Matt Murphy, 72andSunny’s Global CCO, shares a practical daily routine to inspire creativity

Creativity isn’t dead. But in a world moving faster, optimising harder, and measuring everything to the decimal point, we risk suffocating the very spirit that keeps us curious. It’s time we nurture creativity back to health - that Vitamin D infused glorious state of potential where rules don’t apply and the unknown is now your new BFF. To breathe new life into creativity, try practicing this daily routine: keep it weird, play loose, and have fun.

These three acts, albeit simple, are also revolutionary. They’re how we protect imagination from becoming a commodity. They’re how we keep creativity not just alive - but untethered, impactful, and forever surprising.

Calling something weird is a huge compliment. It means fresh, original, and very unfiltered. It’s the spark that comes before something becomes recognizable or accepted. Every great idea starts as something strange, uncomfortable, or unexpected. The first draft of every breakthrough looks a little off. But in a world controlled by algorithms and addicted to trends, weirdness can feel risky. We embrace familiarity because it feels safe – and in doing so, we risk losing the spark that makes ideas truly original.

To “keep it weird” means to chase and protect the odd thought, the offbeat angle, the voice that doesn’t quite fit. It means making room for tension and surprise – for things that challenge, confuse, and eventually change us. They come from people remixing culture, bending genres, and blending worlds: the gamer who becomes a fashion designer, the athlete who becomes an animator, the AI tinkerer who becomes an activist. I see you Ari Kuschnir! Keeping it weird isn’t about shock value. It’s about staying open to the unknown. It’s the courage to say, “I don’t know what this is yet, but I’m curious.” That’s where creativity breathes. And that’s where the next wave of exciting work will come from.

Creativity needs looseness, aka, space to play. But don’t confuse ‘loose’ with being slack - this is all about playing to win. There’s a beautiful dynamism in creative excellence plus rigor. This is how we orient at 72andSunny and I know firsthand how this looseness can set you up for success.

When things get too tight, too scripted, too perfect, there’s no air left for discovery. To “play loose” means to trust the process, instead of controlling every outcome. It’s the willingness to wander, to let ideas bump into each other, to experiment without fear. When you play loose, you invite accidents – and accidents are often the birthplace of brilliance.

The modern world doesn’t make that easy. We’ve built systems that prize predictability. Metrics, deadlines, and algorithms all push us toward control. But creativity isn’t a spreadsheet - it’s a playground. When we loosen up, we make room for collaboration, curiosity and the unknown. And in that uncertainty lies the call for innovation.

Play loose, and you’ll surprise yourself. Play too tight, and you’ll only repeat yourself.

Somewhere along the way, “professionalism” became synonymous with “seriousness.” And seriously, “Why so serious?” Seriousness without joy leads to burnout. The truth is, fun fuels endurance. It’s what keeps us coming back to the blank page, the blinking cursor, the 147th round of the edit. Fun is contagious. You can feel it when something is made with joy. The best campaigns, the best art, the best stories have a wink in them. They remind us that creativity isn’t just about solving problems; it’s about celebrating possibility.

We live in an age that desperately needs more play. The challenges we face – environmental, social, technological – are too complex for just linear thinking. We need imagination. And imagination is born in play. Having fun doesn’t mean taking things lightly. It means bringing lightness to things that matter. It’s what turns creative work from labor into love.

Regardless of your job title, and whether you are agency or brand side, please consider committing to these three things as a daily practice:

Keep it weird — Protect the odd, the untested, the beautifully broken.
Play loose — Embrace uncertainty and let ideas breathe.
Have fun — Wield joy as the ultimate creative act.

If you do this regularly, creativity won’t just survive – it’ll evolve and flourish, and you will too. Which, at this moment in the space/time continuum, is something to be excited about.