Creativity Case: Brainstorming media attention for a product launch

Situation:

The creative agency that had been handling a food product company for many years had run out of ideas. Over the years, they had come up with many innovative advertising campaigns and PR programmes, but the well had run dry. Meanwhile the agency was experiencing a financial and motivational crisis.

Intervention:

Focusing on creativity, the heart of the agency, we designed a team event to revamp their approach to idea development. The explicit goal was to brainstorm ideas for their long standing but stale food client. The implicit goal was to re-motivate the team while establishing a better methodology for generating, improving, selling and implementing great ideas. The first step was an assessment of their current approach and how key people in the organisation used and thought about the approach. Optional methodologies were explored and a new approach was designed with their internal task force. We then organized a company-wide event that used the food client work as a case to explore the process and creative techniques. The atmosphere was specifically positive, inspirational and progressive.

Results:

Fresh ideas for the food client were found - ideas previously never considered, ideas that were quickly accepted by the client and led to exceptional press coverage. This success fuelled the underlying goal of establishing a repeatable process that continually reaps, nurtures and rolls out fresh ideas. For many participants in the one day workshop, they did not realize the thought or work that was put into this intervention, but many cite it as the turning point in their team - the moment when they were reinvigorated, got focused and rediscovered the creative energy that brought them and their success to the agency.