lead
Copywriter
Designer
Developer
PR exec
Sense-checker
Journalist
Data scientist
Video team
Experts / Specialists
“
“

19. WHERE TO look
for additional resource
freelancers
YunoJuno
Working Not Working
—
PeoplePerHour
Upwork
Mechnical Turk

20. WHERE TO look
for additional resource
direct
fromclients
PR teams
Internal experts
Proprietary data
freelancers
YunoJuno
Working Not Working
—
PeoplePerHour
Upwork
Mechnical Turk

21. Pair
PEOPLE
DIFFERENT

22. LEONIE
VISUAL CREATIVE

23. VK
DATA-DRIVEN CREATIVE

24. GREAT IDEAS COME at
THE
INTERSECTION
OF CONTRASTING SKILLSETS

26. from
anyone
ideas can come

27. to
talk
CONVERSATION DOESN’T COST ANYTHING
people

28. are an output
ideas
nothing
of everything you have learnt
to date
if you put in
will come outthen

29. david
ogilvy
“
“
Doing research can
feel extremely
tedious, but there is
no substitute for it.

30. Research
...Then research some more

31. explore existing datasets
recommended reading: https://dis.tl/uncoverdata

32. create an
inspiration doc

33. mind-map
the topic

34. right / wrong
there’s no
to research

35. not in practice
work in principle
but
a great ideamay

36. validate
before it’s too late

37. validate
with your team
123meeting
Present ideas to wider team
Individually score each idea
1 = Great 2 = OK 3 = No-go
Therefore best-loved ideas score the lowest

38. validate
for feasibility
question if... Check against...
The data is available
It is within budget
There are tech constraints
A journalist
The ‘SUCCESs’ model

39. by
chipand Dan Heath

40. people care
about people,
not numbers.

41. pUT PEOPLE
FIRST

42. balsamhill.com/christmas-meals-from-around-the-world

43. 41k+ FACEBOOK ENGAGEMENTS
balsamhill.com/christmas-meals-from-around-the-world

44. elicits emotion
Successful content

45. never underestimate
the ofpower words

46. copy
AS important
design and
development
the right is
as

47. copy
design
development

48. minimise risk
maximise
output

49. bigcontent piece can mean...

50. bigreward but also...

51. biggerrisk

52. reduce risk
smaller pieces
i.e. little and often
with

53. peakon.com/blog/workplace-culture/the-great-christmas-click-off-2017-productivity-plummets-as-business-slows-and-burn-out-kicks-in

54. low production cost

55. all the same
36 links total DA = 1975
successful

56. 2016
2017

57. yourself
plagiarise

58. magicfreebiesuk.co.uk/special/xmas

59. badrhino.com/special/footy

60. the sun copying us (copying ourselves)...

61. your stuff
shout about

62. build it
they will comeand

63. build it
they will comeand

64. ideation and production
just half the battleare

65. make your content
more promotable and
shareable Journalists like:
Exclusive content

66. advisa.se/en/research/bills

67. supplementary
assets

68. make your content
more promotable and
shareable Journalists like:
Exclusive content
Video content

69. supplementary
video content

70. the CReative commandments
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
#10
@vickekaravan
Question the brief
Assemble your A-team
Pair different people
Research…
then research some more
Validate before it’s too late
Put people first
Never underestimate
the power of words
Minimise risk, maximise output
Plagiarise yourself
Shout about your stuff
10