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A wise Doctor of Philosophy once said: “You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.”

That was Dr Seuss writing in 1986.

I mention it because it links with what’s happening in consumer health and self diagnosis.

A 2010 study showed about a quarter of Australians regularly sought health information online.

Health information sites are all over the web like a rash, from credible Government sites like http://www.healthinsite.gov.au/ to those claiming online diagnosis by doctors, albeit with a disclaimer that will read something like:

“We take no responsibilities for anybody using the site, nor for any information obtained from it, or as a result of using it.”

But, credible or not, a whopping 80 per cent of Australians surveyed by international health insurance giant, Bupa – a Porter Novelli client – admitted to going online for health information, with 47 per cent of these people making a self diagnosis based on what they found online.

Let’s say you have pins and needles. It could be – according to readily available online resources – a vitamin deficiency, sciatica……or multiple sclerosis. Got an earache? Check common cold, an ear infection. Or possibly a brain abscess.

As a former healthcare professional, I have to ask what this might mean for primary healthcare, without even considering what the implications are for the many health sector organisations we work with.

The question for us, as communications specialists, is how to beat the clutter?

Simple, really. What if we turn the tables? Instead of consumers having to find “us”, we go looking for “them”?

Our Australian Dental Association (Victoria) client is stepping into social media through the Caring for your kids’ teeth page; Mercy Health is a relative early adopter and keen experimenter; and we like the work of Cabrini here in Melbourne (that we don’t work on).

The one we aspire our health sector clients to be like remains Mayo Clinic. Check it out.

And if you have a nasty, persistent cough, might be worth a visit to the doctor. It’s probably not tuberculosis.

If you work in PR and live in NSW, chances are you have hosted a stunt at Martin Place. How about a survey? Ever crafted a set of questions that you know will provide predictable results…cue media release to news desk!

I know I’ve certainly been there, and following an event hosted by the PRIA called Creative Juices, I’m pretty certain I’m not alone. When speaker Ryan Peal, Director of Imagination at Momentum Worldwide, posed these same questions to a room full of PR practitioners, the response was an overwhelming and undeniable YES.

In the consumer PR environment, driven by an ongoing string of deadlines, constant innovation can be challenging. Therefore, a stunt set in an opportune location in the heart of the city, guaranteeing attention – hard to say no to. Likewise some quirky stats that will most likely get you a spot in the news pages – yes please!

I’m not saying that these sure-fire ways to garner media attention should be dismissed; however I do believe that PR people should reconsider their relevance.

Last week, Executive Planning Director Al Crawford from BBDO offered PNS an insightful summary of what it is he does on a day to day basis. One comment he made in particular about brands really resonated with me. He stated that despite what many people assume, creative thinking should not always be employed to reinvent, re-create and replace. Sometimes the more difficult yet effective challenge is to creatively reinforce the brand’s essence in a different and unique way. This provided a powerful reminder about the significance of the brand’s established value.

In addition to ensuring PR campaigns embrace the heart of the brand, PR tactics should also ensure that they are achieving the set task. Whether it is to encourage sales? Promote public engagement? Heighten brand awareness? Stunts and surveys are not always the most efficient means to an end when considered against a clear business objective. Dressing up a granny in a bright orange bikini and marching her through Town Hall station may certainly turn heads and generate discussion. However if establishing the brand as a credible player in the market is your goal, then is this really the right tactic?

Thus when planning your next PR strategy, always remember the essence of the brand and set a goal for your campaign strategy accordingly. Having these simple underlying guidelines before sparking off a brainstorm will assist substantially in maintaining a purpose to your creativity.

A stunt for the sake of a stunt is pointless.

It’s widely assumed that the craft of Public Relations lacks true creativity.

I’ve always known this opinion to be untrue, having racked my brain countless times to find a newsworthy angle for my clients, however, it has still managed to send me into a poetic depression on more than one occasion.

I can often be found clutching on to my G&T, in the dark serenity of a Surry Hills wine bar, fretting about the futility of trying to encourage ingenuity in our approach when advertisers are the only ones expected to be creative. Yet, any PR person would tell you that when it comes to value for money, teamed with an innovative approach, PR gets coverage above and beyond anything advertising could achieve on the same budget. Frustrating, to say the least!

This is why I was so excited by a recent conference, held by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA), which portrayed true creativity in action.

The event, titled Creative Juices: How to think big and impress the boss, was aptly held at a moody city club called Space.  With tweets flying back and forth, the filming of an impromptu amateur soap opera (with the help of an iPhone 4) and a motza of ideas to inspire us it was truly an insightful and entertaining evening.

Ryan Peal (@ryanpeal) showered us with great ways to transform our approach to brainstorming. Next time your team is really stuck, hire a maxi cab and take a ride around the city instead of meeting in the office. The visual and sensory stimuli could be just what you need to get the ball rolling, forcing the team think outside the boardroom (bored room) square.

Or try bringing outsiders in on your next brainstorm, whether it’s the client, an AE from the advertising company upstairs or your mum! The presence of new people is bound to stimulate a different style of conversation and encourage your team to think a little differently.

And there’s nothing like a little role play to get the creative juices flowing. Try approaching your next long term strategy brainstorm like this:

1. Tell the team their client is X (for the point of this exercise, let’s say Coke).
2. Think of a great campaign.
3. Now tell them that they have left this agency and are instead employed by the agency that represents Pepsi.
4. They know what Coke has in store, it’s pretty fantastic- they thought of it. What can they do to counteract the plan?

Now you have two great ideas, you can pre-empt what the competition would do and you’ve pushed your team to think that little bit harder about the brief!

Here’s another great way to push your team’s brainstorming session:

1. Tell them the brief.
2. Tell them their budget is unlimited.
3. Collate their amazing and over-the-top ideas.
4. Now scale back. Say, no, we can’t have Brad Pitt but what can we have? A lookalike? Maybe we could run a competition to find one and then use a really soft lens?

Before you know it the team will be coming up with some hilarious alternatives that could prove to be better than the original idea!

However, what resonated with me the most was a comment by Scotty Iseri (@scottyiseri). Although he also spoke a lot about the importance of being creative, he actually encouraged us to embrace the limitations of the brief.

It’s all well and good to be creative but “without a frame you’re just arting everywhere,” he said. He stressed the importance of getting a detailed brief and understanding the needs of the client.

This threw me back to Clemenger BBDO’s motto The Work The Work The Work. Indeed, despite the fun that lies in letting your creativity reign, it must inevitably come second to delivering work that best suits the client’s needs.