BRAINSTORMING
BRAINSTORMING EN
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Theory
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Case studies
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Task
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Download
Theoretical framework of the tool
Description of the tool:
Brainstorming is one of the best known and most widely used methods for generating new ideas. It is a creative technique designed to solve problems and find innovative solutions through spontaneous idea generation. This method encourages free thinking and collaboration, removing any restrictions on idea generation and opening up space for unexpected and original solutions. Brainstorming is used in many areas, including marketing communication, design, product development, but also in solving internal company problems or planning strategies.
Purpose of the tool:
- Generate as many ideas as possible in a short time.
- Encourage creative thinking among participants and help them find new solutions outside the box.
- Create an environment where everyone feels motivated to contribute their ideas without fear of judgment.
Step by step: instructions for using the tool
Prepare:
- A room with a whiteboard or flipchart for writing down ideas.
- Markers or sticky notes (Post-its) if participants prefer to write down their ideas individually.
- 3 to 8 team members who are willing to actively participate in brainstorming.
- 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the complexity of the topic and the size of the team.
Step 1: Define the problem or challengeClearly and concisely define the problem you want to solve or the goal you want to achieve. The problem should be formulated in a way that is understandable and specific enough for the participants.
Example:
“How can we increase awareness of our brand among young people aged 18-24?”
Step 2: Generating ideas
The moderator asks all participants to spontaneously suggest ideas related to the defined problem. Important:
- Write ideas on a board or flipchart so that everyone can see them.
- Do not criticize or evaluate the ideas proposed.
- Encourage participants to think freely and propose even seemingly unfeasible ideas.
The moderator can support the idea generation process with questions (the moderator does not generate ideas):
- “What new communication channels could we use?”
- “What partnerships could help us reach the younger generation?”
- “What could we do differently from our competitors?”
Step 3: Developing ideas
Once a sufficient number of ideas have been generated, participants can continue to develop them. The aim is to expand on the original ideas and link them to new solutions. The moderator can encourage participants with questions such as:
- “What could we improve about this idea?”
- “How could we make this idea even more original?”
Step 4: Discussion and selection of the best ideas
After the brainstorming session, the team discusses the proposed ideas and evaluates their feasibility and benefits. You can use a voting method where each participant selects, for example, the three ideas they consider best. The ideas that receive the most votes are then selected.
Step 5: Design
The selected ideas are developed into a specific design or plan. The team determines what steps are necessary for their implementation, who will be responsible for each task, and what the timeline will be.
Tools and materials
List of necessary tools:
- White flipchart or board for writing down ideas.
- Markers in different colors to visually distinguish ideas or categories.
- Sticky notes (Post-it notes) for recording individual ideas.
- A timer to keep track of the time for each phase of the brainstorming session.
- A computer or tablet for digitizing the output (e.g., into a document or presentation).
Tips and tricks
- Recommendations:
- Encourage free thinking: Encourage participants to come up with crazy ideas. Even the most unusual ideas can lead to innovative solutions.
- Avoid evaluation: Criticism during the idea generation phase can hinder creativity. Evaluating and selecting ideas should only take place after the brainstorming session is over.
- Ensure active participation of all team members: Make sure that every participant is involved in the discussion and that there is equal space for everyone to present their ideas.
- Task rotation: For regular brainstorming meetings, you can rotate the role of moderator among team members.
- Participants are not involved: this method can be supplemented with brainwriting, which allows for the generation of ideas.
Common mistakes:
- Premature evaluation of ideas: If the team starts evaluating ideas as they are being generated, this can reduce the number of solutions proposed and prevent original ideas from emerging.
- Uneven participation: If some team members dominate and others remain silent, you lose out on potentially valuable ideas.
- Too broad or unclear topic: If the problem is defined too vaguely, brainstorming may not produce concrete and relevant ideas.
Conclusion
Brainstorming is an effective tool for promoting creative thinking and problem solving. It allows teams to generate a large number of ideas in a short period of time and promotes collaboration between individual members. Properly conducted brainstorming can yield unconventional solutions and help create innovative marketing campaigns or products.
Case study
Brand: Bolt
Campaign description: Bolt scooters face the problem that their users often park them in inappropriate places – on sidewalks, in the middle of streets or other public spaces where they obstruct city residents. This problem leads to complaints from citizens and damages the brand’s image. Bolt wants to create a campaign that will motivate users to park their scooters in designated areas that are visible in the app.
How the brainwriting method can be used in this campaign:
Step 1: Define the problem or opportunity
The main challenge is to create a campaign that targets Bolt scooter users to encourage them to park their scooters in designated areas after use, rather than in the middle of the sidewalk or street.
Step 2: Generate ideas
A team of marketing specialists, creatives, and product managers met for a brainstorming session. The goal was to find creative ways to motivate users to park their scooters in the right places.
The brainstorming session moderator defined clear rules:
- No criticism of ideas during the brainstorming session.
- Everyone can suggest any solution, even if it seems unfeasible at first glance.
- The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible.
- Ideas suggested during the brainstorming session:
- Gamification – scoring system:
Users who park their scooters in designated areas receive points that they can collect and exchange for discounts on future rides or other rewards (e.g., free scooter unlocking).
- Push notifications in the app:
After completing a ride, the user receives a notification asking them to check that the scooter has been parked correctly and reminding them of the designated parking spots.
- Sharing positive examples on social media:
The app would display an option to take a photo of a correctly parked scooter and share it on social media with the campaign hashtag. Bolt would regularly select the best posts and reward users.
- Interactive map in the app:
When parking, users would receive immediate feedback in the app on whether the scooter is parked correctly or not.
- Personalized messages:
After each ride, users would receive personalized thank-you messages or parking reminders in the app.
- Local challenges:
Bolt could launch local challenges for cities where users would compete to see which city parks its scooters best. The winning city would receive special rewards or benefits.
- Humorous campaign:
Create a fun and catchy video with animated scooters complaining that they are parked incorrectly and want to “go home” to their designated spots.
- Stickers on scooters:
Each scooter could have distinctive stickers with pictograms and reminders of where it should be parked.
- Collaboration with influencers:
Influencers could shoot creative videos showing how to park scooters correctly in an entertaining way.
- QR code for parking:
After parking the scooter, the user would have to scan the QR code located at the designated parking spot to confirm that it has been parked correctly.
Step 3: Selecting the best ideas
After the idea generation phase was complete, the team discussed the proposed solutions and selected the two most promising ones based on a voting system (see theoretical section):
- Gamification – scoring system:
Motivating users through a scoring system where they earn points for each correct parking, which they can exchange for rewards.
- Discount for correct parking:
A competition between cities to raise awareness of correct parking and engage the community. The city with the best parking statistics would receive special benefits.
- Humorous social media campaign:
Creation of entertaining videos and animations that would remind users of the need for proper parking in a playful way.
- The best idea or ideas will be selected during the discussion and developed into a marketing campaign.
Task:
BrandSTRAVA
Product/service: STRAVA sports app
Campaign goal: Increase the number of STRAVA app subscribers by highlighting the app’s unique features (performance analysis, exclusive challenges, advanced statistics, safety features for running and cycling) and creating a communication strategy that effectively reaches active athletes around the world.
Working with a creative method – Brainstorming
In this task, you will use brainstorming to generate as many ideas as possible that could help increase the number of STRAVA app subscribers.
Phase 1: Generating ideas (15 minutes)
- Your task is to come up with creative ideas for a marketing campaign for the STRAVA app that could motivate new users to subscribe to the app, without any restrictions.
- Focus on different ways to reach active athletes:
- Online challenges: Create global challenges with rewards for achieving certain goals (e.g., running or cycling 100 km in a month).
- Collaborate with influencers: Partner with well-known athletes or fitness influencers who will promote the benefits of a subscription.
- Exclusive content: Offer premium training plans exclusively to subscribers.
- Gamification: Introduce a points system where subscribers earn points for activities and can exchange them for rewards (e.g., discounts on sports equipment).
- Safety features: Highlight safety features (live tracking for family and friends).
Write down all your ideas on a board or large piece of paper. The goal is to generate as many suggestions as possible, regardless of whether they seem realistic at first glance.
Nápady:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phase 2: Discussion and development of ideas (10 minutes)
- After generating ideas, select 3–5 of the most interesting proposals that you consider to be the most promising.
- Divide into teams and develop one idea.
- Discuss within your team how this idea could be implemented, what tools would be needed, and what results it could bring.
Best ideas: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evaluation criteria
Sometimes it is difficult to choose the best ideas. Here is one possible way to select criteria for evaluating ideas.
-
- Creativity and originality of ideas.
- Feasibility of the campaign.
- Relevance of the idea to the target group.
- Clarity and simplicity of the idea.
Outputs
- Brief presentation of the campaign (10 minutes)
Summarize the campaign objective, main creative ideas, implementation plan, and expected results.
Present your selected ideas to the class. Each team will have 3–5 minutes for their presentation.
- Written document (1–2 pages)
Your task is to prepare a short document containing:
a) Campaign objective and target group profile – active athletes around the world who want to track their performance and improve their results.
b) Creative idea – describe the creative idea you came up with – its main concept.
c) Campaign implementation plan – outline the basic steps needed to implement the campaign (e.g., creating content for social media, engaging influencers, preparing challenges and competitions).
d) Potential risks and solutions – what obstacles may arise during the implementation of the campaign and how you plan to address them (e.g., low user participation in challenges, negative reviews).
e) Expected results – what should the campaign achieve (e.g., % increase in subscribers, increased activity of existing users).
This task will help you practice your ability to generate creative ideas and systematically plan marketing campaigns. The brainstorming technique will show you that even simple and spontaneous ideas can lead to innovative solutions and help the STRAVA brand reach new users around the world.
Miesto pre vypracovanie:
-
Theory
-
Case studies
-
Task
-
Download
Theoretical framework of the tool
Description of the tool:
Brainstorming is one of the best known and most widely used methods for generating new ideas. It is a creative technique designed to solve problems and find innovative solutions through spontaneous idea generation. This method encourages free thinking and collaboration, removing any restrictions on idea generation and opening up space for unexpected and original solutions. Brainstorming is used in many areas, including marketing communication, design, product development, but also in solving internal company problems or planning strategies.
Purpose of the tool:
- Generate as many ideas as possible in a short time.
- Encourage creative thinking among participants and help them find new solutions outside the box.
- Create an environment where everyone feels motivated to contribute their ideas without fear of judgment.
Step by step: instructions for using the tool
Prepare:
- A room with a whiteboard or flipchart for writing down ideas.
- Markers or sticky notes (Post-its) if participants prefer to write down their ideas individually.
- 3 to 8 team members who are willing to actively participate in brainstorming.
- 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the complexity of the topic and the size of the team.
Step 1: Define the problem or challengeClearly and concisely define the problem you want to solve or the goal you want to achieve. The problem should be formulated in a way that is understandable and specific enough for the participants.
Example:
“How can we increase awareness of our brand among young people aged 18-24?”
Step 2: Generating ideas
The moderator asks all participants to spontaneously suggest ideas related to the defined problem. Important:
- Write ideas on a board or flipchart so that everyone can see them.
- Do not criticize or evaluate the ideas proposed.
- Encourage participants to think freely and propose even seemingly unfeasible ideas.
The moderator can support the idea generation process with questions (the moderator does not generate ideas):
- “What new communication channels could we use?”
- “What partnerships could help us reach the younger generation?”
- “What could we do differently from our competitors?”
Step 3: Developing ideas
Once a sufficient number of ideas have been generated, participants can continue to develop them. The aim is to expand on the original ideas and link them to new solutions. The moderator can encourage participants with questions such as:
- “What could we improve about this idea?”
- “How could we make this idea even more original?”
Step 4: Discussion and selection of the best ideas
After the brainstorming session, the team discusses the proposed ideas and evaluates their feasibility and benefits. You can use a voting method where each participant selects, for example, the three ideas they consider best. The ideas that receive the most votes are then selected.
Step 5: Design
The selected ideas are developed into a specific design or plan. The team determines what steps are necessary for their implementation, who will be responsible for each task, and what the timeline will be.
Tools and materials
List of necessary tools:
- White flipchart or board for writing down ideas.
- Markers in different colors to visually distinguish ideas or categories.
- Sticky notes (Post-it notes) for recording individual ideas.
- A timer to keep track of the time for each phase of the brainstorming session.
- A computer or tablet for digitizing the output (e.g., into a document or presentation).
Tips and tricks
- Recommendations:
- Encourage free thinking: Encourage participants to come up with crazy ideas. Even the most unusual ideas can lead to innovative solutions.
- Avoid evaluation: Criticism during the idea generation phase can hinder creativity. Evaluating and selecting ideas should only take place after the brainstorming session is over.
- Ensure active participation of all team members: Make sure that every participant is involved in the discussion and that there is equal space for everyone to present their ideas.
- Task rotation: For regular brainstorming meetings, you can rotate the role of moderator among team members.
- Participants are not involved: this method can be supplemented with brainwriting, which allows for the generation of ideas.
Common mistakes:
- Premature evaluation of ideas: If the team starts evaluating ideas as they are being generated, this can reduce the number of solutions proposed and prevent original ideas from emerging.
- Uneven participation: If some team members dominate and others remain silent, you lose out on potentially valuable ideas.
- Too broad or unclear topic: If the problem is defined too vaguely, brainstorming may not produce concrete and relevant ideas.
Conclusion
Brainstorming is an effective tool for promoting creative thinking and problem solving. It allows teams to generate a large number of ideas in a short period of time and promotes collaboration between individual members. Properly conducted brainstorming can yield unconventional solutions and help create innovative marketing campaigns or products.
Case study
Brand: Bolt
Campaign description: Bolt scooters face the problem that their users often park them in inappropriate places – on sidewalks, in the middle of streets or other public spaces where they obstruct city residents. This problem leads to complaints from citizens and damages the brand’s image. Bolt wants to create a campaign that will motivate users to park their scooters in designated areas that are visible in the app.
How the brainwriting method can be used in this campaign:
Step 1: Define the problem or opportunity
The main challenge is to create a campaign that targets Bolt scooter users to encourage them to park their scooters in designated areas after use, rather than in the middle of the sidewalk or street.
Step 2: Generate ideas
A team of marketing specialists, creatives, and product managers met for a brainstorming session. The goal was to find creative ways to motivate users to park their scooters in the right places.
The brainstorming session moderator defined clear rules:
- No criticism of ideas during the brainstorming session.
- Everyone can suggest any solution, even if it seems unfeasible at first glance.
- The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible.
- Ideas suggested during the brainstorming session:
- Gamification – scoring system:
Users who park their scooters in designated areas receive points that they can collect and exchange for discounts on future rides or other rewards (e.g., free scooter unlocking). - Push notifications in the app:
After completing a ride, the user receives a notification asking them to check that the scooter has been parked correctly and reminding them of the designated parking spots. - Sharing positive examples on social media:
The app would display an option to take a photo of a correctly parked scooter and share it on social media with the campaign hashtag. Bolt would regularly select the best posts and reward users. - Interactive map in the app:
When parking, users would receive immediate feedback in the app on whether the scooter is parked correctly or not. - Personalized messages:
After each ride, users would receive personalized thank-you messages or parking reminders in the app. - Local challenges:
Bolt could launch local challenges for cities where users would compete to see which city parks its scooters best. The winning city would receive special rewards or benefits. - Humorous campaign:
Create a fun and catchy video with animated scooters complaining that they are parked incorrectly and want to “go home” to their designated spots. - Stickers on scooters:
Each scooter could have distinctive stickers with pictograms and reminders of where it should be parked. - Collaboration with influencers:
Influencers could shoot creative videos showing how to park scooters correctly in an entertaining way. - QR code for parking:
After parking the scooter, the user would have to scan the QR code located at the designated parking spot to confirm that it has been parked correctly.
Step 3: Selecting the best ideas
After the idea generation phase was complete, the team discussed the proposed solutions and selected the two most promising ones based on a voting system (see theoretical section):
- Gamification – scoring system:
Motivating users through a scoring system where they earn points for each correct parking, which they can exchange for rewards. - Discount for correct parking:
A competition between cities to raise awareness of correct parking and engage the community. The city with the best parking statistics would receive special benefits. - Humorous social media campaign:
Creation of entertaining videos and animations that would remind users of the need for proper parking in a playful way. - The best idea or ideas will be selected during the discussion and developed into a marketing campaign.
- Gamification – scoring system:
Task:
BrandSTRAVA
Product/service: STRAVA sports app
Campaign goal: Increase the number of STRAVA app subscribers by highlighting the app’s unique features (performance analysis, exclusive challenges, advanced statistics, safety features for running and cycling) and creating a communication strategy that effectively reaches active athletes around the world.
Working with a creative method – Brainstorming
In this task, you will use brainstorming to generate as many ideas as possible that could help increase the number of STRAVA app subscribers.
Phase 1: Generating ideas (15 minutes)
- Your task is to come up with creative ideas for a marketing campaign for the STRAVA app that could motivate new users to subscribe to the app, without any restrictions.
- Focus on different ways to reach active athletes:
- Online challenges: Create global challenges with rewards for achieving certain goals (e.g., running or cycling 100 km in a month).
- Collaborate with influencers: Partner with well-known athletes or fitness influencers who will promote the benefits of a subscription.
- Exclusive content: Offer premium training plans exclusively to subscribers.
- Gamification: Introduce a points system where subscribers earn points for activities and can exchange them for rewards (e.g., discounts on sports equipment).
- Safety features: Highlight safety features (live tracking for family and friends).
Write down all your ideas on a board or large piece of paper. The goal is to generate as many suggestions as possible, regardless of whether they seem realistic at first glance.
Nápady:
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Phase 2: Discussion and development of ideas (10 minutes)
- After generating ideas, select 3–5 of the most interesting proposals that you consider to be the most promising.
- Divide into teams and develop one idea.
- Discuss within your team how this idea could be implemented, what tools would be needed, and what results it could bring.
Best ideas: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Evaluation criteria
Sometimes it is difficult to choose the best ideas. Here is one possible way to select criteria for evaluating ideas.
-
- Creativity and originality of ideas.
- Feasibility of the campaign.
- Relevance of the idea to the target group.
- Clarity and simplicity of the idea.
Outputs
- Brief presentation of the campaign (10 minutes)
Summarize the campaign objective, main creative ideas, implementation plan, and expected results.
Present your selected ideas to the class. Each team will have 3–5 minutes for their presentation.
- Written document (1–2 pages)
Your task is to prepare a short document containing:
a) Campaign objective and target group profile – active athletes around the world who want to track their performance and improve their results.
b) Creative idea – describe the creative idea you came up with – its main concept.
c) Campaign implementation plan – outline the basic steps needed to implement the campaign (e.g., creating content for social media, engaging influencers, preparing challenges and competitions).
d) Potential risks and solutions – what obstacles may arise during the implementation of the campaign and how you plan to address them (e.g., low user participation in challenges, negative reviews).
e) Expected results – what should the campaign achieve (e.g., % increase in subscribers, increased activity of existing users).
This task will help you practice your ability to generate creative ideas and systematically plan marketing campaigns. The brainstorming technique will show you that even simple and spontaneous ideas can lead to innovative solutions and help the STRAVA brand reach new users around the world.