"Big Ideas" are those ideas that strive to be the concept that provides a unifying premise that wholly captivates the end user- the guest, shopper, buyer, or customer.
"Big Ideas" are another phrase used to describe part of the creative process. Big-ideas can drive a product or project vision, and its design, leasing, licensing, sales, fabrication, distribution and merchandising.
A sufficiently compelling big-idea, properly executed and with the right emotional resonance, can become a consumer brand. Starbucks, an an example, is based upon the "big idea" that coffee drinking could be far more than a beverage commodity, and more of a premium lifestyle product - if not a consumer lifestyle experience.
Most of the great projects and products, began with a strong "big idea," since such concepts are not only of great interest to the end-user, but become captivating and a rallying point to the product or project team that takes on the development mission.
Big Ideas for Out-of-Home Entertainment
The Big Idea for a facility is intended to drive a "must see" drawing power for a facility. This in contrast to simply having a "high concept" for a project. A high concept is sufficient to create interest and perhaps a visit, but a "must see" sensibility implies that the Big Idea has informed the place making of the project in a way that compels visits due to its guest environment.
A "must see" facility or perhaps "must visit" is more accurate, is based first on the architecture, then the urban design, then the live entertainment, followed by having excellent consumer credibility in key trip-purpose categories such as the casino experience, the entertainment, the hotel rooms, the shopping and dining out. Developing a "must see" character to a project is a matter of design intent.
Compelling Big Ideas are extremely important for attractions, including casino-entertainment facilities. All great attractions that survive the test of time with consumers are based on them. Walt Disney understood the power and simplicity of "eternal childhood" and built a business empire based on this notion. Universal Studios created a profitable line of theme parks on the idea the guests would love to "ride the movies." Big Ideas do not have to be complex, in fact, they are best when they are based on an underlying truth that drives a consumer's behavior.
Big Ideas should resonate strongly, emotionally, with the target customer or guest. A Big Idea must be utterly relevant, concise, and engaging, and attainable. Big Ideas must also be distinctive, to tie on-site guest activites such as retail, restaurant, club, event, entertainment, and other activities into a memorable experience. The Big Idea drives all design elements and entertainment programming, in fact every aspect of the business, toward a unified premise that wholly captivates the customer.
When Big Ideas work well, they become branded experiences. Yesterday's marketing was pre-occupied with establishing brand propositions in a consumer's mind. We now live in a world where marketing revolves around brand experience strategies that touch consumers’ emotions and validate these propositions by allowing a consumer to physically interact with her or her favorite brands. Experiential branding is not an amorphous construct; it is as real an economic offering as any service, good, or commodity. Experiential branding occurs when a project intentionally uses services as the stage, the goods as props to engage individual customers in a way that creates a memorable impression or "takeaway."
Big Ideas are a means of organizing a guest experience and ultimately the urban design and architecture of a place. For a guest to have a wonderful experience, a compelling story or vision will emerge from the Big Idea, and will be told through experiences that engage all of the customer's senses.
