You might be familiar with the television cartoon character, Bullwinkle J. Moose, who says to his best friend, Rocket J. Squirrel, every single Saturday morning, “Hey, Rocky. Watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat. Nothing up my sleeve.” The TV series originally aired in 1959, was recast in 2018, and has apparently made its way back onto the airwaves in 2024.
I’m not certain if Bullwinkle ever did pull a rabbit out of his hat, but he sure tried an awful lot. Sometimes, he extracted something really frightening from the hat. Other times, nothing at all. (Hey, I saw the show as a kid in re-runs. Just to clarify.)
The definition of the phrase “pulling a rabbit out of a hat” is to: unexpectedly do something which solves a problem or helps you to achieve something. According to the Collins Dictionary, anyways.
But for anyone working in the communications or marketing professions, you are well aware that creativity doesn’t always come easy. As people, I believe we are innately creative. But identifying that perfect expression, phrase, or image to reach a target audience or group of constituents isn’t simple. Developing meaningful communications plans or marketing strategies is hard work. You don’t just pull a rabbit out of a hat unexpectedly. Those of you who are good at it, might make it seem simple. However, long before you are in front of a client, pitching an idea or giving advice, you probably have dozens of hours into a proposed campaign.
It would be amazing if we could simply wave a magic wand to solve a client’s needs, but it doesn’t happen that way most of the time. Instead, the real creativity comes from developing an idea to its potential or solving a problem after giving it thoughtful and careful consideration. The result: success is what you pull from the hat!
Categories: Creativity