Frequently-Asked Questions About Advertising – Part VII

After 50 years in advertising, Koyang writes a series of articles answering questions like, “How—exactly—do you come up with ideas?”

This is the seventh installment of that conversation. He hopes it proves useful to the young and the newcomer.

“How exactly do you concoct? How do you come up with winning ideas?”

KOYANG: In another article (linked below), I discussed how we work in the company. After decades of studying the creative process—what quickens it, what hinders it—I developed a system more efficient than the “lonely writer,” more productive than days and nights of brainstorming in search of that elusive big idea. A system that’s natural, friendly, fast, and harmonious. What may take other agencies days, we often do in less than two hours.

I called it brainpicking.

Simply put:

When faced with a problem, ask for ideas—whatever comes to mind: words, pictures, angles, talents, anything.
Choose what sparks something, what looks like a winner.
Develop it and show it to others.

Brainstorming versus Brainpicking

If you’re spending hours, nights even, trying to think of a campaign idea — you’re doing it all wrong.

Our BrewVincent R. Pozon

“But what if you have to come up with something on your own?”

KOYANG: I use a method that’s been a tremendous help to me. I first encountered it in a small book given to copywriters at JWT. It felt like faux science at the time, but experience has proved its worth.

“Which book?”

KOYANG: 'A Technique for Producing Ideas'. A classic. This was before the age of the "romanticized" copywriter. It was written by James Webb Young, a pioneer who saw creativity not as magic, but as a disciplined process. Yes, great ideas are not thunderbolts from the heavens, they're fruit of discipline.

Think of the conscious mind and the subconscious mind as a team.

The conscious mind is tasked to gather raw materials. When you’ve gone down messily into a problem, searched for all the possible conduits to solutions, you leave it, to sleep, or to bother with something physical, say, tending to plants or bathing. Young describes this as the "incubation" phase, which is when your brain continues to process the material in the background.

The deliberation does not stop, it only happens on another level, it's like there's another guy taking over, working imperceptibly, while you are busy with something else.

When you get up from scrounging on the ground, planting or playing with your dog, or when you are crossing that boundary between shower and the rest of the bathroom, a whale of an idea breaches the surface of the water. Sometimes it is a full breach — a eureka of an idea, fleshed out fully.

This is the "Eureka" moment everybody talks about. It does feel like a flash of inspiration, but it’s actually the result of all the prior work you’ve done.

“But if that book’s from the 1960s, how sound is the science behind the method?”

KOYANG: The notion that the subconscious continues to work on a problem after the conscious mind has set it aside has long fascinated psychologists and neuroscientists. What once sounded mystical then has empirical support today.

But here’s the key: the subconscious isn’t a separate, magical engine. It relies on the conscious mind doing its part first.

You must immerse yourself. Read, think, collect, assemble. Prime the pump. Without that, the subconscious — the other guy — has nothing to work with.

Kahlil Refuerzo, the genius behind commercial successes like “Hanapin ang Check ng RiteMED", and "JV Good, JV is the Good One" offers a compelling example of creative incubation:

“Many of my jingles and scores were incubated during my drive from Quezon City to Makati,” he says, the physical activity being the act of driving. “By the time I lay my hands on the keyboard at the office, I’m almost on autopilot.”

"And then what?"

KOYANG: Shape and develop the Whale. Once you have the initial idea, it needs tending. Refine it. Flesh it out. Chisel away the unnecessary. Show it to others. Let it breathe. This is where your talent, training, and instinct come into play.

Vincent R. Pozon

After a year of college, Koyang entered advertising, and there he stayed for half a century, in various agencies, multinational and local. He is known for aberrant strategic successes (e.g., Clusivol’s ‘Bawal Magkasakit’, Promil’s ‘The Gifted Child’, RiteMED’s ‘May RiteMED ba nito?', VP Binay's 'Ganito Kami sa Makati', JV Ejercito's 'The Good One'). He is chairman of Estima, an ad agency dedicated to helping local industrialists, causes and candidates. He is co-founder and counselor for advertising, public relations, and crisis management of Caucus, Inc., a multi-discipline consultancy firm. He can be reached through vpozon@me.com.

The Conversation, so far:

Ask Koyang Part 1: “How do you handle humor in advertising?" and "What is the hardest part about creating an advertisement?"

Ask Koyang Part 2: "Why do creatives treat accounts people badly?" and"Would you do a campaign for just anyone?"

Ask Koyang Part 3: "What advice do you have to people entering the ad industry?" and "why do people work late hours in advertising?"

Ask Koyang Part 4: "Can you make people buy things they don't need?" "What is the brutal truth about advertising?" "What would change in our society if we didn't have commercials?"

Ask Koyang Part 5: “Can’t a good product sell itself?" and "marketing or advertising -- which is the better career?"

Ask Koyang Part 6: "How do you know if you have a terrific idea to present?" and "How do you present effectively?"