It may seem ironic for someone with the professional title of creative director, but Bill Petrie didn’t used to think of himself as a creative person.

“For the longest time I considered myself the least creative person on the planet,” said Petrie, the founder of Brandivate, an agency servicing the promo industry. “I still struggle with that. We all struggle with impostor syndrome, and I still feel that way. I stopped listening to that inner self-doubt. And I started learning.”

Bill Petrie of Brandivate in action at ASI Chicago 2024.

Petrie shared those inner thoughts to convince promotional products distributors that they too have creative capabilities that are right at their fingertips. He did so during “The Importance of Being a Creative Chameleon,” a professional development session on Education Day of The ASI Show Chicago 2024, being held July 23-25. Through an insight-packed discussion, he explained how others in the promo industry can tap into their creativity and why it’s important to do so.

Petrie covered a number of tools – both human and digital – that attendees can utilize. For example, Canva is a great “playground for the imagination” to ideate and create simple designs (just don’t think you’re creating vector art that you can send to suppliers).

AI is an incredible untapped resource that can save you time and money, said Petrie, who went through some compelling uses of ChatGPT, as well as art programs like Midjourney. “If you’re not leveraging ChatGPT or AI,” he said, “you’re missing out.”

He also discussed what he called the best tool of all: your brain. Petrie stressed the wonders of eliminating distractions, such as carving out time during the workday when you’re not interacting with clients or family, or embracing moments of boredom where your mind can roam and come up with ingenious solutions. He espoused the concept of “thinking inside the box,” citing studies that show it’s easier to get creative by iterating on something already existing, rather than starting with a completely blank page.

Petrie urged attendees to combine these capabilities with a new approach to selling. He called it his #1 rule: The best way to sell is to stop selling. “I know that sounds weird,” he said. “It’s counterintuitive to every single thing we’ve been told when we need to sell more. … It sounds good, but it doesn’t work. And here’s why. There’s one truth: People don’t like to be sold to.”

The rules have changed with clients, he said – an evolution bordering on a revolution. Clients are ultra-connected and have access to far more information about products and prices. Old-school approaches such as cold calling are dead, as is the wisdom that you need to make sales a numbers game. It’s better to target clients you connect with and you know will buy from you. “If you’re not caring for your current clients,” he said, “don’t bother trying to find new ones.”

Petrie urged attendees to “create wow and wonder” as a way of unleashing creativity and surpassing client expectations. It’s easy, he said, to become jaded to all the industry has to offer through familiarity. Sales is a noble profession, as he tells his kids, because you’re helping people get what they want. And the promo industry has exciting things to offer. “People love what we do,” he said. “I would challenge you to fall in love with it again.”