Who says there are no new ideas?

Each week the RWA staff sits at our Medieval Round Table to swill from our tankards and toss around ideas for our kingdom of clients. Inevitably someone pipes up with a “Oh! Oh! Oh!” worthy of Horseshack in Welcome Back Kotter and all attention turns to the excited party.

“What about…” it begins. The idea is pitched with gusto, but greeted with silence. I look around the table. We just don’t get it.

“You know,” Horseshack says. “It’s like that ad for ______ where the guy ____... ”

Whoa, Nelly, my equine friend. We’re an advertising agency. We sell ideas. New ideas. Not an idea that’s “like” another idea that’s already out there. That’s not a new idea… or is it?

Barbara Grizzuti Harrison once said, “There are no original ideas. There are only original people.” Now I haven’t a clue who Barbara Grizzuti Harrison is, but she must have been (or maybe is) one smart lady. She seemed to recognize that it’s smart thinking that translates into success. Sure, maybe your idea’s been done before, but it hasn’t been done your way.

Take Blake Mycoskie, for instance. Blake is the founder of TOMS Shoes, this really cool, progressive company that donates part of the proceeds of his business to the needy. A philanthropic business model? Rare, yes, but not really new. What’s new about Blake is the way his company helps the needy. Rather than send money or conduct fundraisers or other old methods, TOMS Shoes gives shoes to those without shoes. In fact, for every pair of shoes you buy, someone somewhere gets a free pair of shoes.

That’s awfully nice, but does this new twist on an old idea really work? Apparently so, Blake says in a recent interview. According to Blake, companies can even make money being the good guys.

Could you give away shoes too? Sure, but that’s already been done. “You know… it’s like that company ____ where the guy ____...” So instead of using someone else’s idea, take Barbara what’s-her-name’s advice and be an original thinker. Don’t know how? Pick up Blake’s newest idea, his book “Start Something That Matters” or stop by for our next round table discussion at RWA. Inside our walls, imagination has no limits.