As artists and innovators, we often come up with highly unique and interesting ideas. We spend weeks or months creating something amazing. When it’s finished, we are then tasked with getting the word out about it.

This is where a lot of creative people fail. They apply their creativity to creating their product or their art, but then they don’t apply that same creativity to spreading the word and getting people’s attention. The unfortunate fact is that creative ideas don’t sell themselves. There are countless innovations that have flopped simply because the innovators were either unable or unwilling to follow through with the marketing.
But maybe we wouldn’t struggle with marketing so much if we allowed our creativity to shine through. What if you spent the same amount of creative energy on the marketing as you did on the project, itself? What if the marketing could be the most fun part?

That’s what I love about how Poo-Pouri marketed itself. Despite such humble origins, Poo-Pouri has become a household name. Their product has all the marks of an innovation: It was a unique that people solved a specific problem.

What makes this company special is how it started. They were selling a product that hadn’t existed before, which is where a lot of innovators struggle. People didn’t know that they wanted their product. They were solving a problem people didn’t realize they had.

Instead of pouring millions into advertising, the company went a different route. They created a humorous commercial and posted it on YouTube… for free. The commercial was hilarious, and people shared it all over social media. Within weeks, everyone knew who they were and what problem they solved. It was genius. They got 10’s of millions of dollars in free advertising by making the marketing just as creative as the product itself.

As artists, we love our creations. We see the value in what we make. It’s up to us to communicate that value and get our creations in front of people. Getting people’s attention is a huge problem for creatives, now more than ever. Stop thinking of marketing as what happens AFTER you’re done creating. Your marketing is a part of the overall masterpiece we want to create.