Where Does the Source of Event Planning Creativity Come From?

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 source of good creativity is integration and processing. To put it bluntly, it's copying, but not copying verbatim.

For example, there's a mineral water ad online where a girl waits for a bicycle to generate electricity, and then a light-painting muscular man appears doing a striptease. I adapted it to an event's launch ceremony: leaders rode a bicycle to generate electricity and light up the event's theme logo. Because one of the client's products is green and eco-friendly, it fit the client's brand tone. Another example is Jaguar's daring climb on the Ferris wheel at 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 be found above. Second, you need a mind that's always learning. For me, whenever I see an event while shopping that has distinctive features, I stop and take photos for reference. I also like to watch online video shares in my spare time. This answer might be a bit general, so let me use myself as an example to explain how I accumulate creative ideas.

Learn from Industry Events

Pay attention to outdoor events in malls or commercial streets. Some companies do product roadshows, usually in popular malls and commercial areas. In most cases, the stage design and segment setup for national tours are quite good. For a second-tier city like Shenyang, copying them directly is no problem.

Follow Clients or Industry WeChat and Weibo Accounts

For beginners, I recommend focusing on the official accounts of your industry. In the real estate sector, there's a strongly recommended brand: Wanda. Wanda has many offline events, and although their creativity is generally average, they cover almost all real estate event cases, making them a good knowledge base for early learning. For the automotive industry, I suggest following Junwei and Che Tuteng, among other big accounts.

Follow Hot Topics

This is easier to understand: things with buzz tend to win clients' 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" (Three Lives Three Worlds) was hot, I organized a themed exhibition with the same name. Of course, there are also many hot IPs like Whale Island, Little Yellow Duck, Piggy Man, and Wu Huang.

Watch More Videos

The most helpful for me were videos shared on Renren's video sharing section. Most users are college students, and the content they share is very 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, the creative ideas I mentioned earlier that referenced the movie "Terminator" and Michael Jackson's music videos may not directly connect to events, so you need some imagination to integrate them into your events. Of course, more videos and images require climbing over the wall (using VPN) to see, so only those with the initiative can find them.

Communicate More with People in the Industry

This doesn't just mean 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, like the Heimao App community.