Apply the Filter: Is It Interesting?

You've spent this masterclass inside Chuck Porter's head — learning how he built an agency on the mission to create the most talked-about advertising in the world, how the Truth campaign found its enemy, how MINI refused to act like a car company, and how "Is it interesting?" became the most ruthlessly effective filter in the business.

Now it's your turn to use it.

This exercise will take you through the full creative development process using Porter's principles. You'll start with a real brief, reject the obvious, find the tension, and build toward an idea designed for conversation — not just communication.

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Choose your brief. Pick one of the following options, or use a real brief from your own work:

• Option A: A regional gym chain wants to attract members who've failed at fitness before. Budget is modest. Competition is Planet Fitness and local boutique studios.
• Option B: A sustainable water bottle brand wants to grow beyond the "eco-conscious" niche and reach mainstream consumers who don't think of themselves as environmentalists.
• Option C: A mid-size regional bank wants to attract younger customers (25–35) who distrust traditional financial institutions.

Once you've chosen your brief, gather a notebook or open a blank document. You'll be working through several rounds of ideation — and deliberately throwing ideas away.

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Step 1: Generate your obvious ideas (10 minutes)

Write down the first five campaign concepts that come to mind for your brief. Don't filter yourself — just get them out. These are almost certainly the same ideas your competitors have already had, or the ideas a client would nod along to in a meeting without getting excited.

Look at your list. These are the ideas you're going to reject.

Step 2: Find the enemy or tension (10 minutes)

Porter's strategist on the Truth campaign didn't ask "How do we get kids to stop smoking?" She asked "Who can we give them something to rebel against?" That reframe unlocked everything.

Ask yourself: What is the real tension in this category? Who or what is the enemy — the thing your audience is already frustrated by, skeptical of, or quietly rebelling against? Write down at least three possible tensions or enemies. Pick the one that feels most charged.

Step 3: Apply the filter (15 minutes)

Now generate three new campaign concepts built around that tension. After each one, ask yourself the single question: Is it interesting?

Not "Is it safe?" Not "Will the client approve it?" Not "Has this been done before?" Just — is it genuinely interesting? Would someone tell a friend about it?

If the honest answer is no, cross it out and go again.

Step 4: Design for conversation (10 minutes)

Take your strongest concept and ask: How does this get talked about? What's the moment someone pulls out their phone and shares it? What's the thing people argue about, laugh at, or can't stop thinking about? Refine your concept with that question as your guide.

Step 5: Sketch it (10 minutes)

Rough out a visual for your concept: a thumbnail sketch, a found image, or any image tool you like. Capture the idea, the tone, and the tension you're working with. Then use it to pressure-test your thinking — does the visual match the energy of the idea? Does seeing it make it stronger or reveal a weakness?

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By the end of this exercise, you should have:

• A clear record of the obvious ideas you rejected (and why)
• An identified enemy or tension that gives your concept real energy
• One campaign concept that genuinely passes the "Is it interesting?" test
• A sense of how the idea could spread — what makes it conversation-worthy
• A visual reference that helps you communicate the concept to others

This isn't about arriving at a finished campaign. It's about training the muscle Chuck Porter spent a career building — the discipline to keep asking "Is it interesting?" until the answer is actually yes.

The filter is simple. Using it honestly is the hard part. That's the whole lesson.