We’ve all heard the stories of “overnight success” that make business owners millionaires and hopefully by now we know that that is a myth. All successful businesses started small and through a lot of hard work, timing (lucky or planned), risky endeavors, and great marketing made them the success they are today. But we often hear about the “Big Idea” they had one day that fuelled their purpose and passion.
How to get a big idea is a topic for another day, today we’ll talk about how to know when it is a big idea.
For this I’ll introduce you to an Oxford dropout, a chef who worked 63 hours per week in Paris before finding success at selling stoves door-to-door in Scotland. After he had outsold all other salesmen his manager asked him to write a “how-to” manual. This manual, which has been called the finest sales instruction manual ever written by Forbes magazine, would launch him into advertising as an account executive. He later worked for George Gallup’s Audience Research Institute, the British Intelligence, as an Amish farmer, but later started his own advertising agency, Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather. He was 37 years old and had never written an ad in his life.
David Ogilvy’s ability to recognize the “big idea” made his agency one of the largest and most sought after agencies in the world, and as you can see, we’re still discussing his aptitude 14 years after his passing.
So, how did he do it?
Luckily for us, he was very open to sharing how he did things, writing many “How-To’s” in his time. In his book Ogilvy on Advertising he lists these 5 questions to ask yourself to discover if your idea is BIG:
- Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
- Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
- Is it unique?
- Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
- Could it be used for 30 years?
“Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”
While David Ogilvy’s realm was in advertising, I believe that these questions can be used for any business decision: a new business idea, a new product, service, promotion etc.
Let’s explore this…
Did it make me gasp when I first saw it?
Why might we gasp?
- Beauty can make us gasp: imagine a woman opening a jewellery box. Her hand flies to her neck, her eyes light up and she gasps.
- It can be something we’ve always wanted to own: imagine a young man walking down the street as his all-time favourite car passes by. He stops, forgetting the entire world except for the car. Gasp!
- It can be something that will make their life easier: Ever witnessed a person noticing a new tool on the shelf? A baker seeing a new industrial sized mixer or a power saw catching the eye of a carpenter. Short intake of breath. Sigh.
- It can also be an ad that is so provocative that it makes us gasp.
- It can be a new business that upon first seeing it everyone has an immediate “aha moment” that makes us gasp and wish we thought of it
Is your idea beautiful, sought after, provocative or – so-obvious-you-can’t-understand-why-someone-hasn’t-already-thought-of-it – enough?
Do I wish I had thought of it myself?
This can be a hard one if you’re trying to judge your own idea so it may be a good idea to test your idea on other folks. Consider the other 4 questions and if your idea passes the test ask some folks who might benefit from your idea, chances are if it makes them gasp and say “that’s a great idea!” you’re on your way. If they actually say “I wish I thought of it myself!” patent or broadcast it quick!
Is it unique?
Not all unique ideas are great so this one is tough, but no less important. In order for a business to stand out it needs a point of differentiation, if you’re idea is like all the others out there, there’s no reason for someone to shop with you. If your ad looks/sounds like every other one out there (are you listening car manufacturers/dealers?) your ad passes like a ship in the night!
Does your product idea save people time or money? Is the new feature going to be so gasp-worthy that people would be willing to pay more for it?
How copy-able is your uniqueness? Copycat products are everywhere; can your idea beat this test?
Does it fit the strategy to perfection?
While advertising should always fit the strategy, (why would you put effort towards something that isn‘t working towards your ultimate end?) this can also be considered for other big ideas too.
As I discuss regularly, most companies have an ultimate goal/purpose such as ending the need for BLANK or ensuring that every person on earth has _X_, you can judge your new product, promotion, service offering etc. whether it is working towards your ultimate end.
Again, will it provide your offering to more people, faster or more cost effectively?
If it works towards your ultimate purpose and can do it for more people, quicker and cheaper; it may be a big idea!
Could it be used for 30 years?
While this one particularly pertains to advertising, I can’t count how many times I’ve changed someone’s ad way before it needed to be changed because they thought that it “needed freshening up!”.
Big Ideas don’t need “freshening”, they’re timeless.
Take for instance one of my favourite Big Advertising Ideas, for Morton Salt. To advertise their benefit of “free flowing even when humidity is high” (anyone else remember putting rice in their salt shaker to absorb moisture?) they came up with the tag line “When it rains it pours!” That was coined in 1911. Although their idea is no longer unique, they still use the image of the girl walking in the rain with the salt pouring out behind her.
Forget 30 years; can your idea last 102 years?
Gas powered motor? Gottlieb Daimler patented the first gasoline powered carburetor in 1887. Although the electric car was designed first, it didn’t receive widespread development until the 1990’s when environmental concerns prompted automakers to put their efforts into making electric engines provide higher speeds and longer ranges.
Person-to-person messaging? Until email and instant messaging became popular, snail mail as we now call it had its reign for nearly 150 years.
Longevity doesn’t only have to be thought of for advertising, it too has big idea implications in every other aspect of the business.
Whenever you believe that you have your next “Big Idea” see how they measure on David Ogilvy’s scale.
Oh, and one last thing…David said that he probably only had 20 “Big Ideas” throughout his entire career, so don’t feel bad if you’re not hitting the mark every time. Keep trying!
How do your ideas stack up after you ask these questions?
Let us know in the comments below.