Tired of the same old marketing tactics that fail to stand out? It’s time to break free from the monotony and ignite your creativity with actionable steps that will not only spark innovation but also solve those pesky marketing problems that seem to hold you back. In this blog, we’ll dive into a fresh approach, offering practical strategies to shake up your thinking, embrace new possibilities, and unlock the full potential of your marketing efforts. Say goodbye to outdated methods and hello to a dynamic, problem-solving mindset that drives real results!
Step 1: Define the Problem
Starting with a blank slate may seem like a creative way to kick off innovation, but in reality, it’s often the quickest route to frustration. Nature itself shows us that change begins when there’s some form of pressure on a system, and the same holds true for creativity. It thrives when it has a problem to push against.
When defining your objective, find the sweet spot—specific enough to guide you toward something actionable, yet flexible enough to leave room for surprise.
For example, avoid setting your sights too wide, like:
“Create a campaign that’s completely new, and gets half of our current customers engaged.”
This is too vague to steer the process effectively.
On the flip side, don’t overdefine it with rigid demands, such as:
“Create a campaign that checks off these 10 specific objectives.”
This is too restrictive and stifles creativity.
Instead, try something like:
“Design a campaign that taps into customer insights, encourages 25% of the audience to associate us with X, and paves the way for next spring’s product launch.”
By framing your problem in this way, you give yourself a clear target to aim for without closing off potential breakthroughs.
Skipping this critical step could leave you in a perpetual cycle of brainstorming without ever landing on something truly impactful.
Step 2: Let the Common Ideas Flow
Your first idea—along with your second and third—will probably look a lot like everyone else’s. That’s because, within the same culture, people often share similar “first thoughts.” Take a look around, and you’ll see evidence of these “me too” ideas everywhere.
Nature tends to take the lazy route, attempting to solve new problems with old tools. Only when this strategy falls short do we see the birth of fresh solutions. In this step, it's crucial to acknowledge that your first set of ideas is probably far from original. Don’t act on them just yet, because they’re unlikely to lead to true innovation—even if you don’t realize it at first.
In design school, we were taught to let the common ideas pour out—whether it’s 10, 20, or more. Don’t linger, just get them down on paper, sketch them out, write them on a whiteboard, or even ask AI to pull common ideas from the web. The key is to get them out of your head and resist the urge to fall in love with them.
This “spewing” process helps you deplete the obvious ideas, leaving you with a blank space in your mind. Your inner critic might start to panic and push you to grab onto one of those early ideas, but don’t give in! This is the moment when the real magic begins to unfold.
Skipping this step? Prepare for mediocrity. This is one of the most common pitfalls in the creative process—people either refuse to challenge their initial ideas or rush ahead without giving themselves the space to innovate.
Step 3: Broaden Your Horizons
Now it’s time to push beyond the ordinary and dive into the extraordinary. In this step, you’ll generate even more ideas, but this time, you’ll break free from the familiar and venture into the unknown.
To unlock truly fresh ideas, you need to engage with the world around you. This was the spark I was searching for in those quiet, empty spaces—walking with an open mind, letting the world inspire. Experiment with unique prompts for AI and see what unexpected results surface. Use your skills in observation, abstraction, analogy, and pattern recognition to start generating a wider variety of ideas.
One of the best places to explore is your customer’s world. To create an innovative customer journey, you need to truly understand their experiences and perspectives. Creativity thrives when different viewpoints come together, and the more varied the input, the more dynamic the ideas.
Take inspiration from an energy company that gathered a diverse team and took them on a bus tour of their supply chain. They visited oil rigs, pipelines, refineries, and service stations, taking notes, snapping photos, and brainstorming ideas. This immersive experience sparked innovation because it exposed the team to new environments and fresh perspectives. Just like nature, innovation thrives in a "nutrient-rich" environment where different influences come together.
Whenever you get an idea, no matter how small or incomplete it seems, jot it down. Don’t edit yet—great ideas often grow from humble beginnings. Nature, after all, experiments with countless variations as it evolves. In design school, we were often asked to generate 40 ideas. While marketers may not have that luxury, aim for at least six or seven ideas that come from deep within your creative process. The goal is to push past the obvious and dive into the unexpected.
Skipping this step? You’ll be left with uninspired, mundane ideas. Without exploring broadly, your creativity will stay in a narrow lane, and your results will show it.
Step 4: Filter and Refine
By now, you’ve accumulated a treasure trove of ideas, but let’s be honest—most of them are likely to be less than stellar. Just like in nature, most new ideas are like accidental flops—falling flat and failing in spectacular fashion. However, buried within that pile of "garbage" is a gem, a diamond in the rough, and without the work you’ve put into Steps 1 to 3, it wouldn’t have surfaced.
This is where the analytical magic happens. It’s time to let your inner critic do what it does best—digging through the clutter and honing in on the ideas that have the most potential. Think of this as the "natural selection" phase of your creative process, where only the strongest ideas survive.
To make this step truly effective, back up your judgment with research—whether it’s through polls, surveys, focus groups, or A/B testing. Use analytical models that help you rate and compare ideas against objective criteria. If you’re working on something high-stakes, like a game-changing marketing strategy, don’t skimp on the research and testing. The more you invest here, the more likely you are to uncover something truly remarkable.
Skipping this step? You risk ending up with something new but utterly bizarre—novel, yes, but in a way that misses the mark and leaves people scratching their heads.
Step 5: Develop and Evolve
Now that you’ve honed in on the best ideas, it’s time to put them to the test. Before finalizing, experiment with different variations to see what works best. This is where you can take elements from ideas that didn’t make the cut and blend them into your winning concept. Think of it as giving five different "treatments" to the same core idea—each variation refining the vision and inching it closer to greatness. The best development happens through iteration, constantly adjusting and fine-tuning based on real-world feedback to ensure you're on the right track.
Skipping this step? You risk leaving your idea stuck at 80%—close, but not quite there. It’s like building the foundation of a house and then stopping just before you put up the walls.
From Variation to Victory: The Secret to Game-Changing Marketing Strategies
Just as nature thrives by adapting to an ever-changing environment, the key to breakthrough marketing lies in the ability to adapt and innovate. Thoughtful, creative problem-solving allows marketers to rise above the mundane, crafting solutions that don’t just stand out—but truly resonate and make an impact. This process of refining and selecting the best variations is what turns an idea into a marketing masterpiece.
