Yes, I agree with Liz. It's nice to see the technique drawn out, but like most of the innovations/ communications business, it comes down to a gut reaction. This exactly how the Timmovations team launched '4th Amendment Wear' back in 2010: http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/07/new-clothing-line-reminds-tsa-of-the-4th-amendment/ http://tomorrowawards.com/magazine/2011/08/interview-with-the-creatives-4th-amendment-wear/ I also penned an article that references the process, which you might find interesting. It goes beyond merely responding to news events, but to having a constant stream of cultural commentary able to be produced on behalf of brands/ causes/ etc: http://ihaveanidea.org/articles/2011/06/21/if-you-work-in-advertising-but-all-you-make-is-%E2%80%99advertising%E2%80%98-youre-doing-it-wrong/

But this has always been the case, Faris. Forgive me, but I this chart as less an 'aha' moment and more a 'no duh' moment. People are illogical and irrational. So they make irrational, emotional choices that can only be emotionally identified with beforehand. Often, a "feeling" of what will connect with people beats facts, research, and everyone's else in the room's gut feeling. That's why it all comes down to those few who 'get it.' If people can't 'get it' and still need to try hard to explain or understand what makes people tick..they just don't get it and likely never will get it. It requires thinking beyond the obvious and logical and instead understanding, like a character actor understands - how someone will behave and feel and act. But doing it unconsciously. It's tapping into raw emotion that's much closer to what a musician does, than to what a sound engineer does. The sound engineer can transcribe and parse through every note and beat and syncopation - but he'll never capture the thing that pulls the strings to someone's soul. There are people who, with most work they do for a client as well, somehow connects. They pull those strings to move toilet paper and jeans off the shelf. You can't explain how they do it with a chart. 12 years of working at the best shops in this industry, amongst the smartest people - as well as finding that magical moment when work has connected - has taught me this. You might get close to examining the structure, but you'll never be able to understand the inner architecture. Ever. Not even those who do it will. It's talent, it's mysterious, it's rare, and really, it's all that will ever work the most consistently until some digital analog tool comes and makes us all irrelevant. It's one of the last open ends in business and that's why there's a holy grail search to solve it. But no one's ever found the holy grail.

Some of these are great examples of creative thinking, but are not especially amazing, inspired examples of creatively. The Tesco iPhone app is a great example of creative thinking and clear usability. But is it an example of 'digital creativity' to be held up in the way something like Old Spice inspires people to push limits? Probably not.

There are formulas for creativity that can lead to innovation. And I agree that it's a very important type of creative thinking. But then there's creativity that is magic. It leads to ideas and creative output no formula can figure out, no matter how hard people try. Some see it as unfortunate, that we can't grasp such a formula, that we can't pinpoint exactly how the Beatles made the music they did. But I think it's a wonderful thing.

But maybe they're 'bored' because they're the people who actually make stuff. Because they're tired of the many ineffectual layers of talkers and overthinkers who get in the way of the process of actually producing the work. It's easy to call creatives 'traditional' or 'divas', etc. But without them having those actual ideas, and producing them, there's nothing left in the ad business but hot air.