Brainstorming

A Brainstorming Session

Brainstorming is a technique used by marketers during product naming to find new names for products, or during product development to find new products and to generate ideas.

There are three roles for participants in a brainstorming team: leader, scribe and team members.

Before the session, the leader needs to define a problem statement – for example, “how to sell more of our biscuits”. The problem statement needs to focus on the aim of the session, but it must be open enough to allow innovative thinking.

The leader must also be aware of the following:

* All ideas are welcome. During brainstorming sessions, no judgments or criticism should be made of ideas. Do not criticize ideas. Do not evaluate ideas. They can be modified later.

* Change involves risk-taking, so it’s important to be open to original ideas. The quantity of ideas (how many there are) is more important than the quality (how good they are).

* There is no ownership of ideas – the ideas belong to the group. Participants should “hitchhike” on, or build on, other people’s creative ideas.

The scribe needs to write down, or note down, every idea – clearly, where all the team members can see them.

B Brainstorming Techniques

You may need to get the creative juices flowing (get people thinking more creatively), and encourage people to think out of the box – look at a problem from a new or different angle.

One common technique is to use a random word as a starting point for possible solutions. There are many random word generators on the Internet.

Michael Michalko is a creative thinking expert. He uses a technique called combinatory play. Random words are listed and then put together. You play with the combinations until you find a promising new combination. For example, suntan lotion and insect repellent combine to form a new product – one lotion that protects against both the sun and insects.

One final technique is to ask novel questions(new or different questions) that will stimulate creative answers, for example:”Which noises do you associate with pencils?” or “What other uses do people have for pencils?”

C Suggesting and Building on Ideas

During a brainstorming session for the name of new toothpaste, the brainstorming team says the following things:

• This is probably crazy, but what about using an animal name for the paste?
• Interesting suggestion. Let’s go back to Sally’s idea about using the word “cool”.
• “Cool White” is a good name. It makes me think of white teeth.
• It’s a bit obvious, isn’t it? Just a suggestion – couldn’t we try a different color? Blue perhaps?
• I’ve got it. I have the perfect solution. If we combine your idea with Sally’s, we’ll have “Cool Blue”.

Comprehension questions:

1. What is brainstorming?

2. What must leader know for brainstorming?

3. What brainstorming techniques do you know?