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Creativity in Public Relations by A. GreenChapter 8: Red light thinking: the evaluation of ideasLomonosov Moscow State UniversityFaculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies

Fulfilled: Antonova Anastasia

Red light thinkingemphasizes judgement, reason, evaluation, and where things may or may not work.Underlying the use of Red Light thinking must be a commitment to derive the optimum added value.

It focuses on what makes an idea viable, robust from potential criticism, and able to survive in order to do justice to the quality of the original idea.

FORMAL EVALUATION METHODS

Screening processes

You can screen ideas quickly in several ways. The first task is to weed out some of the ideas, so that the rest are manageable and time and energy can be concentrated on those with most potential.

Screening method 1

A simple screening process could consist of the following questions:Is the idea compatible with the brand values? Is the idea compatible with the public relations objectives and strategy? Is it legal?Can it be developed within a realistic budget and timescales? Is it likely to provide added value?Are the commitments and risks acceptable?

Screening method 2

is used to categorize the ideas into groups with a common theme or element. The screening could be based on the following three broad categories:1. Realistic ideas or themes that can be put into action immediately.2. Intriguing ideas that are still embryonic but that have potential as a starting point for thinking about at a later stage.3. No-hopers.This clustering of large numbers of ideas can make it easier to make choices between groups as opposed to selecting individual ideas. It helps you to think more strategically about the ideas as a whole.

Putting an idea into action

The next step is to consider how you will put the idea into action. A useful technique is a form of critical path analysis, where you seek to identify what could go wrong, examine the key causes of potential failures, and identify any preventive action that may be required.

The Abilene Paradox, or, in an anglicizedform, the Basingstoke Paradox

BENJAMIN FRANKLINS PRUDENTIAL ALGEBRA TECHNIQUE

EXTERNAL EVALUATION

Deciding what ideas to run with can be difficult. An easy way of finalizing your choice of different creative options is simply to ask someone who is not connected with the work what they think. The closer they are to the target audience you want to reach, the better.

Informal external contacts

One tactic is to develop new products not just in the laboratory, but working closely with what are called beta test site customers. These forward-looking customers are leading users of products, usually at the cutting edge of innovation and at the forefront of developing new ways of doing things.

Formal external groups

The use of focus groups, or panels, to consider new ideas is a well-established technique in qualitative market research. A group representing a sample of the target audience can be used. New ideas can be formally run past the group so as to gain the members reaction, and potential acceptance or rejection can be assessed. The groups views are monitored and can be interpreted by aprofessional researcher.

YOU DECIDE

The techniques centering on Red Light thinking that are described in this book are useful for sifting material and helping to avoid killing off potentially good ideas at birth. They also assist in providing a focus for evaluation and further investigation.

Yet, no matter how thorough an evaluation is, the decision to run with a particular idea will rest with someone -possibly you.

Sources1. http://www.youtube.com/2. http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=ru3. Creativity in public relations. Fourth edition, by Andy Green