Conduct a Creative Brainstorm
Ever wonder how great marketing ideas like the E*TRADE® talking babies, the “man-your-man-could-smell-like-man” from Old Spice® or my all time favorite, the talking stain from Tide® come to be? On the other hand, ever wonder how a group of people could leave a room thinking creepy, talking rodents could stimulate hunger for Quizno’s® or repeatedly saying a brand name in a headache provoking manner could ironically make people want to use HeadOn® to relieve their headache? Good or bad marketing ideas can come from some unlikable places but most stem from a creative brainstorm.
Recently, before starting our own marketing promotion, “Which One Matches Your Marketing Style?” our creative team got together to see what eight inspiring minds could come up with. Our creative brainstorming started by using a technique I enjoyed in college where each person picks a random object out of a paper bag. When I say random, I mean it. You can use anything. Some of our objects included a grass skirt, 3D glasses and a laughing Elmo doll.
After everyone has an item, we went around the room concentrating on one object at a time and shouted out any word that came to mind. After all the words are written down, we went back as a team and narrowed in on what could work for a marketing promotion. After about three concepts were chosen we worked on developing one that could work best for us and our audience.
Reaching everywhere from chemistry experiments to dogs in business suits (it WAS 3 o’clock on a Friday) we narrowed it down to objectifying marketers in fun, playful ways like a Converse® shoe, Viewfinder or S’more by taking a quiz. So far, feedback has been fantastic and our website traffic is up 189% for the five weeks since the site launched, over the five weeks prior.
Throughout or brainstorming session here’s five tips we used and you should keep in mind too:
1. Know what it is you want to accomplish. Make sure there’s an objective and that everyone involved knows what is.
2. Write down all (nothing is good or bad, at this point anyway) ideas somewhere everyone can easily see.
3. Don’t criticize or judge. Any idea can spiral into a fantastic one. Maybe even creepy, talking rodents, if it’s done the right way.
4. Don’t have discussions until AFTER the brainstorming is finished. It’s easy to get side-tracked that way. Build upon one another’s suggestions but keep the ideas free flowing without narrowing in on any one in particular.
5. Set a time limit and when it’s finished assign next steps.
Best of luck!
