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Hello. I'm Stacey Pilcher. I am a strategic marketer and brand consultant who is passionate about helping my clients build their businesses.
I started my business in 1999 and believe inspiration comes from within - and also within the Grand Canyon - that's why you can find me hiking there every year.
I started this blog to help my clients think about new opportunities. How can I help you?
Posts Tagged ‘creativity’
Good communication embraces ingenuity.
Thursday, February 17th, 2011
Call it clever, resourceful, creative, inventive, inspired, or imaginative. It’s what makes inventors relentlessly pursue solutions and entrepreneurs zero in on new ideas. Good communication embraces ingenuity to tell the story of a product or service in a memorable way.
People are inherently ingenious, always finding solutions to problems or making something from nothing.
Many mornings I jog along the canal banks in Phoenix. It is a great place to exercise without traffic and the route is flat and scenic. In fact, using the canals for exercise is an ingenious use of space otherwise wasted. There are always joggers, walkers, cyclists, fisherman, ducks and puppy dogs. But yesterday, I saw the most ingenious use of the canal yet. A man, jogging, was approaching holding a leash, but his dog was not visible. As the man passed I could finally see the dog at the end of the leash joyfully swimming along in the canal. The man had created a completely new spin on an age old activity with Man’s Best Friend. 
How can you be ingenious today?
Tags: Communication, creative thought, creativity, innovation
Posted in 2011 | No Comments »
Break out of your bubble
Friday, August 20th, 2010
Ever wonder why the Renaissance, was well… a renaissance?
I think two things shaped this era. The first being financial support of painters, sculptors, scientists, poets, philosophers and architects by powerful families like the Medici. Leonardo da Vinci lived the last three years of his life at Chateau Clois Luce in Amboise, France at the invitation of King Francis I. Leonardo lived in an elegant and inspiring environment without worry of expense. The King found great value in supporting his pure genius. The King also liked the perk of using a secret passageway from his castle to visit Leonardo as he found great inspiration just listening to him talk and share ideas.
The second was the collaboration between artists, philosophers and scientists, a sort of intellectual cross-pollination, of the time. Fascinated by the ideals of ancient Greece, Cosimo Medici had the works of Plato translated and formed the Platonic Academy of Florence. This informal group engaged in lively philosophic discussions and influenced the creativity of the age.
Today, we work in our industries, our bubbles, and within our cultures with little cross-pollination. It is important to know your business, but it is also important to understand the ideas and trends across the diversity of cultures and industries.
One great resource for this kind of collaboration is TED. Not a person, but a conference started in 1984, which annually attracts the elite in technology, entertainment and academia. According to a recent article in Fast Company, the founder Richard Saul Wurman said, “I just wanted to throw the world’s best dinner party.” The real story though is what TED has become. Today it’s an online academy of thought provoking ideas. It’s place where anyone can participate in the sharing of ideas by watching and absorbing one or many of over 700 presentations.
Break out of your bubble. Start watching. Start sharing. Start supporting.
Start a new renaissance.
Tags: collaboration, creative thought, creativity
Posted in 2010 | No Comments »
Take a hike, find your creative presence.
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Where do fresh insights come from? Why is it that you get your best ideas in the shower or outside the normal work environment? New or novel stimulus is what scientists say wake up your system. Why? Apparently your brain always looks for shortcuts to process information, or in other words categorizes information into the familiar. The best way to wake up your imagination then is to find the unfamiliar and challenge the frontal cortex.
When jazz musicians are engaged in improvisation, a large region of this part of the brain involved in monitoring one’s performance is shut down, while a small region involved in organizing self-initiated thoughts and behaviors is highly activated. Researchers believe that this is likely to be a key indicator of a brain that is engaged in highly creative thought.
The same is true when you pretend you are a child. Psychologists Darya Zabelina and Michael Robinson of North Dakota State University told two groups of undergraduates to “Imagine school is canceled, and you have the entire day to yourself. What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you see?” The group that was also told to also “Imagine you are 7 years old.” scored much higher on creativity tests.
Phoenix Mountain Preserve Spring 2010
According to Gregory Berns, neuroscientist and author of Iconoclast just putting yourself in a new situation can make you see things differently and jump-start your creativity. So next time you feel stifled, do something you’ve never done before, or simply take a hike. That’s what got me thinking about this post.
Tags: creative thought, creativity
Posted in 2010 | 2 Comments »
Two Heads are Better than One – Marketing Planning
Monday, April 28th, 2008
According to research conducted by two Princeton economists, two heads are better than one. Experiments were conducted between groups and individuals solving the same problems. They found groups outperformed the individuals. Groups were also not any slower in solving the problems.
John Morgan, assistant professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton said. “Our results suggest that even in complex environments, groups are not paralyzed by indecision. Moreover, groups use the data they have on hand to make timely — and better — decisions.”
A professor at Northwestern University challenged an engineering class to tell him how a cat is like a refrigerator. Panic ensued as the engineers froze. Then the professor had the students get into groups of three. Remarkably, the minds began to thaw. The results: “They purr.” “They smell.” “They are hard to get rid of.”
In approaching creativity in marketing, groups are essential. And the more diverse the better.
Mix it up.
What could a mechanic, a lawyer, a database expert, homeowner, graphic designer, salesman, contractor, internet geek, and psychologist have in common? Together, they make up a team created to understand how homeowners look for, interact with, and purchase new home appliances. Individually, each brings an area of expertise. As a team they define an experience.
Groups in marketing are the best way to find simple ideas that make a huge difference in a consumer experience. When the consumer experience is well defined and filled with relevant insights, the marketing is also more relevant. And better equipped to impact the bottom line.
In mythology, Janus symbolized change and transition – being able to see into the past and ahead to the future. In business, putting more heads together will not foretell the future, but two heads are still better than one.
Tags: consumer experience, creativity, marketing
Posted in Brand Adages | No Comments »