Work smarter thanks to the right mindset and good humor

In an agency, the importance of a strong mindset cannot be underestimated. We often face short deadlines, small budgets and difficult briefings. Our mindset must be spot-on from the start of every project. The same goes for Special Forces, as the presentation by Rob Vliegen, better known as Fly from the VRT 1 program Kamp Waes, showed. Their mindset is based not only on talent, knowledge and fitness, but above all on the unbreakable will to succeed.

What remained was the need for cooperation, especially in a group with strong characters and egos. Even in an agency, experts must work together to ensure a solid strategy, a creative concept and tight time and budget management. A common goal is thereby essential for the team's motivation and success. So it's not for nothing that we say, "Teamwork makes the dream work."

In turn, ultra runner Karel Sabbe emphasized the importance of perspective. Sometimes we unconsciously get stuck in tunnel vision or think we have quickly cracked a briefing. That's when it's good to take a step back, to stimulate creativity and innovative thinking.

Every day, we're bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages. Of those, only a few are relevant, and they're often not loud, interesting, or strange enough to stand out or be remembered. Humor can help set you apart.

A well-timed joke can help you build a connection with your audience: it quickly fosters trust with those who are interested and subtly turns away unlikely customers early on. Humor also shows who you really are: there's a human personality behind the controls, not a chatbot or AI. Lastly, humor is an ideal tool to spin bad news into something more palatable and makes accepting apologies easier.

Of course, humor is subjective. Not everyone finds the same things funny. Before you begin, it's best to ask yourself a few questions. Could bold humor lead to a backlash for your brand identity? Is your target audience open to humor? And has it been adequately tested before rolling it out widely? As long as you're critical of both strategy and creativity, humor can provide tremendous added value.