One thing that has always annoyed me is the acceptance of ‘mediocracy’. People generally want to fit in to a tribe, or conform to social standards, accepting mediocracy. Whilst certain standards probably help the world be a somewhat semi-safe place, others inhibit a more creative world. I don’t want to get into social or cultural issues right now, so I will move on…

I started thinking about the acceptance of ‘mediocracy’ in respect to ideas, especially in marketing and advertising. The same campaigns have been re-skined and re-purposed to fulfill another brief of the same. Clients saying; ‘we want something like that’. Saving clients money by doing something generic with soemthing that kinda does the job. Rant.

But does it do the job?

One of the books I read a few yers ago, The Purple Cow, may have left an impact. This book goes into detail about such perspectives. Unfortunately, this book didn’t change the world.

I hear a lot that that anything you could possibly think of has already been thought of before. Is this really true? With advances in technology, changes in cultures and the flat world, (speed of travel and communication links to make it appear so), is this really the case?

Can we no longer come up with new ideas?

What I am getting at in a really long winded blog post is the desire to be different. Different stands out and gets people to take note. The same is lost in the noise. A ‘mediocre’ idea can buy its way in front of consumers, but a different or great one will inevitably be seen by them, without the excessive buying.

In summary… Be different.