Get into the Great Ideas Mindset
When the creativity is flowing and you’re ‘in the zone’, you’re not only more switched-on and engaged, you’re in what researchers call “The Great Ideas Mindset”.
This heightened state, which has been shown to unlock enhanced creativity, generate actionable insight and deliver true customer advocacy, was recently discovered through an in-depth study by Lancaster University into Co-Create by SHARP.
Brands like Lego, Heineken, Ikea and BMW have successfully turned to co-creation. Here’s why:
If you’re not familiar with the term, ‘co-creation’ is a collaborative process that unites customers, colleagues and stakeholders to directly shape marketing and brand outputs. (Think everyone around the same table, working, collaborating, and creating to solve key brand challenges).
For the last 15 years, co-creation has been at the strategic heart of SHARP’s creativity. So, we know first-hand that it’s vital to improving brand performance.
Unlocking the Great Ideas Mindset
Experience tells us that co-creation sessions help to create truer propositions, ignite explosive thinking and deliver bigger impact for brands. Lancaster University’s research sought to explore how and why.
Researchers uncovered four main creative motivators
To get into the Great Ideas Mindset participants need four key motivators. When combined, these catalysts kickstart the creative thinking process:
- Challenging thinking
Co-create sessions act as a welcome break from the norms of everyday life and challenge the knowledge and skills of the people involved. - Positive feedback
Participants get immediate positive feedback on their ideas, directly from the people around them. - Freedom to fail
People in these sessions feel empowered when they can contribute freely and autonomously. - Inclusive teamwork
People love working in a relaxed and inclusive team environment.
The feelgood psychology of co-creation
It turns out, co-creation brings tons of psychological benefits to the people involved too:
- Competence – a boost of confidence in your creativity
- Autonomy – the reassurance that your involvement is having an impact
- Relatedness – a collective sense of teamwork and shared creativity
- Brand Self-Connection – the belief that you’re making a direct contribution to the branding process and a sense that this is ‘your brand’.
Find out more about the Great Ideas Mindset in our new white paper.