How To Do Creative Brainstorming

With so many impressive brands out there today, some might think that creativity comes naturally to those in the creative industry. The unique and polished final “image” that makes a successful brand so recognisable isn’t just pulled out of thin air-it takes a lot of hard work to produce that kind of creativity.

A successful brand is not only instantly recognisable visually, but it also tells a story and connects with the audience on a personal level. A good brand evokes emotion in consumers. So how do we manage to apply such copious amounts of creativity to our work, day after day? There are tips and tricks to fostering a creative work environment, and the best creative ideas begin with effective brainstorming. The following tips demonstrate how to brainstorm in a creative manner – this results in unique ideas that create awesome brands:

Identify Goals

When creating a new brand image, it is of the utmost importance to identify exactly what you want to accomplish. Are you trying to appeal to a younger audience, or an audience in their golden years? Are you planning to change the face of the soft drink industry, or do you want to put a new spin on an age-old family past time? Understanding your target audience and what you hope to accomplish with your new brand can help answer these questions. It is also extremely helpful to know what makes other brands successful-according to Forbes magazine, the most successful brands have the following five characteristics:

• They know and target the appropriate audience
• They are unique
• They have passion and enthusiasm which is often infectious
• They offer consistent quality
• They are fiercely competitive

Once you understand your target audience and your group knows the characteristics of a successful brand, you can begin to discuss your goal and make sure the entire team is on the same page. Goals should be very specific-setting ambiguous goals will lead to different interpretations by team members and no one will be working cohesively. Also, goals must be realistic and attainable in a specific time frame.

Brainstorm Visually

Simple discussion won’t cut it when trying to create unique branding. Creative projects should be tackled with plenty of visuals, sticky notes, walls, and markers in hand-every interpretation of every idea should be sketched out and arranged visually so each member of the group can truly see it. Seeing another person’s interpretation of your own idea leads to innovative thinking.

Avoid Harsh Judging

Innovation and creativity go hand in hand. In order to embrace innovative thinking, your group must be open-minded and willing to see ideas from a variety of different perspectives. The beginning of a creative brainstorming session should focus more on quantity and worry about quality later on. The more ideas you have at your disposal, the more likely you are to find a rare gem that will result in the unique view your brand needs.

Embrace the Crazy

When it comes to creative thinking, crazy is good. No idea is too far outside the box, and something that seems over-the-top might end up being exactly what makes your brand stand out. Sometimes the best ideas come from fairly wild beginnings. Allow your group to consider impossible ideas-further examination of these ideas will lead to elimination of the “impossible” aspects, resulting in the idea morphing into something that never would have been discovered otherwise.

Avoid Group Think Like the Plague

The fastest way to put out a creative spark is with group think. A good creative team works together efficiently, allowing for open discussion and acceptance of a variety of different ideas. This doesn’t mean they agree on every idea. If a group begins to think there is only one “socially acceptable” way to approach a project, creativity will drastically decrease. Team members should encourage creative thinking by listening to a variety of different perspectives and combining these perspectives into new and unique ideas.

Creative branding begins with creative brainstorming. A creative team must encourage new ideas and embrace different perspectives in order to develop innovative thinking. Innovative thinking combined with clear goals and a comprehensive understanding of the target audience will result in unique, successful branding.

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