New Online Brainstorming Tool

Accidentally came across a new (it's still in beta) website, Brainstorm Exchange. It's a great idea. Don't think it's there functionally; however, it's still a fabulous idea with a lot of potential.

Description from the site: "Brainstorm Exchange works by bringing together people who have ideas with people that need ideas. Brainstorms can be started on any topic by anyone who is looking for ideas. People who start brainstorms set out how they will reward people who contribute great ideas with cash, discounts, merchandise, etc. Joining brainstorm exchange to contribute ideas is free." However, adding your own brainstorm costs $$$. This is the one problem that I found with the site. The opportunity is to build an advertising model. Open this up, gain lots of users, charge advertisers to be on your space.

A pay-per-brainstorm model (and it's not cheap $25 at least) is my barrier. Need to know it works before I invest. At least give us one test brainstorm before charging. Simple.

How to Brainstorm Effectively

Be Visual.
Defer judgment.
Encourage Wild Ideas.
Build on the Ideas of Others.
Go for Quantity.
One Conversation at a Time.
Stay Focused on the Topic.

Courtesy of Ideo

Sunscreen for your brain

PC Magazine shared a list of their top 100 undiscovered websites. Not sure how they classify "undiscovered" - if it's low site visits or newness or what but, they do list some pretty cool sites - some that I've never even heard of. Lumosity is my favorite so far of the 100 that I've visited to date.

Simply, Lumosity is sunscreen for your brain. A place to go work your brain muscle to keep in working at its optimal level. Just like you run to the gym after work to unwind and get those endorphins going...run to Lumosity for 15 minutes to get the blood flowing.


Based on the concept of neuroplasticity, Lumosity games and exercises are engineered to train and improve:
- memory
- attention
- processing speed
- cognitive control

The theory of neuroplasticity suggests that the brain has the ability to learn and physically adapt given appropriate stimuli. Lumosity provides this right stimuli. Pretty much your thinking, learning and acting skills can all change and improve by working on the brain muscle. There's a really interesting case study that the Dali Lama was involved in. More on that in another post as it's an interesting content for planning as well.

Advertising Bible

All rise!

For this is the advertising bible. The cheat sheet everyday version of the bible to being awesome in our business. It's the philosophy in this book that is the guide to really being great - ways to create that ultimate winning and creative thinking mindset.

I highly recommend utilizing and practicing. One of my personal favorite teachings is the one that relates to winning "awards" in this industry.

If anyone else has a view on or experience with this little gem please do share.

News at a Glance

News map is the most brillant way to get all of the latest top news stories at a glance. For us millenials with shorter attention spans and want of instant gratification this is a perfect solution. Color coded boxes with variations in text size make this truly a user friendly experience. Just click on the story to take a dive deep.

Simple Brilliance

David Armano & the Brians on Fire crew shared this new way of illustrating - simply and brilliantly - the life cycle of a fan. Between this and the Net Promoter Score my clients will have 2 easily digestible ways of understanding the conversation flow of turning a person into a loyalist.

Cognitive Thinking Tools

I'm trying to gather together cognitive thinking tools that we planners use to help us structure our thoughts or articulate/visualize insights. if you have some...send them along to margaretmariani@gmail.com. I'll post them on the blog once we get a handful.

Principals of Method Planning

I recently came across this approach to strategic planning. It's a pretty good way of putting some structure around activities that we planners do on a daily basis. The inspiration for this thought process comes from method acting. Pretty cool...

Principals of Method Planning:

1) Be your target group. Dress like them, act like them, go where they go, listen what they listen to, eat what they eat, watch what they watch, read what they read...you get my point.

2) Determine your brand's utility angle. How does/could your brand improve one's life? How does it help or benefit the consumer?

3) Identify the consumer's experience with the category and your brand. The WHOLE experience: Pre-shopping, trigger, during the shopping process, purchase, post-purchase. Then illustrate the length of time the consumer typically spends in each of the different phases of the experience, their evolving mindset, touchpoints & sources of influence.

4) Spend at least a day with your target. Shadowing is a great exploratory method for this.

5) Join the same online networks, forums, hangouts as your target group. Share in their passion. But, be genuine with your participation. Don't sell them on anything. Trust me on this. I worked on Polaris (a power sports company) and frequented many online forums on snowmobiling, motorcycling and atving to learn directly from the source and our target didn't mind in me joining in the fun as long as I was there to learn and share in the fun and not to sell and ruin their sanctuary.

6) Uncover the target's passions, opinions and thoughts on the state of the world.

7) Listen. Join in their watercooler conversation, but do more listening than talking.

8) Become an Internet Zeitgeist. Dig around and find insights in the Flickr, YouTube, Digg, Del.ico.us, Stumbleupon sites of the world. The first thing I do whenever I start working on a new brand is such as The American Legacy Foundation is poke around YouTube. I go on to seek out consumer videos on the target group, category or brand that I just started working on. You could be astonished by what you can find on YouTube. I recently learned so much about smoking, why and how people started smoking, how they are planning to quit, why they've decided to quit, and what drives them to keep relapsing.

9) Prototype the product/service/idea/communication. Ask for the consumer's feedback in a natural setting. Not under the hot, sterile lights of a focus group facility.

10) Ask "What if" and let it guide the conversation.