By Emir Shafri, Chief Creative Officer, Publicis Groupe Malaysia
Dr Ron Heifetz once said, "Conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation.” On the creative battlefield where it’s “innovate or evaporate”, conflict emerges as the unsung hero of creativity. This was the key theme of, Collide: Embracing Conflict to Boost Creativity, an immersive workshop led by Tay Guan Hin, Creative Chairman of BBDO Singapore, on Day 2 of ADFEST 2024. Reminding participants that creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected, Tay engaged them with practical ways to harness the power of human intelligence through creative collisions, derived from his Amazon best-seller book with the same title.
Throughout history, conflict has been the most critical tool for innovation, discovery and invention. Just look around us: from colliding atoms forming matter, to our favourite characters developed through conflict. Creative collisions are also behind some of the most memorable campaigns. Take Honest Eggs Co's award-winning FitChix campaign, one of the many captivating examples shared by Tay. With the help of a chicken-friendly custom step counter, Honest Eggs stamped its free-range chickens' average steps onto the eggs. This idea unexpectedly stole from another category, personal fitness tracking, colliding it with free-range eggs, through an execution that is fun and relatable.
Yet, our natural instinct is to run from conflict. “I am asking you to defy that urge and embrace conflict to boost creativity,” challenged Tay, as he provided participants with practical tools and frameworks for harnessing creative collisions. Tay introduced COLLIDE, his model for leveraging creativity to connect seemingly unrelated concepts. From understanding the context to executing ideas, participants were guided through a systematic approach to ideation through collision.
Collision is deeply personal for Tay, as evident not only in his famous campaigns but also in his life story. Despite hailing from a family of esteemed doctors, including a father with a syndrome named after him, Tay preferred doodling over studying. A pivotal moment occurred when his strict principal shared Tay's doodle-filled book with his parents. Expecting the worst from both principal and parents, he was surprised when she commended Tay's talent, and urged his parents to nurture his passion. This collision of expectations and recognition steered Tay towards his creative path.
Participants thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on interactive workshop format, a departure from traditional talks. Priyanka Mehta, Creative Lead of Orès Group Vietnam, stated, “It wasn’t all theory. I left inspired and equipped with practical ways to guide my team to unlock their creative potential and generate transformative ideas even under pressure.”
As the workshop came to an end, participants left with a renewed sense of purpose, ready to harness the power of creative collisions to fuel their creativity. In his parting words, Tay emphasised, "The more you collide, the stronger your ideas. Conflict creates tension that triggers emotions used for storytelling."
