Understanding Creative PR Process
Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your busy schedule to read my blog(s). Sharing knowledge with you has become my passion now. I feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column.
Today I’m very happy to present 100th Blog “Understanding
Creative PR Process”. This blog may please be read in reference
to Blog 99.
Friends,
in my 99th Blog “Understanding the Need of Creativity in PR” in
first few lines I mentioned that “To be creative is a process” and that process
I’m going to elaborate in this blog. Thanks to Andy Green’s book “Creativity in
Public Relations” which I had read recently, I’m sharing the creative process with
you.
Friends, how do creative ideas come
about?
It is often a long and demanding process
full of trials and errors, and history teaches us that many great and creative
ideas arose precisely from “error” or from the crystallization of an idea that
took time to be born. More precisely, the idea must go through a creative
process.
The creative process can be divided
into several different stages and some cases will require research into the
very beginning and development of the idea through each of these stages, while
in other it will develop simultaneously through all stages. Alex Osoborn, an
author of creative technique named brainstorming, creative process divide on
the following steps: orientation, preparation, analysis, ideation, incubation,
synthesis, and evaluation. Furthermore, Andy Green brings a similar but
somewhat simpler classification of the creative process using the mnemonic list
of the five “I” which includes:
·
Information;
·
Incubation;
·
Illumination;
·
Integration;
·
Illustration.
Let’s understand these five ‘I’s
one by one….
Information
The first stage of creative process
includes two important elements as one in posing the right questions to be
answered, and the second is gathering the relevant information to assist with
the tasks. The first part of the task in the creative process is to supply the
conscious part of the mind with information and then exclude rational
processes. The subconscious must be very well informed in order to the ideas
were purposeful. Gathering information is one of the key stages to success or
failure creative activities. Asking the right questions at the right time is
one of the key skills of a creative public relations practitioner.
Incubation
The second phase of the process
often exploits the subconscious in an effort to find a solution to a problem.
Numerous great thinkers confirms that relaxation and so-called daydreaming are
good for developing the subconscious in order to reach the desired solution. This
phase requires “maturing” the idea and its solution in a way that diverts the
focus from solving it and leaves it to the subconscious to do its part of the
job. Thus, the incubation process will help the emergence of more creative
ideas.
Illumination
The third phase refers to flash of
inspiration which is showing up from nowhere and arises as a consequence of the
rapid action of the process that preceded information and incubation.
Illumination as such consists of perception at two previously unrelated
elements and creating a connection between them in order to solve task. There
are habits and techniques that help to take advantage of the illumination and
one of the best and most common is to write down all information and ideas.
Integration
Ideas are created during the integration
phase of the creative process. The brain does not follow passively the original
idea, yet it is constantly adding new element to the idea and builds on the
idea by changing it fundamentally. Although this changes the original idea, the
fact is that there is an upward and improving creative process that develops
even more creative solutions.
Illustration
The final phase
of the creative process involves many key elements that must be considered and
defined in order for PROS to manage this phase as effectively as possible. Key
elements that need to be identified and considered include legitimizing the
source of idea, timing, translating the idea, keeping within brand values, and
presenting within the context of a relationship.
To conclude; in
PR, it is very important to find a way to present the source of the idea to the
public, because the way it is presented will affect how successfully the idea
will be accepted. Also, the right moment is also very important because with a
well-chosen way of presenting the idea, timeliness is a key element in the
illustration phase. If the idea is presented to a client or public in the phase
when it is too nascent and not fully developed, there could be a danger of its
rejection before it comes to the final form. This is a phase where PROS need to
understand the client’s perspective and accordingly present and or sell an
idea. Creative process
is useful in PR because it identifies the attributes, behaviors, and skills
required for creative performance as well as it is a learned skill that can be enhanced
by training, education, and environment.
Thank you for reading the blog.
#####
Comments
Post a Comment