Group Brainstorming Sessions Don’t Work

Big ideas flow like lava from a volcano when you inject an element of competition into the thinking process.

Here’s the procedure to follow:

1. Abandon group brainstorming sessions – they don’t work.
2. Split your people into teams of two and tell them you want one big idea from each pair. It’s quality, not quantity that counts.
3. Send them away for a coffee, a walk in the street, a ride on the bus or a drink in the pub. With no hiding place for anyone, everyone will aspire towards genius.
4. Bring your people together the next day and invite each team to present their single best idea. You’ll be amazed at what they come up with.

Be Optimistic About Your Future

Can you turn a pessimist into an optimist?

As a confirmed optimist, I’m convinced you can.

But why would you want to?

Because of something I call the optimistic dividend. It results in smarter decisions, improved creativity, higher energy levels, increased productivity and less stress because a positive brain functions much better than a negative brain.

Here’s how you turn a pessimist into an optimist. Over the period of a month, train your brain to think differently by:

• Sending a thank you email to someone as soon as you get to your desk every morning.
• Praising a member of your team every day.
• Exercising every day…a walk, a run or a workout.

If you are a glass half empty person, you will become a glass half full person within a month. I guarantee it!

Tell The Truth

Truth is the foundation on which great brands are built.

Truth is the most powerful strategy in marketing and honest brands are proud to convey what they believe in.

The secret, of course, is to find an engaging way of telling the truth.

Humour, irreverence, nostalgia, passion, excitement, emotion…they are all legitimate ways of expressing the truth.

The temptation in marketing is to over-promise. Resist that impulse.

Brands that over-promise, always under-deliver – it’s the inevitable outcome. 

Disappointment kills brands. The smart strategy is to under-promise but over-deliver.

If a brand promise sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Keep Asking Why

Why is a three letter word which I love.

Asking why is what sparked and ignited the world’s greatest inventions and medical breakthroughs.

“Why can’t we have a light source to replace candles?”

“Why can’t we save a life by transplanting a heart?”

Why is a disruptive word – the confirmation of an enquiring mind.

It’s a word which should trip off our lips each and every day.

If we continually ask why, the light bulb inside our heads will start to glow and creative ideas will start to flow!

Try Is A Swear Word

Try is a three letter word which I hate.

We slip it into conversations when we feel deep down that we won’t make good on our promises.

“I’ll try to be there.” “I’ll try to get it to you.” “I’ll try to do that.”

My heart sinks when I hear the word because the person will almost certainly not be there or deliver on their pledges.

Try is an apologetic word used by unconfident people or those who have no intention of producing the goods.

It’s a word I would ban from the workplace and insist it’s replaced by will.

Will is a positive word which imbues a determination to succeed into our subconscious.

The odds are that people who use it, will be there, will get it to you and will deliver on their promises!

Dare To Be Different

Creative agencies sometimes run into a brick wall when unveiling startling ideas.

Because they stray from the norm, new concepts can be a little unsettling.

The temptation is to run with what’s familiar and kick new thinking into touch.

Don’t!

Take a few days to get used to the new concept.

If it continues to make you uncomfortable, blow it out the water.

If it becomes less unsettling – swim with it.

New ideas are meant to be different – that’s where their power lies.

Nothing In Advertising Is Original

Do big advertising ideas have to be original?

It would be fantastic if they were but, I’m afraid, most are not.

The older I get, the more I believe nothing is totally unique.

Big ideas tend to be new slants on what has gone before.

That does not stop them being great.

For me, big ideas should be crisp like buttered toast and fresh like bread straight from the oven!

Big Ideas Can't Be Created In A Vacuum

Big ideas can’t be created in a vacuum.

We need to stimulate our minds, learn as much as we can and engage with all those who cross our path.

It’s why I prefer trains to taxis, busy shopping centres to deserted stores and crowded restaurants to empty ones.

It irks me when marketing people wear headphones on their way to work.  They are putting themselves in a bubble and bubbles smother creativity.     

We need to be sponges, staying fresh, alive and alert to what’s happening around us.

We need to feed our creative brains. If nothing’s going in, let me tell you – nothing’s coming out!     

You’ll Score If Big Ideas Are Based On Knowledge And Insights

Big marketing ideas can take a brand from zero to hero.

Big ideas emerge from our subconscious after we have crammed our heads with product, sector and consumer information.

Big ideas, based on a hunch or intuition are likely to be way off-target.

Insight based on knowledge, is the fountain from which commercially-sound ideas flow!