Ep 10 Creativity: How to build a product or creative strategy

Show notes

Stephen celebrates reaching the 10th episode of The Crazy One and opens with heartfelt gratitude. He reflects on the podcast’s growth, engagement from the creative community, and the positive feedback he’s received through emails and social media.

“I stand here in my studio in front of a microphone, recording all this content and I have sent that out into the void… I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you.”

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What Is Strategy and Why Does It Matter?

Stephen introduces strategy as a misunderstood but essential part of the creative process. He admits that earlier in his career, he thought strategy was an abstract concept owned by MBAs. Now, he defines it as the critical thinking required before any creative move is made.

He uses chess as a metaphor:

• Chess teaches you to think 8+ moves ahead.

• Success depends on being able to visualize the endgame.

• A common mantra: “Don’t move until you can see it.”

“That’s what strategy is in my creative process. It’s how I come up with a game plan.”

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Why Strategy Requires Empathy

Strategy isn’t just facts and frameworks—it’s about understanding people. Stephen emphasizes the need to develop empathy with the target audience, sometimes through extreme or unconventional methods:

• Example 1: Approaching car owners at gas stations to learn how they feel about their vehicles.

• Example 2: Living in a hotel for 364 days to understand long-stay guests at Starwood Hotels.

 

“If you can’t empathize with the people you’re designing for, you’re going to create something superficial.”

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The 8 Essential Strategy Questions for Creatives

Stephen outlines his 8-question framework for defining creative strategy. He always asks these in conversation—not by email—to spark authentic responses and dig deeper. These questions become the foundation for insights and eventual design work.

1. What are we creating and why?

   • Define the problem and the purpose before discussing execution.

   • Avoid starting with solutions (e.g., “We want a blog”); uncover the real need.

    

2. What’s the brand’s past?

   • Understand the history, prior strategies, and recurring issues.

   • If direction keeps shifting, it may signal a deeper problem.

    

3. What do we need to do?

   • Define deliverables, timeframes, and the actual work scope.

    

4. Who are we talking to (demographics)?

   • Identify the real target audience—age, gender, income, education.

   • Beware of aspirational demographics that don’t reflect the real customer.

    

5. What are they like (psychographics)?

   • Explore mindset, values, habits, and preferences.

   • Understand the emotional and cognitive drivers behind consumer behavior.

    

6. What is the brand’s personality and tone?

   • Go beyond logos and colors. What’s the brand’s character?

   • Consider how tone affects visual, verbal, and even motion design.

    

7. What’s the selling idea?

   • The single most persuasive concept that gets people to pay attention or change behavior.

   • Must be clear, differentiated, and tied to real human needs.

    

8. What do we want the audience to do?

   • Define success: awareness, engagement, purchase, or something else?

   • Creativity must evoke action or emotion with measurable impact.

    

“Any great piece of creative evokes emotion or action. What do you want the consumer to do?”

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Turning Answers into Action: From Observation to Insight to Opportunity

Once the questions are answered, Stephen moves into application:

• Observations: Factual responses from the 8 questions.

• Insights: The deeper human truths or needs behind those observations.

• Opportunities: Strategic design directions based on clustered insights.

 

He recommends using sticky notes to group insights and identify themes.

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Using “How Might We” Statements

Stephen introduces “How Might We” (HMW) statements—an approach from design thinking:

• These statements help frame brainstorms and spark creative ideation.

• Must strike a balance between too prescriptive and too broad.

 

Examples (for improving a toothbrush):

• How might we make brushing more fun?

• How might we help people experience the reward of brushing?

• How might we design for different hand sizes?

 

“If I can come up with five ideas from a HMW statement right away, it’s a good one.”

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Common Strategic Traps and Mistakes

Stephen calls out frequent pitfalls that weaken strategy:

1. Fluff or false confidence

   • Clients may give buzzwords when they don’t know the answers.

   • Creatives must push for substance.

    

2. Undefined challenge

   • Strategy must clearly articulate the problem to solve.

    

3. Avoiding the critical issue

   • Clients often focus on small fixes while ignoring the big, uncomfortable problems.

   • Sometimes, the best move is to say no—even at the risk of losing business.

    

“Hope is not a strategy. And if we don’t define the problem, we can’t solve it.”

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Final Thoughts: Great Thinking = Great Creativity

The episode concludes with a powerful truth:

“Great creativity is just an expression of great thinking.”

 

Without strategy:

• Creativity lacks purpose.

• Execution becomes production work.

• Success becomes impossible to measure.

 

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Resources and Links

• Show Notes and Eight Questions: podcast.stephengates.com

• Leave a Review: On Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your preferred platform.

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Disclaimer

The opinions expressed are Stephen’s own and do not represent any current or former employers.

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Closing Statement

Stephen ends with his signature sign-off:

“The only true luxury we have is time, and I’m always incredibly appreciative that you would spend any of it with me. Until next week, stay crazy.”

Tagged as:
creative lead creative strategy creativity design strategy essential questions idea generation innovation leadership market strategy problem-solving product development product management strategic thinking successful products team alignment