Creative Thinking and Brainstorming Strategies

Have you ever wondered how those advertising masters of the creative universe come up with those brilliantly clever ideas? I mean come on, who was it that said, "I know what we should do ... let's dress a kid up as Darth Vader to help advertise this car." It may have seemed farfetched at the time but with creative courage - it was a home run.

A solid creative process is a great way to generate new ideas for just about any problem that requires a solution. Brainstorming is an oldie but goody, and if done correctly, these sessions can help your company think outside the box.

Here are a few tips we like to use:

 KNOW IT ALL  

The only way you can solve a problem is if you know what it is first. Make sure you have a clear objective, and that everyone is properly briefed prior to the brainstorming session.

  

BUT WHY?  

A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. An inquisitive mind is the breeding ground for creativity. Unless you ask lots of "Why?" and "What If..." questions, you won't generate creative insights or push an idea to its full potential. 

TEAM TITANS  

It is very important to understand that creativity comes from everywhere. So don't be afraid to invite your pop-culture expert of an office manager, the tech-geek producer or even the analytical, libertarian account manager to the table. Everyone views the world differently, and their experience may trigger a landslide of creative ideas. Build on each others ideas, redirect ideas, and go with the best idea no matter who it comes from. Ahem, bosses and directors, I'm talking to you. I've learned that when your personal ideas are disturbed or disrupted it helps you to see things fresh.

Even as a creative director, I would be a fool to think that I have all the brightest ideas. And if the team is afraid to be open or even think that they have to agree with all my ideas, then I am a team of ONE. Our team helps push my thinking because we are all different and that's what makes us strong. Whose voice are you over-looking?

  

NEGATIVE NAYSAYERS WILL BE STONED 

Encourage the unconventional. Discourage negativity. Cultivate an environment where team members are fearless in their thinking. Limit the "No, that won't work.", "That's a bad idea" or "What are you an idiot!" - I'm pretty sure this type of environment will not generate many idea possibilities.

FUNNY BONE

Finally, learn to laugh. It's OK to be silly. Studies show that laughter dissolves stress, helps you relax, think and recharge. It releases inhibitions and allows you to be more expressive and productive. Most importantly it shifts perspective, allowing you to see situations differently. So, lighten up! There is nothing more uninspiring then a stuffy brainstorming session.

These are just a few tips on how you can spark your creative juices. Try something new; you never know where it will take you. As for our team... well, we're still trying to figure out how to work flying ninjas and vegetarian zombies into an advertising campaign. Hey, it could happen.

CECELIA SHABAZZ

Creative Director 

The Friday Focus - Four Facts For the Future -

I love looking to the future!  I love technology that just works like you expect it to and I'm amazed when I really start to think about the technology we do have.  We have a space station! I can video chat with anyone in the world in real time, my phone sends a message without wires, in fact most of my devices at home communicate wirelessly. But I always keep thinking, what's next...

Looking back in the 1950s and seeing how that era envisioned the 21st Century, I can certainly tell I'm not alone in that passion.  Notice there's still an ash tray on the table....



















Here are four great moments to reflect on where we've been and where we're going in the evolution of technology.

1.  Current Tech That's Leaving Us
A myriad of current tech will be non-existent in the next 6 years - which of these will you miss the most?

2.  Computers Will Be Very Cheap

How cheap? Thanks to open source software and brilliant design, you can now purchase a basic computer for $35 with a Linux operating system. 

3.  Flexible Video Displays

Imagine walking down the grocery store aisle to something that resembles the Vegas strip! Each product pitching to you in multi-media.  For Harry Potter fans imagine newspapers with .gifs and short segments embedded into a physical paper (for those folks yet to give up on print papers).  Flexible E-ink is already in development and LG hopes it will be in products by this year.

4.  Big Box Retailers Will Continue to Struggle

Electronic shopping will make a drastic shift to online purchasing with only a few niche stores remaining.  And so it begins....Ax falls on 50 stores, hundreds of jobs in a reboot of Best Buy

What are somethings you can't wait to see in the future?

I'm holding out for my own robot car that drives itself - which should be here by the end of the decade.

Friday Focus - The Luck of the Irish

With St. Patrick's day coming up this weekend, I wanted to take a look at how people are talking about St. Patty's day on social media... and take a trip down memory lane Crichton Leprechaun.

The folks at Lab42 created an infograph from their research into what people were saying about the holiday through social media.

**UPDATE - our favorite auto-tuners have autotuned the Mobile Leprechaun video - find the original at the bottom of the page  

First UP

What do people call it? Notice I referred to it by both names a little earlier

St. Patrick's Day it is!

Now, how do you participate?

94% of us will at least be wearing green - and at least nobody polled hates the holiday.  

No SAD for St. Patrick's Day!  Though that may be attributed to the drinking... 

What are some of the things you associate with St. Patrick's Day?

The color green, shamrocks, an amateur sketch of an actual leprechaun. 

Wait, what? - more on that later.

OK as promised here's the video that started it all - the famous Alabama Leprechaun.

Local legend began to spread about a Leprechaun living in a tree so a local news team investigated.  Over 20 million views later, the legend only grows.

Enjoy the weekend, be safe, watch out for Leprechauns and be sure to wear your green!

Thomas Broadus
Director of Interactive | The Focus Group
join me on twitter @tbroonline

The Friday Focus - Very Pinteresting... Pinterest in 5 steps

5 Steps to 

OK - we have the name out of the way, but what does it actually mean? Do we really have room for another social sharing platform in our management profile? The answer for Pinterest is yes.  For now anyway.

Here's the rundown.

Step 1. Get an Invitation to join.  It's a private site, well private in the terms that if you want to be involved with Pinterest you need an invite.  (Pssst we just happen to have a few, email me at tbroadus at focusgroupms.com and I'll be happy to make some arrangements, since we're friends)

Step 2. Know the terms.  You can't just starting pinning like a pro if you don't exactly know what that means now can you?

1. Pinterest - "Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place where you can create collections of things you love and “follow” collections created by people with great taste." - The official definition.
2. Pinning - the act of posting something you fancy to your personal area of Pinterest.
3. Board - the topical area on your personal page where you categorize your pinnings to share with the world.

To get the most out of Pinterest you should start pinning to your boards as soon as you find things you feel are share-worthy to your soon to be PinHeads. Ok, I made the PinHeads one up, but I think it'll catch on.

Step 3. Find some solid topics, brands, friends and brands to follow.  Too often private networks end up being an online wasteland of high level techies (such as myself) looking for new people to interact with, but unable to find an audience.  Pinterest is an exception to the rule and is a thriving network with new content added every hour, and depending on the size of the networks you are following, it could be as much as every minute.  This will make your experience much more enjoyable.

Step 4. Dispel the "No Man's Land" myth - there are tons of guys on Pinterest.  Don't just take my word for it, here's a good article on the subject. The rate of growth alone shows an adoption rate across the board from men and women and from differing demographics and age ranges.

Step 5. Check out The Focus Group Pinterest page, we're big fans of the community and use it as a place to share some cool design work, ideas and a few of our favorite places, foods and activities from the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  http://pinterest.com/thefocusgroup/

And we promise to be good stewards...

Thomas Broadus

Director of Interactive | New Media

The Focus Group

228-832-3667
Email Thomas

The Friday Focus - Facebook Timeline

A few of you may have noticed the announcement from Facebook about the changes in how brand pages will work.  I thought I would take a few minutes and talk through Facebook Timeline and what this transition means for page admins.

First the basics - 

1. Timeline is what Facebook is calling their new format for the user and brand profile pages.

2. Every brand page will be switched to this profile by March 30th (so there's no avoiding the transition).

3. It opens new opportunities to share about your brand and adds an entire new level in creativity to connect to your audience.

Here is Facebook's explanation on the new layout in case you haven't seen it.

The process isn't bug free however, I've experienced a few glitches as has at least one other member of The Focus Group office, so at this point Facebook needs to get the kinks all worked out by the 30th.

What we're excited about is the most eye catching feature of the Timeline, the large cover photo.  You still have your profile pic that everyone is accustomed to, but in addition you have a much larger space to show off your brand and creativity.  

Here's Coca-cola's page

There are a few changes you need to be aware of...

- Facebook tabs are being deemphasized and you will no longer be able to create a default view for your visitors sending them to these specialized tabs.  This may be one of the larger hurdles for Facebook brand managers. 

- Current applications utilized will have to be re-engineered to fit the new page layouts.  

We'll keep you updated as we learn more about Facebook Timeline! 

The Friday Focus - QR Codes Explained

People often ask me what exactly a QR code is and how do they use it,  the answer is pretty simple.  Think of a QR code as an information barcode.  We know barcodes, we understand how they work and it is the same process with QR codes.

A Focus Group QR Code

To discover the message in a QR code the first step is to have a QR code reader installed on your smart phone.  QR code readers work in different ways so be sure to understand how yours works.  Some require you take a picture, others require you to activate the app and point your phone's camera to the QR code.

The information scanning a QR can return is completely up to those that created the code.  It can lead to contact information, like on a business card, it can lead to a website, or straight to a phone number.

The other question I get is how many people actually use the code.  People that are tech savvy are certainly using QR codes, and we're just beginning to exit the early adopter phase in the QR code product life cycle.

The website www.queaar.com did some research into the habits of QR code users and here's what they learned.  The most common user is a Mom of a family, typically looking for additional coupons or product information.


When trying to determine if QR codes will be around for the future, we can also begin to look at how the tool is fitting into corporate advertising and marketing campaigns.  The research reveals that 22% of the Fortune 50 companies were using the technology in their current campaigns.  We're also seeing more and more small to mid-sized companies integrate the codes.

Credit archrival.com

The news isn't all positive though as more research is also showing that just over 20% of college students are having a positive experience with QR codes with the most common barrier to entry being an unsuccessful scan attempt.  As the technology continues to move forward and people begin to understand how to scan the codes and the type of information you return to customers using the codes, you can expect the technology to be around for quite some time.











Have any questions about QR codes? You can contact Thomas Broadus at tbroadus@focusgroupms.com or by scanning this QR code.

Thomas Broadus | Director of Interactive and New Media with The Focus Group

The Friday Focus - The Politics of Social Media

In 2008 social media was becoming wildly popular. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter were all the buzz and people were coming to grips with the reach and the power contained within these new methods of communication.  Many analysts believe that Barack Obama's savvy use of social media played a major factor in his victory in the 2008 Presidential Campaign.  This win should have cemented the political importance of adapting to and utilizing these networks to interact and embrace Gen X, Gen Y, and the Millennials.

Now it's 2012, Mississippi just emerged from an historic election cycle and I'm a bit perplexed at how some politicians made an effort to reach these digital generations, while still seeming completely out of touch with how to actually use social media in a meaningful way.  I witnessed many Facebook posts and Twitter updates for candidates running in my district and for state-wide office, but often the messages were crafted in an ineffective format.  A post on Twitter read - "Visit our Facebook page to like" Candidate X, and once I visited Candidate X's Facebook page, the first post was "Follow us on Twitter" -baffling.  Instead of understanding how to communicate on these networks, often times politicians (or the folks running their social media outlets) were trying to drive likes and follows as a method to somehow out gain the other candidate.  While the breadth of network reach is important, it's not as important as getting your message, your points, your beliefs, and your agenda to the public.

For the first time the Internet has surpassed the traditional local paper as top source for political news.

Have you ever seen a candidate run an ad in a paper asking his constituents to watch his TV ad? Or have you ever watched a TV ad that directs a viewer to listen to the candidates radio spot?  Generally, no, these things don't happen because people understand how to use TV, radio, and print media.  Each outlet is unique and has different benefits.

It's the same for social media.  Investigate the network, understand the purpose, and implement interaction.

How long until the Internet surpasses network news and continues its rise to the definitive source for campaign news?  I imagine sooner than you think.

Twitter's CEO Dick Costolo

“I really think 2012 is going to be the Twitter Election,” Dick Costolo said on stage at AllThingsD‘s media conference in Laguna Nigel, Calif.

Costolo's sentiment is shared throughout other social communities. A new generation of political candidate is looming and they are very tech savvy. If you don't have the right team in place to help you manage the social waters, even if you have the better platform, there won't be anyone listening, tweeting, following, or liking.


Thomas Broadus is the Director of Interactive and New Media for The Focus Group
You can contact Thomas - tbroadus@focusgroupms.com | 228-832-3667