Creativity is often seen as something that just happens. Some people think it’s an “aha” moment, a spark of inspiration that comes out of nowhere. But in reality, creativity, especially in marketing, is not just about having a sudden idea. It’s about using skills, knowledge, and practise to create something truly valuable.

Creativity Isn’t Just Intuitive

Many people believe that creativity is intuitive, meaning it’s natural and doesn’t require much effort. This idea suggests that creative ideas should come easily without much thinking. However, this isn’t how creativity works for most professionals, especially marketers. In fact, most marketers will tell you that creativity isn’t just about spontaneous ideas. It takes research, understanding, and hard work.

When marketers create something new, it often comes from a deep well of knowledge, insights, and experience. They don’t just think up random ideas; they build them from what they know and what they have learnt through research. Without that research, creativity can miss the mark or fail to resonate with the people it’s meant to serve.

The Two Parts of Creativity

Creativity can be broken down into two key parts:

• Empathy and Logic: Creative people can come up with ideas that are not only unexpected but also useful. They think logically about how to develop ideas, and they are empathetic, meaning they understand the needs and feelings of others. When creating something for a client, these two aspects work together to ensure the ideas make sense and are practical. It’s about finding the right balance between creativity that’s fresh and creativity that actually solves a problem.
• Experience and Expertise: Creativity also involves having a broad understanding of different topics. The more experience someone has in their field, the more likely they are to come up with new and exciting ideas. They might even draw inspiration from areas outside their usual work. A marketer, for example, may not just look at marketing trends but also at design, psychology, or even art to inspire fresh ideas. Creativity isn’t just about thinking in one way—it’s about connecting knowledge from different areas and applying it to new challenges.

Practise Makes Creativity Feel Natural

While creativity may seem like something that should come easily, the truth is that it takes practice. At first, creative thinking can feel difficult or unnatural, but the more you practise, the easier it becomes. With time, your brain begins to form connections between different ideas, and this process starts to feel almost instinctive.

For instance, designers or marketers who regularly expose themselves to new sources of inspiration—whether it’s different design styles, creative projects, or industries—can begin to think in more diverse ways. This broadens their ability to generate creative solutions quickly. They don’t just rely on one source of inspiration but pull from many different places, which leads to richer, more innovative ideas.

Creativity Isn’t Just About Ideas; It’s About Understanding

True creativity often involves discovering insights that others may not see. In marketing, for example, creative ideas often come from research. Marketers need to ask questions, dive into facts, and understand their customers deeply. Sometimes, the best creative ideas come from uncovering what clients already know but haven’t fully realised yet. Creativity in this sense is about opening clients’ eyes to new possibilities within their own knowledge.

Creativity is also about challenging assumptions. Marketers might have to question the “obvious” answers and think critically about why people act the way they do. This process of questioning and exploring leads to more meaningful, creative solutions.

Developing Creativity Takes Effort

While creativity can seem like a natural skill, it actually requires a lot of hard work. It’s not just about waiting for inspiration to strike—it’s about practising, learning, and developing the right mindset. Creativity requires effort in two ways: first, through gaining knowledge and expertise, and second, through learning how to connect different ideas together.

As marketers, the goal is to develop a creative mind that can generate ideas that are not only new but also useful, insightful, and impactful. By putting in the effort to learn, practise, and refine our creative thinking, we can develop the ability to come up with ideas that feel natural and intuitive over time.

Creativity isn’t a magic trick; it’s a skill that can be developed. It requires knowledge, practise, and the ability to think in new ways. For marketers and other creative professionals, it’s about drawing from a wide range of experiences and constantly improving your understanding of the world. By doing so, creativity becomes not just something you do, but something you can rely on to bring new, valuable ideas to life. So, while creativity may seem spontaneous at times, it’s really the result of hard work, research, and ongoing practise.