As creatives, we have the privilege of leading what everyone else across the marketing organization calls “the fun stuff.” The big campaign concepts, the clever copy, the scroll-stopping visuals.
Yet, as many creatives know, sometimes that privilege can feel like a burden. And unless you’re a creative vending machine, it’s rarely a solo endeavor.
Enter the brainstorm.
In theory, brainstorms are a way to pool our creative minds and unlock our most innovative ideas. But sometimes, brainstorms are frustrating and unproductive. Often, that’s because participants aren’t on the same page about the purpose of a brainstorm.
A brainstorm is an opportunity to get out of your own head, shed individual biases and encourage divergent, collaborative ideation. A good brainstorm session allows you to explore a high volume of divergent ideas and develop a set of interesting and outcome-driven winners.
However, brainstorms aren’t about starting from scratch, and they’re not the only time you should carve out for idea generation. If you enter a brainstorm session empty-handed, it’s unreasonable to assume inspiration will strike as your colleagues patiently stare at you.
In practice, creativity is more complex than that, and the best ideas emerge through a more thoughtful and involved process.
With that in mind, here’s how to make the most of the creative process — before, during and after your brainstorming sessions.
Before the brainstorm
First, align on a creative brief — and learn it inside and out. It’s your lifeline throughout the process. Good briefs outline goals, key messages, target audiences and specific creative nuances, like desired tones. All participants should have access to the brief long before the brainstorm.
Next, everyone who is invited to participate in the brainstorm should spend time on their own developing at least one or two discussion-worthy ideas. These ideas don’t have to be fully formed, but they should start a conversation.
Individual preparation ensures you bring your own unique sensibility to the table and empowers you to make the most of limited meeting time. (It also minimizes awkward silences and stares during the brainstorm session.)
Stuck on ideation?
- Start with the obvious. Which trends have you seen other brands latch onto? Are there obvious word or image associations? It might not be where you land, but it’s good to get it out there while more nuanced ideas cook in the back of your brain.
- Seek inspiration everywhere. Look at other work in your industry and beyond. You don’t need to stick to B2B here, or even limit yourself to advertising — I’ve had many of my best ideas while watching my favorite shows or scrolling TikTok. Draw from what you love. One of our team’s favorite campaigns connected the unlikely pairing of cloud spend management and old-school noir detective films.
- Do a competitive analysis. What’s your audience already hearing from others in the industry? How can you offer something new — or how can you say it more creatively? On a practical level, understanding your competition also ensures you don’t pitch ideas that already exist in the market — but it also helps you generate brand new ones.
At this stage of the process, the ideas don’t have to be perfect. The important thing is to show up to the brainstorm with something.
During the brainstorm
Now it’s time to throw spaghetti at the wall. For any meeting, it’s important to create a space in which everyone feels comfortable to contribute. This is especially true for brainstorms — sharing your ideas is a vulnerable experience.
Leaders should encourage risks, random thoughts and stupid ideas (which often lead to smart ones). You never know what will spark a brilliant idea from you or someone else.
As certain ideas rise to the top, consider how they connect to the goals and key messages you started with. Did you want this idea to scale to an entire campaign or just deliver one memorable set of ads? A good brief will help determine whether you need to play the long game.
Once the team begins to favor a few concepts, call it a day. Again, there’s no right or wrong idea here. When you know what’s working, the team can disperse, take a breather and start to refine.
After the brainstorm
After ideas are shared, someone has to translate them into a concrete product. Be sure to communicate who owns the next steps in the process and who will enforce them.
Typically, creative directors take this role and define when the “thinking” part is over. You could ideate forever, but not if you want to achieve your goals. After your ideas have marinated for a few days and some are deemed worth exploring, the work begins.
When you follow our formula for a successful brainstorm — a clear creative brief, a focus on outcomes, and space for experimentation — your next big idea is just around the corner.
Want support to get the ball rolling? Reach out to our team for creative backup.
