Have you ever been invited to what is presumably a brainstorming session that takes place the next day in the office conference room for one hour? Such a meeting likely did not lead to any exciting ideas and only served to give brainstorming a bad reputation.  In truth, well-conceived and executed brainstorm sessions are a fantastic business tool for such diverse challenges as uncovering new solutions, unearthing breakthrough product ideas, or penning creative communication. It's important to understand, however, that effective brainstorming is equal parts structure and whimsy, heavy-handidness and serendipity.

Before the Storm
- Be clear on your objectives and craft all your pre-work and session exercises accordingly.
- Assign pre-work with expectations that it actually gets completed. Pre-work should provide context and get people's creative juices flowing before they even arrive.
- Invite a diverse group (different departments, different teams) but keep it to a manageable number.
- Secure an inspiring venue.  The 5th floor conference room does not cut it.  Ideally, you should get out of the office environment to a place with space, natural light, and novel views.  

During the Storm
- Set ground rules and expectations up-front. E.g all cell phones off
- Create a comfortable and fun environment that encourages free thinking. Dispense with formal/rigid seating.  Have toys and creativity enhancers on hand.
- Provide nourishment and refreshment regularly.
- Monitor energy levels and take breaks and/or do energizer exercises as necessary.
- Enlist a dynamic and fearless moderator.  John Broderick is one of my personal favorites and the folks from ?What If! are amazing.

After the Storm
- Let the ideas marinate.  Fully formed ideas are not likely to come during the brainstorm session itself. 
- Assign a core group to internalize the output from the session and massage them into more concrete output.
- Keep participants from the session in the loop.  It's great for their morale to see the final fruits of their labor.
- Catalogue and share both the raw output and the finished ideas with others.  Your brainstorm session may inspire new perspectives on challenges they are dealing with.

Need help pulling together a killer brainstorm?  Give us a holler!

As a follow-up to our previous post, Gatorade serves as an example of a well-conceived brand restage with results to prove it.

We believe their approach works because
- they knew what problem needed solving before the rebrand. There is no point to rebranding just for the sake of it.  Clear objectives are a must.
- they took a long, careful look at their core consumer (C1) and made the difficult decision to focus more specifically on the core's needs.
- they respected the roots of the Gatorade brand and considered its role within the company (C2)
- they understood that it was crucial to distinguish themselves from competitors (C3) in a truly meaningful way.
In short, the Gatorade team kept its eye on all three Cs.

Just as important, though, they walked the talk. Everything that the new brand stands for is evident in every part of the business - from the product line to where they advertise.  Sound strategy is absolutely critical, but committed execution wins the game.

Fast Company (required reading in our office) shares more of the background and particulars in its article, "How to Redefine a Flagging Brand."