What exactly do you want from this brainstorm?

- ideas?
- insights?
- strategy?

Look at these 3 very different briefs [HANDOUT], and get a sense for the range of objectives you can have for a brainstorm....

What you want to get OUT of the brainstorm will affect WHO you invite and HOW you run it....

Writing down your brief has several benefits:

1)
You can rest assured that you have a structure for the session, which makes the host (maybe you) feel more confident that it won't run out of steam - nothing worse than tumbleweed, and people lose interest quickly...

2) You can circulate the written brief to your brainstorm participants ahead of the session which:

a) helps them prepare - particularly good for people who aren't as good at coming up with stuff on the hoof and prefer being able to prepare and organise their thoughts

b) gives the participants confidence that it will be a structured session, and not just a rambling, random meeting which is ultimately a waste of their time. Instilling this confidence makes step 3 easier....

Think about who you want to come, based on what you're hoping to get out of the brainstorm

If you need insights rather than ideas, think about people who think strategically rather than jumping straight into tactics

If it's audience insights you're after (e.g. an insight that you can build a campaign around to do with Millenials, or maybe parents) then make sure you have that audience in the room!

If it's an ideas session, but you need as many different ideas as you can get, avoid inviting someone who has one idea, gets carried away with it, and has a tendency to then dominate the rest of the allotted time talking about that one idea...

If you already have the nub of an idea, but need to build it out (give it more 'legs), invite people who are good at sparking off others and adding new elements - like Rebecca....

And obviously, if it's a brief that requires particular skills and experience, strive to get those people in that brainstorm. Even if it means moving the time around a bit to suit them, OR catching up with them separately one on one if they don't feel they can spare a full 30/45 mins in your brainstorm

The most important role in a brainstorm is the host

They are there to:

a) Keep things ticking along - so people don't lose interest, you keep to time, and you maintain the energy in the room
b) Make sure everyone sticks to the brief, so that you all leave the session having achieved the original purpose
c) Get everyone involved, so you don't miss out on the talent that's sitting in the room (particularly the more quiet and shy ones!)

DOs and DON'Ts for the host:

DO encourage all ideas! The more the merrier

DON'T comment negatively on any of them. Your experience might tell you it won't work, but if you said that out loud in a brainstorm, you will put people off speaking up, and that way you could lose out on some gems

DO listen out for those gems - someone could make a comment and whilst it's not the idea, it could be the germ of an idea.
Write it down, and dig a little deeper.
E.g. "There's something in that. Let's take a moment to all think a bit more about that bit - could we extend it? How could it play out? Maybe it's not quite right as a traditional media story, but is it a good activity for social?"

DON'T let individuals dominate or go off on a tangent - sometimes someone might love an idea they've had and get really into it.
But if it's off brief, you're wasting time.
Try to bring them back round to your written brief and the objectives set out in it, but in a non-critical way.

E.g. "That would be GREAT if we could do that. Unfortunately for THIS particular brief, we do need to stick to something that will do X. So let's get back to thinking about that for now...."

DO give people 'signposts' that help them follow your line of thinking.
E.g.
OK - so we've established what the campaign needs to do, we've established who the main audience is, and we've got some lovely insights into what motivates them. Now we can get into tactics - WHAT should we communicate and what is the best way to do it, considering what we know about the audience and the brief?

NOW, it doesn't have to be you! You might be the account lead for the thing you're brainstorming, but sometimes it's better to approach someone else and ask them to facilitate. The benefit of that is they can be objective - they don't bring into the brainstorm any prior 'baggage' about the client or what has gone well or not so well in previous campaigns on that account.

Think about the headspace people are in when they come into your brainstorm

They've probably been dealing with a client issue, or have had their head deep in a deck, and they're often worrying about a deadline they have that day. Or they could just be obsessing about what to have for lunch.

Either way, you need to get OUT of left brain thinking (logic, reason etc) and IN to right brain thinking (creativity)

So here are some warm up exercises that will do that.
[HANDOUT]

SEE SEPARATE DECK, INCLUDING:
- Word association
- What would Gaga do?
- Bug list
- Complete this sentence...

Check in with people:

• Have they read the brief?
• Do a quick re-cap anyway
• Have they all understood the same thing from it?
• Consider an exercise in which you ask everyone to sum up the brief (i.e. what the campaign needs to DO) in ONE word – it’s incredible how people can be thinking completely different things…

Consider how much information you want to give people at this stage

DON'T overload them with irrelevant info about some client issues you've had, which could take them back into left brain thinking

Also, try not to give them baggage that impedes their creative thinking and limits what you'll get from people - e.g. our client hates X,Y and Z

AGAIN - this is why sometimes having an 'independent' host or facilitator for the brainstorm can be a very good thing.

If you've had a client for a while, and feel like you've hosted the same brainstorm a dozen times, definitely consider getting someone who has had nothing to do with that client to host for you.

Some people are tactical thinkers

As soon as they hear the brief, they'll jump straight to ideas

Try to avoid that

Go through the various stages, as you've planned to in your brief

E.g. "That's a great idea. Let's park that until we're at the tactics part of the brainstorm. At the moment I need audience insights."

The reason to do that is that by walking people through that thinking, everyone is in the same place AND the ideas will be better aligned to exactly what you need

With pre-thinking done

Now you can let it roll

See the handout for exercises to keep things going

When you run out of steam on one theme, switch to another

[HANDOUT]

Watch out for the quiet ones

They might be thinking about something great, but be too shy to say it

Here are some tips for making sure everyone gives their thoughts...
- put people in pairs. Give them 5 minutes to discuss their response to the brief. Then have a whip around and get every pair's thoughts.
- ask each individual to fill a post it note with ideas
- give each pair a different tactic to think about - e.g. someone comes up with a stunt idea, someone a video etc. etc.

Becca - think this is where your written brainstorms would come in

I've also heard of agencies doing SILENT brainstorms.

Hopefully by now you've got some lovely thought starters

So it's time to review

Get everyone to pick a favourite

Spend some time playing with those ideas -

- what else could you do with it?
- how could it be improved?
- where have you seen a brand do something similar to that, and what was good/bad about it?
-how could it roll out across many different channels?

If people have taken time away from their desk to come to your brainstorm...

...particularly if it's a client they don't work on

...then really they've done you a favour

Make sure they leave feeling good about having done that by telling them what happens next

e.g. "Thanks for those ideas - think we've got some real potential in some of them. Now, the account team is going to go away and let them percolate and we'll regroup next week and build them out more"

OK there are REALLY only 8 principles you need to take away with you right now....