How to Find Creative Ideas for Event Planning?

To plan an event, coming up with a completely original idea with no reference is something only extremely talented people can do. Geniuses are always a minority. For ordinary people, the best source of creativity is integration and processing. In plain terms, it's borrowing, but not copying verbatim.

For example, there is a mineral water advertisement online where a girl waits for a bicycle to generate electricity, and then a light-painted muscular man appears and performs a striptease. I adapted this into an event's launch ceremony: leaders pedaled a bicycle to generate electricity and light up the event's theme logo, because one of the client's products was green and environmentally friendly, fitting the client's brand tone. Another example is the Jaguar climbing the Ferris wheel on the Bund, or the Chevrolet Equinox launch event—these are creative ideas we can learn from but are hard to replicate.

How to Improve Your Creative Ability

First, we need to know where creativity is needed to stand out; the answer can refer to the above. Second, have a heart for continuous learning. For myself, whenever I go shopping and see an event with distinctive features, I stop to take photos for reference. I also enjoy watching online videos in my spare time. This answer might be general; let me use myself as an example to explain how I accumulate creative ideas.

1. Learn from Industry Events

2. Pay Attention to Outdoor Events in Shopping Malls or Commercial Streets. Some companies do product roadshows, usually in popular shopping malls and commercial areas. In most cases, the stage design and segment settings of national tours are quite good. For second-tier cities like Shenyang, copying them directly without modification is fine.

3. Follow WeChat and Weibo of Clients or Industry Peers. For beginners, I suggest focusing on the official accounts of your industry. In the real estate industry, there is a strongly recommended brand: Wanda.

Wanda has many offline events. Although their creativity is generally average, they cover almost all real estate event cases, which can serve as initial knowledge reserves. For the automotive industry, I suggest following Junwei and Che Tuteng, among other big accounts.

4. Follow Hot Topics

This is easy to understand. Things with topicality tend to win client favor. For example, when "Little Apple" became popular, I quickly recommended the Little Apple dance; when "The Avengers" was released, I recommended an Avengers cosplay parade; when "Eternal Love" became a hit, I organized a themed exhibition with the same name. Of course, there are also many hot IPs like Whale Island, Little Yellow Duck, GG Bond, and Wu Huang.

5. Watch More Videos

What helped me the most were videos shared on Renren's video sharing section. The majority of users are college students, and the shared content is highly trendy, especially some foreign videos. Bringing them back to China to copy still feels fresh. Symphony flash mobs, the mineral water ad with bicycle-generated electricity, and fresh acts from foreign talent shows—these all provided inspiration for my creativity.

Also, some of the creative ideas I mentioned above reference the movie "Terminator" and Michael Jackson's MV. These videos may not directly relate to events, so you need to have some imagination to integrate them into your events. Of course, more videos and images require crossing the wall (using VPN) to see; only those who are determined can find them.

6. Communicate More with Industry Insiders

This not only means communicating with peers but also with clients and suppliers. Everyone is impressed by new things, and through communication, you can learn many new ideas and creative concepts. Join more industry communities and professional circles.