Dogs love food.
There isn’t a natural disaster on earth that could slow down the path between a hungry canine and their food bowl; they will haphazardly put themselves in harms way for the sake of a treat, and if doing tricks will lead to something tasty, pride is never going to intervene. Any dog owner knows if they see Fido with a lackluster approach to dinner or even the faintest sense of disinterest in a dropped morsel there must be something medically wrong!
And when it comes to food, dogs are fearless. They don’t care if the meal is cooked or rotting, chef prepared or barely dead, they will even eat it second hard if they come across the tantalizing poo of another animal. They don’t believe in diets, they never studied the five food groups and if their owner is eating it – it is a must have. Biologically, dog are meat eaters, but having never read the memo on that, most will partake in everything from fruit to ice cream, beer to left over Chinese food.
Creative people (and the radio stations they work in) can learn from these ravenous pooches. It is so easy in a busy work environment, when you are time poor and beaten down by client requests; budget cuts and limited resources; to do what you know and never challenge the paradigm. In fact, it’s hard to demand new ideas from yourself and those around you. But if you can retrain yourself to be hungry for those new ideas – anything is possible. Whether it’s a complete rebuild or even the mildest coat of paint, its worth it in keeping your brand fresh and relevant. And getting in this habit of creativity will not only set you apart from your competition, but create a more exciting work environment and atmosphere in the hallways.
When it comes to what has become normal; whether it’s solitary talk breaks or giant major station promotions, whether it is your standard operating procedures and systems or the generation of ideas for the station, the show, or even a client; take a leaf out of our furry friends’ book and fearlessly try everything once.
You can always spit it out.