Big Idea

The big idea is Ogilvy's term for the one thought that carries a campaign for years: Think Small, We Try Harder, Got Milk?, Just Do It. This skill finds big ideas by method. The first competent idea is the category average, the one every rival agency also brings. The method is built to get past it.

The method comes from James Webb Young: an idea is a new combination of old elements, and the skill of combining is the skill of seeing relationships between facts. So the work is raw material in, many combinations out, then ruthless judgment. Most weak ad ideas fail at the first stage, from too little raw material, rather than at the combining.

Vocabulary

These words are used precisely throughout the skill and its references.