A co-worker once boldly proclaimed to me that he liked to think outside the box. I internally chuckled and thought, "Wow, the fact that you used those 4 words makes me really wonder about that." Because as anyone in advertising knows, the phrase "think outside the box" just might be the most overused and meaningless one in the industry. So when I saw this project called Think Inside The Box, I could not help be a little cynical.
However, I quickly changed my tune as I saw what it was all about it. A little agency called Zulu Alpha Kilo from Toronto set up a BOX in Dundas Square. Inside the box, 8 of their employees sat and waited for problems in need of creative solutions. Pedestrians passing by were encouraged to bring any pressing question to the box. It was nine hours of free creative problem solving. Now this is a nice way to showcase the merits of creative folks.
I think clients often look at their agencies simply as ad creators and while that's true, we are also very much in the problem solving business. "Our competition just came out with a cheaper product, what can we do?" "We need more foot traffic!" "We changed our brand colors for the 6th time in 3 years, can you retro fit it?" Every day, we solve problems, both big and small, for clients by using our differently-wired noggins. We reinvent. We challenge the status quo. And we travel down avenues not even on others' maps. Yes, thinking outside the (I refuse to say it) is not just for fun and games, but can provide real solutions.
Below is a link to the site. Watch a promo video and see some of the creative answers they came up with.
thinkinsidethebox
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