How valuable are our ideas?

How valuable are your ideas? Is there a price tag to the value of our ideas? Is the power of thinking the definition of being human? How do you value your ideas?

Ideas are everything to us humans. They are our lifeblood and we define our existence through ideas. Everything came from an idea from a human development perspective.

In advertising, marketing and media, ideas are the actual business. The father of advertising, David Ogilvy, once said, “The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.”

Now imagine life without jokes? Is it a life without ideas?

He also said, “Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science and in advertising. But your unconscious must be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process.”

Does market intelligence, data and insights inspire great ideas?

In advertising, marketing and media, ideas are primarily directed to help brands draw the attention of their target audience in a marketplace that has become very cluttered with advertising messages daily. Is there a price tag on Big Ideas?

How do we value ideas?

A 2019 Garther report stated that 91% of marketers surveyed are leading and supporting innovation initiatives. Does this mean marketers are taking ideas seriously?

When Jeff Bezos first developed the idea to create Amazon, I wonder what value he placed on his idea? How do creatives in advertising value their ideas? It is a competitive advantage for brands to have think tanks. Can advertising, marketing or media, idea generation be a practical thought or earned skill?

How do we value ideas? I mean ideas that changed the world and innovated a change in the way we live. Ideas define us and our beautiful complex brains live off constantly thinking.

What about failed ideas? Bad ideas that did not survive. Are failed ideas just as important because they teach us something? In 2017, TIME magazine published a list of 20 most failed technologies of all time.

Did you know that News Corp. created a digital-first newspaper which featured flashy graphics, embedded video, and had new ways for readers to interact with stories. The idea failed because it required a paid subscription that was arranged through the iTunes Store, and revenue was split with Apple, a revenue model that proved unsustainable.

Is strategy a well thought through pattern of ideas oiled by data and human intelligence?

Why are ideas important?

Ideas are not judgmental at all, meaning anyone can come up with a life changing idea. Ideas do not discriminate rather they empower. Society is built on ideas. Think of Democracy, Free-Market Economics, Human Rights, Relativity/Quantum Theory, Electricity & Religious Tolerance these ideas have developed human existence.

We can break down ideas further by saying that they are mostly inspired or influenced by solving a certain problem or advancing current human needs or wants.

Just how important are ideas? Well currently the South African economy needs ideas to grow again. The government together with the healthcare industry needs ideas on how to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

How important are your ideas?

Power to ideas

Ideas are immensely powerful and not all of them are good however when implemented they change society regardless weather, they good or bad. Imagine Nelson Mandela without his idea for peace? Could South Africa have been a war-torn country? How bad of an idea was Apartheid?

We need good ideas and society needs to embrace and encourage us to implement our ideas. Big or small, business or social, ideas are a must, it is what makes us human after all, the fact that we can think of something and create it.

Here are some ideas that changed the world according to biography online.

Nkateko Mongwe has almost nine years’ experience working with consumer marketing & media data in offline and online environments. He is currently a contributing member of three industry boards, the interactive advertising bureau (IAB) research council, the publisher research committee (PRC) and the Advertising Media Association of South Africa (AMASA) committee. He is also the founder of Digital Fanta and interim CEO of Digital Fanta Hyve, a mobile consumer research agency. Twitter @Datainsights88