Leonardo Da Vinci had everything it took to be the world's greatest marketer.

He was one of the greatest minds of the last millennium.

And there was one thing that made Leonardo a genius which set him apart from people who are simply extraordinarily smart… creativity.

His ability to apply imagination to intellect, allowed him to make unexpected leaps that related things seen to unseen.

Da Vinci had a mind that wandered across all the disciplines of the arts, sciences, engineering, and humanities.

To him, art was a science, and science was an art, with every piece of work blurring the distinction between the two.

There’s a lot we can learn from Leonardo which is relevant to the world of advertising.

Advertising isn't science or art. But because planners treat it like science, and creatives treat it like art, too often it becomes boring.

As Leonardo showed in every element of his life and work, in advertising, it’s creativity that matters above all else.

I recently finished reading Walter Isaacson’s biography of Da Vinci and while it was a long read, it was certainly a fascinating one, with Leonardo ‘infinitely curious, easily distracted’, but above all, a human who simply thought differently to everyone else and willed his way to genius.

I’ve included below some key learnings from Isaacson’s book, with the last chapter 100% worth a read.

Would love to hear if there are any biographies which have stood out to you when reading and any key learnings you can take from them.

If there's one takeaway from Da Vinci, which has never been more relevant in a world of constant change, endless data points, algorithms, options, and noise, it's that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication".

#advertising #creativity #innovation