Want a Great Idea? | Ease Drop
I never thought I would ever have to stoop to this level. I never thought I would go to a coffee shop, order a latte, and sit there with my laptop, listening to conversations that other people are having, pretending to be busy, as if I am there to get some work done. What those individuals did not know is that I was trying to get a concept for an advertising campaign I am working on.
I could not come up with the selling idea. No matter how many techniques I used I was stuck. So I forced myself to find inspiration elsewhere. That elsewhere was ease dropping. Yes I felt bad at first, but then I realized that no matter what, I was not going to share with anyone what I was listening to. I was just out to find things going on in someone else’s life. Perhaps their stories can be the next selling idea.
My Process
I sat down next to two different tables. One had a couple and the other had two friends. I would tune in on one table and out on the other from time to time. As conversation progressed, I was not concerned about their story, but rather the keywords they were saying. It is all the random things that come up in conversations that I was looking for. So whenever I heard an interesting sentence, word, or even maybe a story (hey sometimes it gets really interesting), I would quickly type it out.
After a couple hours of story time, I went home and cleared my head. Had a nice dinner then printed out all 16 pages. I took those pages, and started scrambling for the “big idea” There were so many ideas that my imagination could spark.
It was a great way for me to bring something new and original to my clients. It worked out extremely well, so the next time you are in a jam and nothing works, consider ease dropping. It isn’t the nicest thing to do, I agree, but it is about finding inspiration in the corners you never thought of looking.
November 4th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
WHOA Mitesh, ease dropping??? WOW i guess even the best creatives get stuck sometimes. Well atleast you were still creative enough to come up with another solution. Guys like you really make me think, how do you figure things out like that?
November 4th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
That just comes to show how much of a creative you really are. How did you ever figure someone elses conversation would help you out like that. By the way nice redesign to your site. I like it alot. I am going to try this out the next chance i get.
November 5th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Mitesh, that is some great insight you have just given. It was very inventive of you to come up with a new technique. No wonder you call it Invent Creativity.
if a technique doesn’t work, come up with another one creatively.
December 2nd, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Dude…mitesh…that is so weird, how on earth did you actually decide that was going to work. I think i would be a little bit scared to even try that out. What a great idea!!! I wonder how many people have tried this while i was talking about my personal things to a friend at a coffee shop?????? Interesting stuff mitesh i love your postssss
October 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Well said.