Small-scale traders told to learn creative strategy

CEBU, Philippines - Just like what the giant brands in the industry are doing, small-scale businesses could also take advantage of creativity as a powerful strategy to win the market and grow as enterprises if they primarily focus their digital scheme on the consumers.

This top guiding universal principle of Google was shared by Joe Adam Fry, planning lead for Google Global Creative Team at Google in London, UK, during the 2nd Cebu Creative Industries Summit last June 14 at SM City Cebu.

In his talk dubbed as “Digital Explodes Creative Ideas for Small Business”, Fry discussed about understanding creativity which he said could vary from value, purpose, magic, originality and usefulness.

He added that creativity as a process could be complicated but should be made valuable to people using better data and better art.

For instance, he cited that a better creative process for digital advertising works if the data, observation and insights from the market are properly used and interpreted to understand what the users need.

“If you want to be digitally creative, you should be able to define the message especially for smaller businesses. What you are telling to the market will eventually add value to your brand.  Speak to your consumers. Understand what they need. Focus on the user and all else will follow,” he stated.

Fry further noted that in today’s generation where entrepreneurial spirit is on the rise; a lot of budding entrepreneurs start a business and try to innovate.

He added that start-ups and small enterprises should learn to build a creative strategy that revolves on the users and the behavior of the industry in order to penetrate the market along with large-scale firms.

“There is actually a hierarchy of ideas. On the top of the pyramid is the creative execution which tells you the story of the things you do. In the middle is where the strategic idea is, referring to why people should care about the thing you do. Lastly, the core of everything is the business idea. It is the thing you do where the creativity should be,” he explained.

He then concluded that the universal principle on creativity is a strategic process that an entrepreneur could make the most of, whether it may be a small business or a big brand, in order to grow and stay competitive in the market.

“Don’t just think about aesthetics and execution. You do not need to come up with wacky and mad ideas. Think about why does your business exist, what is your message and your purpose. It is not just of the how and what. It is the “why” of the idea. Understand what they do and why you are doing it,” Fry said.

The 2nd Cebu Creative Industries Summit is one of the highlight activities during the month-long celebration of this year’s Cebu Business Month of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. —/JMD (FREEMAN)