By Nicholas McDavid

Companies/brands are not working hard enough to engage consumers, and event promoters have given up on innovation. This has led to a state I call the “pervasive normal,” where consumers are used to underwhelming offerings and their imaginations are no longer stimulated. This “creative dystopia” needs to end, and companies/brands and promoters need to rise to the challenge.

Here is a simple 6-point framework inspired by Fast Company, a leading international publication on innovation and trends that I read. This framework helps you assess a brand’s creativity in reaching out to you:

1. Originality: Does the brand’s message or approach feel fresh and unexpected? Is it a new take on a familiar concept, or entirely out-of-the-box?
2. Surprise Factor: Does the outreach make you stop and take notice? Does it positively challenge your expectations?
3. Channel Choice: Is the brand uniquely using a communication channel? For example, is a billboard very interactive, or is social media being used in a surprising way?
4. Emotional Connection: Does the outreach evoke an emotional response like amusement, curiosity, or inspiration? Creative outreach often taps into feelings to make a lasting impression.
5. Cultural Relevance: Does the brand connect its message to current trends, cultural moments, or social issues in a way that feels insightful and genuine?
6. Shareability: Does the outreach make you want to share it with others? Highly creative campaigns often go viral because they spark conversation and engagement.

We have local companies and brands that can compete globally, and we have a rich event history. So why are we not more creative? Why are we so comfortable with the underwhelming status quo? I laugh to myself all the time that Kingston is designated a Creative City by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). An honour well-deserved based on Kingston’s history of music that has shifted culture and influenced the world. Kingston is Jamaica’s creative beacon, and music aside, where is all of that now in the context of this article?

Events often fail to live up to their advertised themes, and local brand custodians/distributors often don’t research what their brands are doing in their original home markets. Creative international best practices refined for local consumption shouldn’t be a nice-to-do but a need-to-do!

The COVID-19 pandemic should have been a catalyst for innovative ideas, but companies/brands and promoters came back with the same old same old. This needs to change! Companies/brands should seek external help from “creativity consultants” and the like to be more exciting and expressive, and event promoters should use “the corporate method” and engage marketing agencies and/or creative freelancers to stimulate new event ideas. Being more creative doesn’t necessarily mean being complicated or spending a fortune.

All companies, regardless of industry, should utilise creative tactics and strategies. For example, have you ever seen an exciting promotion by Jamaica’s most distinguished law firm Myers, Fletcher & Gordon? No. But it would be amazing if we did!

To further cement the approach and thinking I am trying to inspire, I have come up with some ideas in a 2-minute brainstorm. If any of these ideas are to be used by the respective parties (or anyone else, for that matter), please ensure that you give me credit! So, here’s what I have come up with:

1. Rhythm Up: An outdoor promotion at Grace Kennedy’s HQ downtown with a live steel pan band and complimentary Tropical Rhythms mixes made by mixologists.
2. The Art of Crackers: A promotion teaching people how to make the most creative treats with Excelsior Mini Crackers.
3. Get Festive: A series of events hosted at the UDC’s Festival Marketplace. Instead of the UDC just waiting on bookings (whenever they come), they should host their own experiences with the help of qualified event curators to help generate more business for themselves and their tenants.
4. The Training Shop: HEART/NSTA Trust could go to the middle of Half Way Tree (HWT) and set up a temporary mini-training shop where people walking by can get free micro-courses throughout the day.
5. 21 Questions: Select NCB small business clients based on entering some kind of contest and winning, get to ask Michael Lee-Chin 21 business questions that can slingshot their trajectory.
6. Little Reporters: CVM or TVJ could have short promo segments (for a limited time) where some specially selected prep and primary school kids get to interview other kids at their school, like real reporters.
7. Paper Me: A contest hosted by the Observer or Gleaner to see who can make the best papier mâché designs out of old editions. This is creative reuse/upcycling at its finest!
8. Roving Recruiter: University College of the Caribbean (UCC) could have a branded coaster bus retrofitted to be an office, which drives to high schools across the island to do on-the-spot recruitment and applications, all the while creating much ado on social media.

I could come up with many more ideas, but I hope these inspire readers to have their creative come-to-Jesus moments. Creativity is a MUST!

Nicholas McDavid is a Guyanese-Jamaican consultant who specialises in creativity and innovation with a track record of advising companies, brands, and individuals on how to do things in a more impactful way, as well as helping them to manage and execute a wide variety of creative initiatives and projects. Nicholas is also passionate about existential challenges faced by people locally, regionally, and internationally.