[Embassy of Dutch Creativity] Ambassador Ravid Kuperberg, Partner, Mindscapes

From Monday 19 to Friday 23 June the Embassy of Dutch Creativity will be hosted again during the international advertising festival in Cannes. This year the trade mission of the joint Dutch creative industry in Cannes will move into a villa. Here various talks and sessions will be organized during the festival week to promote Dutch creativity worldwide.

One of the recurring names in Cannes and at the Embassy of Dutch Creativity is Ravid Kuperberg, partner & trainer at Mindscapes, a creative thinking consultancy. Ravid is a structured creative thinking trainer in the field of brand communications, working with numerous advertising agencies and brands around the world. He is a frequent keynote speaker and trainer at marketing conferences and advertising festivals. Ravid will host a session at the Embassy with the provocative title “If My Grandmother was your ECD”.

Especially for Marketing Report we had the opportunity to ask Ravid some questions. What has been Mindscapes’s involvement in 49 Cannes Lions? Why should people join his session at the Embassy? And what the world can you learn from his grandmother?

Ravid, you have been a recurring name in Cannes and at the Embassy of Dutch Creativity. For the people that don’t know you and Mindscapes, could you please briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Ravid Kuperberg and I am a partner and trainer at Mindscapes. In a nutshell, I am a structured creative thinking trainer dedicated to helping anyone in the field of brand communications use their creative mind in a more effective way. Which means less time staring at the ceiling waiting for great ideas, and more time jumping up and down in excitement when a great idea pops up in your head. I’ve done almost everything in advertising, in both strategic planning and creative direction positions. I’ve even spent 2 whole weeks as an account director … Overall 14 long years at a variety of agency roles have helped me to gain a unique perspective of creative thinking in all its glory and adversity.

What is the secret behind the success of Mindscapes?

Simple. It’s the ability to help people involved in creative thinking boost their thinking skills. Helping them override cognitive biases and overcome different forms of Fixedness which block the mind and its ability to imagine unconventional outcomes.

And how do you do that concretely?

We provide our clients with a clear starting point, end point and operating guide when looking for breakthrough ideas. Our mind is still the most potent technology at our disposal (sorry AI…). It’s an infinite space filled with knowledge and amazing disruptive creative ideas, many of which are just sitting there in the dark, waiting to be picked up when we bump into them. But why wait and move around in darkness? By deconstructing successful creative ideas and decoding recurring thinking patterns embedded in them, we are able to shine a light on thinking paths leading to fertile grounds where amazing ideas can be found. And that’s the beauty if it all, that underneath the obvious surface many apparently unique creative ideas share recurring patterns of thinking. Patterns which when decoded and mastered, can paradoxically help understand how to break existing common molds and how to come up with new original innovative ideas. That’s basically what Mindscapes does and how it provides real value. Even to the most experienced and talented creatives.

What does it ultimately deliver this “structured creative thinking”?

Well, let’s look at the numbers. 49 Cannes Lions, including 3 Grand Prix, have been awarded in recent years to work created by Mindscapes trained agencies, using our structured creative thinking tools. Not to mention many other amazing ideas which came to life, and many people in the industry which came home earlier because they were able to be more efficient in their thinking

What is your biggest creative success to date?

Every time a training ends and people approach me to say they can’t wait to get to the office the next day to start using the thinking tools we discussed. Getting people excited to go to work! What could be a bigger success or more satisfying than that?

You make a living by helping others to create and be creative. How important is creativity to you?

It’s very important. There is that one moment, when an amazing idea appears and jolts your heart rate. You are excited like a small child who just got the best toy in the world to play with. That moment, that feeling, whether it’s happening to me or when I see it happening to others, is priceless. It’s what drives me and illustrates the power of creativity, before we even discuss what creativity can do or change or solve. That one intimate moment, at the beginning of a seed of an amazing idea. That’s a truly wonderful moment!

On wednesday 21st of June you will do a talk with the provocative title “If My Grandmother was your ECD”. Who should attend this talk?

This talk is for anyone in brand communications. Whether from the agency side or the client side. If you want to be involved in introducing amazing creative ideas to the world, this talk is for you.

The talk can help attendants in a tangible and practical manner. And it will be fun. I promised my grandmother!

www.embassyofdutchcreativity.com

www.themindscapes.com