As a creative, I find that we need a constant reminder of how to maintain a proper creative flow that will eventually help us generate useful ideas to address our target audience’s problems. Another one of Pete Cain’s classes about propositions provided one of those reminders that we all need to return to the initial meanings and ground ourselves. By grounding ourselves, we mean refocusing our thoughts on the brief.

Why should we prioritize the brief and make it the main focus of our creative flow? It’s because the brief is fundamental to our work and the root of all insights, problems, and solutions. By consistently referring back to the brief, we should be able to answer all questions regarding how and why our solution would work for our respective target audience without assuming they will understand what we are trying to communicate.

That was the first reminder by Pete for us to better understand how to generate ideas and solutions for our target audience’s problems. Next, he reminded us to always keep it simple because our proposition should be a straightforward thought. It’s the thought that we believe will persuade the target audience to respond as desired. Of course, generating a simple proposition thought is not as easy as it sounds. It should always begin with understanding the problem we are trying to solve by conducting research repeatedly until we find an insight that aligns with the brief.

After research, we should know what motivates our audience, because we can’t expect people to act when we don’t understand their motivations. To reach that understanding, we must discover what our audience wants, demonstrate how to achieve it, and then we’ll be in business.

Once our simple proposition of thought is clear, we should find the best way to communicate that thought in plain written language by trying to write as many different sentences as possible. However, bear in mind, your proposition is not a place for puns or wordplay.

Another reminder is that we must remember that one decision leads to another. In other words, the decisions we make lead us to where we are now, and each decision eliminates other options. Therefore, every time we make a decision, we need to ensure we haven’t strayed from our proposition or the brief – it’s possible to still be in line with our proposition but also off the brief.

Of all the reminders Pete shared, the final takeaway after showcasing how simple and effective the propositions for Old Spice, a glazing company, and a baby company advertisements were, is that propositions often don’t seem creative at all. They’re simply compelling messages, and it’s okay if they seem boring sometimes. As long as the message we’re conveying can change the behavior of our target audience as intended, then it’s safe to say our work is effective.

Another piece of advice that may enhance your creative flow is to start with the obvious and bring all elements together until they spark more questions about your target audience.

In summary, as creatives, we should remind ourselves to stay grounded, conduct thorough research, keep it simple, and always iterate on everything necessary to create a perfect workflow. Once we master these elements, there is no doubt our work will become more effective and easier over time.

@triskiavissa