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Creativity Fuels Remarkable Content.
January 20, 2021
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I was once told an unconventional story about how two businesses settled a legal dispute. I share it often with personalities as I think it shines a light on the secret to creating remarkable content; content that captures the audiences’ attention and raises the notoriety of the show.
In the early 1990s, Southwest Airlines launched a new advertising campaign with the slogan “Just Plane Smart.” I assume that some savvy marketing exec was parading through their office that day with their chest puffed out and grinning from ear to ear, after all that’s a clever play on words. Unfortunately, they didn’t do all the appropriate checks and unbeknown to them the slogan was already being used by a smaller operator, Stevens Aviation. Normally, in this situation the CEO of Stevens would have made a quick call to their lawyers and started the necessary legal action to prevent Southwest form using their tagline. However, the idea of a lengthy and time-consuming legal dispute didn’t feel like something CEO Kurt Herwald had an appetite for.
In an unconventional - yet brilliant - move Kurt opted to pick up the phone and call Herb Kelleher the CEO of Southwest Airlines to propose a solution to their predicament. Kurt challenged Herb to an arm-wrestling match! The winner would get to keep using the slogan. Not to mention they’d also have the bragging rights associated with winning and both companies would avoid the lawyer fees they would inevitably have to shell out if they entered a legal battle.
It wasn’t long before the two CEOs were in a stadium in Dallas ready to showdown. There was nearly 5000 people, mainly employees from the 2 companies, cheering from the stands to see this unprecedented event. Herwald, who at the time was in his 30s, was the first in the ring sporting a red silk bathrobe and dancing around the ring as if he was an experienced fighter. Kelleher, who at the time was in his 60s, came out a few moments later to the somewhat predictable Rocky music and a team of cheerleaders accompanying him. The crowd, of course, erupted. The entire match lasted less than a minute. Herwald was declared the winner!
In the end they agreed to share the use of the slogan. Southwest estimated receiving over $6 million in positive publicity from the event and Stevens Aviation saw revenues grow 25% over the next few years - they attribute that to increased name awareness! Both companies saved a fortune in legal costs, saw a positive impact on their culture (who wouldn’t want to work on these slightly odd teams) and improved brand perceptions. But that’s not why I share the story...
This story serves as a reminder that to capture people’s attention, our most valuable resource, you need to think creatively and avoid doing the obvious. If Stevens Aviation had done the obvious thing and sued Southwest Airlines (the normal path for any CEO) it would likely have been news for nothing more than a moment and we’d never talk about it again. It wouldn’t have connected with the hearts of so many people; it wouldn’t have been a remarkable idea. For personalities we must remember it’s not content that wins the audiences’ attention it’s what we chose to do with the content.
It’s about the creative approach you take to the content that delivers remarkable content.
It stands to reason that your competitors will be talking about the same things as you each day; you should be talking about the stories and events that are in your audience’s consciousness. What separates the great shows from the rest are the ideas surrounding the content. What are you going to do with that content to make it stand out? What ideas do you have to make this content more interesting or entertaining?
The first idea you have is the most obvious and likely what your lazy competitor will be doing. The second idea you’ll have is usually a little better than your first but not far enough from the obvious to truly capture the audience’s attention. It’s usually the third idea - and beyond - where you start landing on ideas that will make the content more captivating and memorable. Most shows simply believe that choosing the right content to talk about is enough to succeed. It’s not. Relevant content is the entry point but winning comes from what you do with the content - your unique ideas to make the content come alive. With every piece of content, the question you should be asking is, what will we do with this in order to make it remarkable? Success comes from the creativity that surrounds the content.
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