The purpose of generating creative ideas has never been an instant happening. A creative writer may spend hours on a single task, navigating websites and reading books, and sometimes, drawing inspirations from successful campaigns, as if researching for something you are not quite sure what it is!
However, the longer the search continues, the same question keeps coming back: how can I come up with a different idea?
Sometimes, the harder we try to create something different, the further the idea seems to slip away, as though creativity means inventing something entirely nonexistent. But the truth is, creativity is the process of recognising what is already exists, by connecting familiar things in an unfamiliar way.
An idea may come from anywhere; a book, a scene in a movie, or something you notice on the street. Then, at some point, these elements should come together to create something new. So, if a creative idea is based on making that connection, where do these connecting dots come from?
First: Build Your Knowledge Base
The first step of generating a creative idea is by researching and understanding. The mind cannot produce an idea out of nothing. The richer inputs you get about the subject, the greater possibilities of connecting them.
An advertising idea, as said earlier, might come from a film scene, a comment we hear from someone, or a small detail we notice in an everyday situation. The difference is that most of us encounter these things and then forget them, while a creative writer pauses and asks: Could this be used somewhere else?
Second: Discover Hidden Connections
Once the mind is filled with inputs, the creative writer moves into a deeper stage: observation. Not everything you know carries the same weight or importance. What distinguishes one creative idea from another is the ability to see a relationship between two things that appear to have no connection at all. It is from the collision of two elements that have never met before that an idea can emerge.
Most new ideas are not entirely new. They are often old ideas transferred from their original context into another where they have never been used before. The logic of music might solve a problem in interface design, while a principle from psychology might become the foundation of an entire campaign. In this sense, the creative mind is more like a translator: it does not invent a new language, but carries meaning from one world into another that has never encountered it before.
Have you heard of Saudia’s “Let It Fly” campaign?
Saudia noticed a simple problem travelers often face: the more local souvenirs and products they buy, the heavier their luggage becomes, potentially forcing them to pay additional baggage fees. That revealed a connection that had not been obvious before: What if buying Saudi products itself became a reason to receive extra baggage allowance?
That connection gave birth to the idea. When travelers purchased products from participating local stores, they received a sticker confirming the purchase, which entitled them to up to 1.5 kg of additional checked baggage free of charge.
This makes the campaign a clear example of how creative ideas are developed in advertising campaigns. It did not invent anything from scratch. Local products already existed, and additional baggage allowances already existed. The campaign simply connected the two in a way that had not been familiar before.
Third: Expand the Possibilities Through Brainstorming
At some point, we need to hear ideas without immediately judging whether they are strange or difficult to execute. This is where brainstorming comes in. The creative writer enters a space where every idea can be discussed without interruption or premature judgment. No one says, “That doesn’t make sense,” and no one stops a sentence halfway through to redirect it. An idea is expressed as it is strange, incomplete, or even impossible, and left on the table alongside all the others.
A half-formed idea from one colleague may become complete in someone else’s mind, or it may open up an angle that no one on the team had considered before.
Once the table is full of ideas, another stage begins, one that requires a creative mind capable of making a decision. Expansion stops, and the options begin to narrow. The writer returns to the entire list and identifies the ideas most closely aligned with the project’s objectives and most capable of responding to what the client wants.
Fourth: Evaluate the Creative Idea
There is a question that helps many people move from uncertainty into a process through which they can evaluate a creative idea, understand its strengths, and make a clear decision about it. Sometimes, a writer feels strongly about an idea, only to discover later that it was nothing more than a brief spark that created temporary excitement before disappearing.
There are several criteria commonly used by marketing agencies when evaluating ideas.
First: Insight. A strong idea begins with a moment that feels familiar and true to people, not with an idea its creator assumes represents them when, in reality, it represents only the creator.
Second: Emotional relevance. An idea that does not touch a genuine feeling will remain distant, no matter how clever it may seem.
Third: Clarity. A good idea is understood quickly and clearly, without requiring a long explanation that takes away from its initial impact.
Fourth: Surprise. The idea introduces something unexpected, awakens curiosity, and encourages the audience to stop and think.
Fifth: Ease of execution. A real idea can grow and be brought to life. It is not simply a beautiful dream that remains trapped on paper.
Sixth: Staying power. Some ideas disappear as soon as the campaign ends, while stronger ideas leave an impression that can be remembered long after the advertisement itself has disappeared. At this point, the writer can ask: If I return to this idea ten years from now, will it still have the same resonance?
Fifth: Develop and Execute the Idea
Sometimes, a creative writer spends a long time researching, finding the right title, and returning to earlier drafts until the idea matures. After several attempts, something becomes clear that was not obvious at the beginning: an idea may seem powerful but weaken during execution, while another idea that initially appeared simple may grow stronger with every right detail added to it.
That is why the quality of an idea cannot be separated from the quality of its execution. In the end, the audience will never see the idea that existed inside the writer’s mind; they will only see the version that actually reaches them.
This is where the writer begins developing the idea, not by changing its foundation, but by searching for the best form it can take. Different approaches are tested, whether through an advertisement or an on-ground activation. A small detail may change, or an entire scene may be removed, until the idea reaches the form that serves it best.
At this stage, the idea also moves beyond the writer and into the hands of different members of the team, each seeing it from a different angle. A designer may find a simpler way to turn it into an image, while a photographer may choose an angle that gives a scene a meaning that was not visible in the original text. In this way, the idea continues to evolve until it gets closer to the best possible form in which it can reach the audience.
Sixth: Watch the Idea Reach Its Audience
We owe it to ourselves, and to the people we work with, to admit that no matter how beautiful or clever an idea may be, its success is never guaranteed simply because the team likes it. Sometimes, we live with an idea for so long that we know every detail and become completely convinced by it. But in the end, the decision belongs to the audience. They determine how successful it truly is.
Some ideas succeed because they arrive at exactly the right moment, coinciding with an event or something people are already feeling or thinking about. Others succeed because the product itself is strong, and the idea simply knows how to reveal that strength clearly and serve the user. On the other hand, you may have an excellent idea, but the execution turns out weaker than the original vision.
The life of an idea after it is published becomes new knowledge that you add to your experience. An idea that succeeds teaches you what helped it connect. An idea that fails teaches you where it lost its strength along the way. Over time, you collect an observation from every project, a new perspective from every comment, and a question from every result that you can carry into the next project.
Finally, enjoy the audience’s reactions and the way they appreciate the level of creativity you have delivered. Now that you have reached the final stop on the journey, remember the drafts you spent weeks writing, the long meetings, and all the ideas you rejected before arriving at this one.
There is something rewarding about watching the audience interpret the idea in their own way, and seeing someone eventually ask:
“How did they think of that?”