Copy Copy Copy?!

This year I attended the DMX Dublin conference, Ireland’s largest marketing conference. The last session I attended was  Mark Earls’ the Herdmeister of Herd, presenting ‘Copy Copy Copy – Humanity’s Greatest Hack’ talk. This talk stuck with me. Here are my thoughts.

Mark Earls’ ethos is “the best way to create something new, is to copy something that has already been used to solve a problem”. Humans think that no one else in the world has had the same problem, that we are all so unique and special. But that’s not the case. We make it harder on ourselves to invent something or some idea that is truly original. We shouldn’t try to create something new, but copy from each other. It’s not about re-inventing and copying, but rather innovating someone else’s ideas, concepts and solutions to solve your own problems and challenges. We learn from other people, from other peoples’ big ideas. Why? It’s in our human nature.

This was my first introduction to Mark Earls’  theory. Mark’s theory sounds so wrong but he’s right. It’s not about copying another’s homework or test answers. That’s not it. It’s not about plagiarising or stealing. That’s wrong. It’s about making small incremental changes to an idea and building on it. It’s copying and doing something remotely and slightly different in the right amount. A little ‘loose copying’ to create error.

Mark talked about various examples how this theory was used to solve a problem by copying. One of the best ways to solve a problem is taking the solution from another industry and apply it to your own challenge. He used a case study from an ICU operating theatre. They used Formula 1 pit teams processes to implement changes to their patient handover from surgery to recovery procedures. Formula 1 pit teams are masters as efficiently and speed. Why wouldn’t the same process work in another domain, like a hospital? It did. He also spoke about David Bowie, and his same belief in copying. David Bowie was asked if he was original and he said ‘No no no. I am more like a tasteful thief. The only art I’ll ever study is stuff I can steal from’. It’s borrowing someone’s work and redefining it in a new way. Your way.

Artists, writers,  creators, everyone, all of us are collectors. Humans collect ideas from what they love. We all use the best from others. It’s in our nature. Mark’s theory of Copy is about making something new and original, from something else. Nothing in the world is completely original. All creative work builds on what came before. Every new idea is just a remix of one or two previous ideas. It is about stealing the best that is around us, and transforming it and building on it to solve your problem. I learned that everything in the world is up for grabs, to turn it into something better and different. I found Mark’s talk on this concept to take something and transform it into something new fascinating and has impacted on how I see Marketing. It has also made me realise to use this concept, in order to make my idea worth stealing to someone else.

My Tech-Off Takeaways:

• Hunter.io. – A handy website to find peoples’ email addresses by a domain.
• Stumple Upon – I’ve browsed ever since DMX and discovered loads of resources. One shout it is to Unbounce. Unbounce is full of templates, that I will definitely use.
• Answer the Public – This is just fun. Type in a subject and you’ll learn what questions are, what the queries your consumer have, and what they are searching for in Google relevant to you. So much fun.
• Tags for Likes & Rite Tag – Great apps for sourcing trending hashtags and topics.
• Mailshake – Amazing, like a Mail Chimp Salesforce baby on steroids. I will definitely use this email marketing tool for Clients in the future. A keeper.