Digidestruct

Apr30

brainstorming, creative process

How to lead an effective brainstorm

1. Pre-Brainstorm Prep

Those involved need to research brand and competitors prior to meeting
Provide an outline of current media usages
Determine what is working and what is not
Determine what they have not leveraged and if it makes sense
Determine client objectives

2. During Brainstorm

If an individual has not prepped, then do not allow them to participate. There should not be time allowed to “get them up to speed”. Time is valuable.
Perform group creative exercises like "the object game", "art mash-up" or simply "word association" to bring individuals out of their comfort zone, help de-clutter the mind and position everyone’s thought process on the brand and task at hand (no computers on, no distractions about other work, no phone calls, no heavy sales and numbers talk to pull you back into left brain thinking, this is a right brain activity!)
Do not have a final time to end brainstorm, but rather a range.
Do not be disappointed if brainstorm results are limited. Thought will continue after the session. Just make sure everyone involve continues to write down their thoughts throughout the day.
Only bring in a few key people for the brainstorm. Too many becomes a distraction and those not into it will add to wasted energy and time.
Do not rely on technology to give you an idea, rather match a concept to the technology. You do not need to leverage every new gimmick to show value or be successful.
No idea is a bad idea at this point. Bad ideas could open discussions to potentially revolutionary ideas. Limit criticisms and take notes. Quiet breaks in a room are not necessarily bad, it means people could be piecing thoughts together.

3. Post Brainstorm

What additional thoughts came to you later?
Send an aggregated list of ideas and/or post them for group review
Wrap ideas into a sellable campaign!
and repeat…

So next time I will start dissecting further and venture into other forms of idea creation.

Apr29

The Art of Brainstorming 1

You have 30 seconds.
Think of the next award winning idea.
GO!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and so on…

What did that amazing mind come up with? I hope it sells! This is always extremely challenging even for the most experienced, savvy and creative talent in the industry. I thought I would start off my journey into blog land by offering some flushed out “structure” to this often rushed and overlooked necessity of the creative process.