You know when someone tells you not to think of something, but then you find that all you can do is think of that one thing? Quick…thing of anything else besides what you ate for breakfast today. Get real…all of our minds just turned to cereal, bananas and for the excessive health nuts out there I’ll throw in some donuts or last night’s cold pizza.
But really. That’s the struggle I’m having with current advertising efforts. Creative directors and clients alike all want us to think outside the box. Well then what does your brain go to? That stupid little box. That little, gnawing elusive box that you need to somehow find a way to claw yourself out of. We’re humans, so once we start down the path of thinking within a confined space all productivity suddenly goes out the window. Somehow, that found a way to escape.
While I was scouring the web for some innovative and boundary pushing ad campaigns, I came upon The Cool Hunter, a too-good-to-be-a-blog Blog that touts itself as the “world’s most-read culture and design site.” Two minutes in I see why, but more about that later.
The Cool Hunter operates a creative ideas agency called Access Agency. I was perusing their shtick when a certain line caught my attention. Or rather, engulfed me whole. Damn, they are good at what they do.
Here’s the first line of their Why. “Forget thinking outside the box. Forget the box. Where brands need to go today, there is no box.”
WHAT!?!??!!?
Did I just randomly stumble upon (Not to be confused with StumbleUpon, my social media junkies) my exact thoughts summed up in a sentence? Fireworks started going off in my head and from somewhere far away I think I heard the faint whistle from the beginning of the Commodores’ funk song “Brick House.”
So there you have it, I think I’m right in my assumptions, my friends. Nay, I am right. We are in a different age, a new age. There are no confined spaces, there are no square pegs and there are no round holes. And for god sakes, there is no box.
Here we go.
