My friend was telling me last night that their children don't get excited about anything anymore. They travel, they take them places, they try to surprise them with interesting experiences, but their kids seem as if they have lost the ability to be amused. I don't blame them, though. At such young age, these children have seen it all. They are constantly being bombarded with visual information on their smartphones, on advertisement and on the streets. We live in a world overly saturated with imagery.
As creatives, this is the real challenge today. We try to call the attention of our clients, prospects, industry and peers by creating art that is appealing to them. But, sadly, our target is also being constantly bombarded with visual information and, in some way, they have already seen it all as well. And, not only have they seen it all, but also we seem to just want to play it safe. We work in an industry where everyone is so concerned with just making what sells that we are creating a whole lot of sameness.
Understandably, being different has a risk. When you niche out your target turns smaller and growing your business becomes a slower process. I used to have a boss who would always tell us that being the best or the worst at something was easy: you always have someone with whom you can measure. But, being different is hard and scary because you venture into the unknown.
Be it as it may, wasn't that the reason why we started doing what we do? To create, to innovate, to become ourselves? I believe that standing out today is not only a challenge, it is crucial for our survival as creative businesses. If we keep on doing what everyone else is doing, there will always be someone who will do it better or cheaper than us. But if we aim at innovating, there will always be room for standing out.
Susan Sontag once wrote: "When everyone has a photo taken, the true distinction is not having a photo taken at all." But, I don't think it has to come to this. I think that, in a world where everyone takes a selfie from the front, you should go and try to take a selfie from the back.
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