Everyone knows the common saying among creative professionals: “There’s never a dumb idea while brainstorming.”
Jokes aside, being a member of the Matter Communications team, whether in Portland or Newburyport, we often find ourselves searching for creative ideas among our colleagues, both on and off the account in question, to expand our clients’ reach within their respective industries. Matter has developed such a strong repertoire of clients that teams often overlap when it comes to technologies or media targets.
Cue the calendar invite for a brainstorm session.
Sometimes it takes a conversation with a person or group not on the account to be a catalyst in a new, innovative communications tactic. A fresh pair of eyes and/or ears can make a world of difference in a short 20-minute brainstorm session. There is no shortage of smart PR professionals at Matter, which makes for productive, sometimes ground-breaking brainstorming sessions, whether on the couch or over the conference line 3000 miles away.
If you’re feeling like all of your ideas have been exhausted, it will never hurt to get 4-5 people together just to talk. Since this should be an educational post, I’ve developed a few simple checkpoints the brainstorm leader can use to make a session productive and efficient!
- Provide a brief explanation of the client’s offering to start the conversation and ignite a firestorm of creative thinking.
- Ask if any of the brainstormers have a relationship with a publication or editor that can be utilized for an opportunity. Don’t expect an immediate introduction, but learn what can be done to seize the potential opportunity.
- Has anyone noticed any current events or relevant news stories that can be related to the client’s story or offering?
- Build upon others’ ideas – don’t just write them down to let them die
While you should come out of a brainstorm with an entirely new set of provocative, exciting and news-worthy ideas, you may even discover a completely new understanding or appreciation of exactly how cool your clients really are!