“I found your Assortment Styler information last year was very valuable to us as a mid-sized company, like none that I have come across in my experience of working in the industry. I look forward to the new edition.”
Because what’s worse than stale bread? Stale products!
You’re proud of your product offerings, but how long has it been since you’ve enjoyed a major new success that really differentiated your brand and company? You’re proud of the energetic and creative team you’ve assembled, but how much of their time goes to day to day responsibilities instead of thinking time to come up with great new product ideas? Let Design Research unlock your teams’ creativity. We’ll work with you to design a one day event that will reinforce your strategy and tactics, will unite your team and reaffirm your commitment to and investment in your (and their) future.
A typical one day brainstorming is a little like an iceberg. There’s a lot more under it than you see on the surface. All projects vary and are customized to client needs but this approach typifies a brainstorming day:
- Kick-off: Overview of US consumer demographics and psychographics as relevant to product category. (This is usually about 50-100 PPT slides to communicate a solid understanding of consumers today.)
- Round One: Participants break into small groups and discuss meaning of consumer trends and how your company meets and doesn’t meet them and how things may change in the future. Rough product ideas are encouraged and listed.
- More knowledge: PPT presentation on design and technology trends affecting your industry, as well as any other trends that impact your brand (perhaps food trends, social media trends, e-commerce trends, target audiences, etc).
- Round Two: Participants return to small groups to discuss trends and generate more ideas.
- Round Three: Small group sessions. Design Research assigns specific problems or tasks for groups to think through. Designed to heighten creativity, enhance out-of-box thinking.
- Round Four: Specific new product idea work based on ideas captured in first three sessions.
- Round Five: Group Discussion – full group re-convenes and the best new ideas are identified and rated.
We have lots of inights and advice to share on these brainstorming sessions...who should be invited, who shouldn't be invited, what makes the best creative groups, how should participants prepare before the big day, etc.
A day-long session with a group of 10-20 participants generates 100’s of new ideas ranging from modest proposals for changes to current products to grand new ideas. The project deliverable is a comprehensive list of the new ideas categorized by macro-trend/consumer need being fulfilled, as well as a summary of the top-rated ideas. Clients have told us that the best ideas have flowed right into their annual strategic plans.