When a new brief lands, it can fill you with a mix of excitement and anticipation on how to logically kick it off. ‘Can I actually come up with my best ideas here’?
You scribble the first thing that comes into your head and start pondering, overthinking, and somewhere in the back of your mind you wonder whether you’re going to get to the creative sweet spot.
I’d been there more times than I’d like to admit. So, I built myself a way out of it. Ten thinking lenses, which I call ‘Creative Catalysts’. The rule is dead simple: apply each one to the brief, generate a concept per catalyst, and don’t stop to judge anything until all ten are on the table. No editing, no second-guessing, no going back.
Thirty minutes, ten genuinely different approaches, not one of them arrived at in the same way.
Here’s how each catalyst works. I’ve used BIG Partnership’s ethos ‘making brands unmissable’ as the brief here, to show the catalysts in action.
1. Keep it simple
What’s the simplest way to convey the idea? Not the cleverest. Not the most interesting. The most obvious one, executed with total conviction. Simplicity isn’t laziness; it’s discipline. If someone can’t get it before they’ve finished reading it, it’s not simple enough.
The brief here is to make brands unmissable. Three words. No asterisk, no small print. ‘We need to deliver something bold, simple, and unmissable.’ Done.
2. Unique selling point
What’s the one thing about this client that no competitor can honestly claim? Find it, front it, and let the work do nothing else. Stop talking about the category. Talk about the client.
BIG has been in business for over 25 years, with PR at its core from day one. Not a digital agency that bolted on comms. Not a creative shop that discovered earned media. A communications agency built on PR heritage, with everything else grown around it. The concept: ‘Over 25 years of making noise for brands that matter’.
3. Be dramatic
Take the most interesting element of the brief and turn it all the way up. Shout it. Exaggerate it. Make the scale of it felt rather than just understood. Drama isn’t about being loud for its own sake; it’s about making something impossible to ignore.
Unmissable is already a bold word. So go further. Blow the doors off it. The concept: ‘SEEN. HEARD. REMEMBERED’. We don’t make campaigns. We make moments brands will be remembered for. All caps. No apology. The kind of line you either love immediately or will grow into – which means it’s doing its job.
4. Flip it on its head
Do the opposite of what the brief seems to ask for. If every agency talks about what they create, talk about what happens when they don’t. The unexpected angle is usually the one that actually gets noticed.
Every agency will pitch what they can do for you. So, flip it: what does it cost when your brand goes unnoticed? ‘The most expensive thing in marketing is being ignored.’ Suddenly the conversation isn’t about us, it’s about the risk of not choosing us.
5. Trending
What’s the conversation your audience is already having? What are they reading, watching, talking about? Use this as intel. A cultural moment that’s already top of mind means your idea arrives somewhere people actually care about. The trick is making the connection feel earned, not forced.
The World Cup splits a nation. Right now, a pub in Glasgow and a pub in Salford are watching the same tournament and having completely different conversations. The brands that win aren’t the ones who picked a side, they’re the ones who understood both audiences. BIG operates in Scotland and England. We know what lands north of the border and what lands in the North West. ‘Same tournament. Different conversations. We know both.’ That’s not just a trending moment, it’s a demonstration of exactly what makes brands unmissable to every audience, not just the obvious one.
6. Similes and metaphors
Find an image or comparison that makes something abstract feel tangible. A good metaphor doesn’t just illustrate an idea; it transfers the emotional weight of one thing onto another. It’s the difference between a claim being understood and a claim being felt.
Some brands are wallpaper – they appear everywhere but feel invisible. BIG makes sure brands are noticed. The concept: ‘We’re the reason people stop scrolling.’ One image, one truth, and emotional connection.
7. Human truth
Find the real, honest thing people think or feel but don’t often say out loud. Not a consumer insight. A human one. The kind of line that makes someone stop and think, “yeah, that’s exactly it.” Forget the product for a minute and think about the client.
Nobody wants to manage four agencies, three briefing documents, and two sets of conflicting recommendations. Everyone wants one team that gets it, joins it up, and gets on with it. ‘Strategy. Creative. PR. Social. All in one place. All pointed in the same direction.’ That’s not a capability statement, it’s a relief. And relief is a human truth worth owning.
8. Research and insight
Go looking. Find the fact, the stat, or the behavioural pattern that reframes how you see the brief. Good research doesn’t just support an idea; it generates one. The concept is already in the data if you bother to look for it.
The average person sees thousands of brand messages a day and remembers a handful. That’s not a creativity problem; it’s a strategic one. ‘Most brands are seen. Few are remembered. We work out the difference.’ The insight reframes what we sell: not through creativity, but memorability.
9. Evolution or revolution
Look at what the client already does and ask one question: do we build on it, or do we break with it? Evolution takes what works and stretches it further. Revolution starts again with purpose. Neither is better by default. The brief tells you which one it needs.
BIG has always been known for bold, integrated work. Evolution says: take that reputation and stretch it into new channels, new sectors, new conversations. Revolution says: strip everything back and show up completely differently, letting the work speak without the agency voice in front of it. Both are valid. This lens just forces you to choose on purpose.
10. Layered messaging
Two things, merged into one. A visual and a line that work independently but mean more together. A product truth and a human truth carrying equal weight in the same idea. This is the hardest catalyst to use well, and it often produces the sharpest work.
A red-carpet moment. Everyone watching, cameras everywhere, impossible to ignore – that’s what a great campaign feels like for a brand. And BIG is the agency that puts you there. The concept: a brand stepping onto the red carpet under a BIG spotlight. The line: ‘Your moment. Our stage.’ Two unmissable things – the brand’s opportunity and BIG’s ability to deliver it – collapsed into one image. The client sees themselves in it immediately.
Ten catalysts. Ten concepts. That brief took 30 minutes.
The outcome isn’t that every idea is a banger. It’s that you’ve genuinely explored ten different creative territories before you’ve committed to any of them. You stop settling for the first thought that felt vaguely right. You stop overthinking in circles.
The best idea is still a judgement call, considering the mix of all ten outcomes. But it’s much more chance of being a winning one when you’ve given yourself multiple approaches to explore.
GO BIG
OR go home
