Brainstorming 101: The Idea vs. The Execution

An e-mail message recently landed in my Inbox, which read, “We had decided this during our brainstorming.”

That’s the thing about brainstorming. Some ideas work – and some don’t. This particular idea, without going into the details, didn’t work when it came time to execute on it.

Brainstorming ideas should not be confused with decisions. Especially for outbound communications.

Merriam-Webster defines brainstorming as, “a group problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group.” There are countless publications – books, card decks, articles, and yes, blogs – which advocate various techniques of generating innovative ideas in a group. Techniques include white boarding, software tools, even asking probing questions to push participants into thinking out of the box.

The concept is that person A has a free-flowing idea; person B then builds on it. The group, together, is thought to come up with more (in quantity) and more (in higher creative quality) ideas than one isolated person.

The most important aspect is that during a brainstorming session, no one edits or evaluates or analyzes. In other words, no idea is a bad idea. If a brainstorming session is successful, there are too many ideas than can possibly be implemented. Some ideas may even be complete opposites of each other.

The next task is to evaluate each idea, based on the ultimate goal, task or problem to be solved. This normally happens in a subsequent session. Make sure it is a smaller group, and to add objectivity, involves participation from at least one person who was not in the initial brainstorming session.

What does this mean for public relations?

Public relations involves teamwork: input from product teams of the feature that is most unique, input from marketing teams about the competitive positioning, input from the organization about its values. All will push their own perspective. Plus, PR relies on creative ideas so that the organization or product being publicized stands out.

It’s really no different from brainstorming in any other situation. You need a team in which individuals feed off each other’s creative energies. You will need to eliminate until you have selected the best ideas. And you will always need to deal with that one person who pushes only their own ideas, regardless of their feasibility.

Let’s say you just had a fantastic brainstorming session on the theme of a conference. Now what?

• Select a theme. You will need to select only one theme, not multiple; otherwise the audience will be confused, or assume you are talking about two events. (One notable exception is Miller Brewing, now MillerCoors; the "Miller Lite" ads, voted as one of the must successful campaigns by Advertising Age magazine, contain the dual messages of “Tastes great, less filling”!)
• Ensure PR materials fit the theme. If the theme involves the “great outdoors,” and you plan a visual using photos, the image of a vintage Model T car – although it may be an excellent photo – is not the best fit for the theme. Using this logic, some ideas are weeded out, or filed away for future use (or campaigns!).
• Reality check – execution. Plan how the ideas can be put into practice. The strongest writer should write the copy, not the weakest. If no one on the team has video skills, hire someone who does. Finally, some ideas may not be feasible; a radio promo may be in your budget, while a Super Bowl commercial spot is not.

Ultimately, everyone has an opinion, but every idea in a brainstorming session cannot be implemented. The trick is to make sure that you are choosing the best solution (message and channels) for the problem (increasing brand awareness, promoting a new product). Don’t execute on the “cool” idea if it does not serve a purpose; in other words, do not implement the solution that is still in search of a problem.