Episode 16: Creativity as an Experience with Tay Guan Hin, BBDO Singapore

The advertising industry creative leader reveals how he facilitates creativity and problem solving.

Tay Guan Hin has decades of experience in the creative industry – from Executive Creative Director at Nestle, to setting up his own consultancy. He is currently Chief Creative Officer at BDDO Singapore. His studies at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership have given Guan a unique insight into the creative process.  

Can Creativity Be Taught

There are two schools of thought when it comes to creativity - the traditional being that creativity is something one is born with, the other being that creativity has to be cultivated.

“Marketing is about persuasion, trying to engage people and trying to sell something. For all these things, we have to find engaging ways, tricks and gimmicks so that people engage with our products. So, if you're talking about marketing creativity, indeed it can be taught.”

“The influences you have growing up actually define the creative person you are today.”

Berlin School of Creative Leadership

Guan was exposed to creative leaders and made to work in teams to come up with unique ways of selling.

“The course taught us how to inspire, motivate and create a sense of ownership when it comes to ideas.”

Brainstorming

Brainstorming provides a safe space for people to share their thoughts and is critical when coming up with ideas.

“It is not the act of brainstorming, it is the preparation before you brainstorm.”

“Brainstorming enables people to come up with ideas in a second. Sometimes great ideas can be spontaneous. When you overthink an idea or when an idea is agreed through a committee, that's when everything fails. The product of brainstorming is to generate very fast, quick ideas that might sometimes seem stupid at first. But when you look at it later on, it could be a gem, something nobody has thought of.”

Selling Ideas

On selling original ideas to clients;

“Nobody is comfortable with buying something new. Every great idea is about solving a problem.”

“Take the familiar and make it unfamiliar. Take puns and wordplays, people are familiar with the words, but when you give it a little twist, that twist enables you to come up with something unfamiliar.”

Young talent

Young creatives new to the industry are talented and able to execute well but sometimes lack big ideas that can emotionally connect with the audience.

“They do not ask ‘why’ enough.”

“I think it's important right now to think of ideas that people want to spend time with. It's not about designing something that's pretty or beautiful. In today's world, the word ‘purposeful’ always comes back over and over again.”

Should Creativity be taught?

“Creativity has to be an experience. Experimentation is how we find ourselves creatively.”

Advice

When you encounter a mental block, do something completely different or just break the routine so that your mind has the ability to reset.

“When I feel stuck, taking a swim during lunch or driving to a more scenic route home just helps my mind think differently.”

Recommendations

Guan Hin recommends two books that are useful to young creatives.

It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be

Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All

More from Tay Guan Hin

Guan Hin created a community for creative vertical storytellers.

Check it out here.