Social Innovators: Learning from a Seasoned Creative

Chip Culpepper has been a staple at MHP/Team SI for decades. As a partner and Chief Creative Officer, Chip’s fingerprints are on many of our favorite projects – from commercials to interviews to branding and campaigns.

As our Content Studio continues to explore how companies can best present themselves on social media, we thought it’d be helpful to gain insight from a veteran creative. After all, as Chip would tell you, we’re not reinventing the wheel here with social media. We’re applying age-old creative principles to a new channel and a new audience.

The video is something you do NOT want to miss. Check out our “Tips from Uncle Chip” below for the best soundbites.

Tips from Uncle Chip

On the History of Social Media Strategy

“As social media emerged and as agencies began to understand it as a channel is really where the creative side of it came in. Those that figured out where it was going could look ahead and see where social media could be another outlet for our clients. That’s really where our strategy and creative insight came into play.”

On How Social Media Has Impacted Creative

“The work that we do is still the same. It’s founded in strategy. Social media changed how fast we have to do it, so it really ramped up the speed and the return time that we have to plan how we develop things. So we had to do it faster, better, smarter, but it didn’t change the discipline of writing and design. We just had to adapt it into this new channel.”

“I don’t know that [social media] has watered down [creative]. It’s made you think quicker. It’s made you respond faster. The best writing comes in the rewriting. You really have to nail it. You really have to be confident in what you’re putting out there.”

On Good Ideas, Bad Ideas, and the Rapid Sharing of Ideas

“If you have a good idea, and it’s the right idea, I think social media allows you to express it in a very timely fashion. But also it gives it more legs. It gives it more extension. It gives it more life.”

“An idea, if you hold it so precious and you try to nurture it and nurture it, if it’s a weak idea, maybe you can get it there over a function of time. But if it’s a really strong idea, and it bursts onto the scene, out of your head and out of the collaboration you have with the creative team, then it’s ready to run.”

On Making a Point

“When it comes to creative, people are always trying to make too many points. The thing about making a lot of points is that you can say all those things and you never really make a point. If you can take all your points and really distill it down, you don’t even really have to try that hard.”

On Growing as a Creative

“Being creative is a muscle that you have to work out. We are a creative species. So if you’re in a creative role in a corporate setting, find every opportunity to flex that muscle. Write, rewrite, work on it. Work on your craft. Only through that honing, through that repetition, through that lifting of the creative weight will that muscle get stronger.”

Ready to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing?

Because the world of social media is always evolving, our Content Studio is always innovating. This means staying on top of the latest trends and incorporating the age-old marketing principles – the ones that have spurred us on to 50 years of client wins – into your brand’s social media strategy.

Does this sound like something that’d be of use to your brand or company? Reach out to us! Chris and his team would love to take you to coffee.

Caleb Byrd

The original version of this page was published at:  https://mhpteamsi.com/news/learning-from-a-seasoned-creative/