Short Cuts to getting ideas

Book Worm, originally uploaded by boopsie.daisy.

I read an interesting article in contagious this quarter about some quick cheats on how to break the mold a little bit. Some of these you probably do naturally but to aid in getting teams and groups of people or even more junior people to break convention. I think these are a great place to start.

Reverse Engineering:
This is about getting to the end result and working backwards. I quitelike this way and it can be a great way to present things. I know the creative agency Krow tend to work in this way with their clients

Sabotage / Reducation:
Instead of adding something new which is the standard way to create an idea you. You in fact eliminate something to make people realise its true value. Crispins in the US have used this a bit with the Whopper Sacrifice and Whopper Freakout.

Fight for a Cause
Im starting to love this one. Brands having a notable cause that relates to their brand positioning is awesome. But on a slightly more superficial level creating a cause like Doritos 'Bring back the Slow Dance' in Argentina which tapped into the growth of social networking but boys fear of getting close to girls in real life... needed an instigator. It is also great to make the audience feel apart of something greater than themselves which is an important trend to address at the moment.

Creative use of the problem:
Making the problem the highlight is always interesting. I think one of the standout examples of this was Guiness's 'Worth Waiting for' tagline a few years ago. But they also talk about Queensland Tourism's 'Best Job in the World' playing on the lack of holidays due to fear of actually losing your job.

It was written by a company in Tel Aviv called mindscapes which works with agencies to help create more specific processes around creativity.