Creative Leaps: 10 Lessons in Effective Advertising Inspired at Saatchi & Saatchi [With CDROM]

by Michael Newman

Important lessons in advertising from an industry leader Saatchi & Saatchi is one of the best-known names in the advertising business. It's a cradle of creative ideas and a global industry leader. Filled with universal lessons for advertisers and unique methodologies, Creative Leaps explores the transformational power of ideas. It offers firsthand insights into the advertising campaigns of Saatchi & Saatchi, revealing the theories behind each campaign...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0470820837
• ISBN13: 9780470820834
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 402 Pages
• Weight: 1.82 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.7" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

A delight book worth reading and possessing

I work for a book summary company. One of the books selected for summary is this book. This book by former creative director of the renowned ad firm, Saatchi & Saatchi, lays out 10 lessons to follow in order to promote any brand. Although the author himself acknowledges that creativity knows no rules, the 10 lessons are offered as basic framework for structuring advertising creativity. But what is more interesting than these 10 rules are the many perceptive insights that he offers by delineating on the advertising campaigns undertaken by Saatchi & Saatchi, enumerating the process involved in creativity and the behind-the-scene actions pertaining to each project. He regales us with asides, the many advertising wars over products and clients, examples of shocking ads that redefined advertising creativity and several great quotations from literary and artistic innovators and thinkers, all of which provide us with an engaging repast. In fact, it is these captivating interludes that make the book really valuable than the lessons that he offers. By giving interesting case studies, he unveils the grueling creative process involved in each advertising process and brand making. More than anything the book helps us to adopt a new creative approach to advertising. You don't really have to belong to the advertising world, or even be in sales or marketing, just anybody reading this book is sure to find in it a delightful book worth possessing.

None of us is as smart as all of us

"Creative Leaps" is a smart and compelling book not only for someone interested in the advertising industry, but for anyone interested in the creative process in general. Michael Newman breaks down and demystifies creativity, making it an accessible tool for anyone-not just the creative director of one of the leading advertising agencies in the world. Through step by step lessons, and even suggestions on how to foster the creative process in the office, Newman engages the reader from the first page. The ten lessons stated in the title seem like a neat and tidy number that understates the magnitude of the advice that Newman relates to the reader. He includes teachings not only from his own personal experiences, but through a multitude of quotations and anecdotes from famous great thinkers of the world as well. It also doesn't hurt that Newman spearheaded and masterminded some of the greatest advertisements that the industry has known, and gives the reader a chance to see how great ads like this come about. Through photographs and case studies the reader gains a private look into what may have seemed like the impossible. Newman's lessons, which are present on every page, ground the innovation and creativity that went on behind the scenes at Saatchi & Saatchi. Teachings in simplicity, the power of feelings, the power of visuals, and the power of just one word are all aspects of the creative process that the reader can take away from this book. Most importantly, Newman teaches those in the media world how to stand out in a completely cluttered and saturated environment. His lessons do not just teach and deconstruct creativity, they provide a framework for the process that leads to advertisements that do not merely add to the noise, but break through it. His step by step analysis of the Toyota HiLux "Bugger" Ad relays how to be original and unique in an industry that is constantly outdoing itself. Newman convinces the reader that he is in the know merely through his style of writing, which is witty, succinct, and intelligent. Furthermore, he makes a point in the introduction of the book that his teachings are to be built upon, standing by the quote he uses at one point in the book that, "None of us is as smart as all of us." Essentially, this is a must read, because Newman sells his teachings as well as he sells his ads.

Packed with Knowledge!

This may be one of the best books about creativity, brands and advertising ever written. Author Michael Newman's long, successful tenure with Saatchi and Saatchi, one of the most innovative ad firms in the world, is itself impressive. He knows how to get attention in a market where attention is a scarce resource. His so-called "ten lessons in effective advertising," really ten ideas about creativity, are unnecessary devices, probably a framework forced on a good book by an unimaginative editor. Read this book instead for the chrestomathy of quotations from literary and artistic innovators and thinkers. Read it for the asides, the tangents, the advertising war stories and the rambles. Read it for the shocking ads that push past the bounds of what anyone would consider acceptable. We recommend you read it for pleasure and for all these reasons; you'll get a lot more than ten lessons.