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Many brands we work with face the challenge of creating a pipeline of winning ideas, concepts, or claims that can drive product development linked to agreed-upon innovation objectives. In many cases, it isn't really a shortage of ideas, but a lack of alignment and focus on the concepts and claims that will have the greatest potential to drive future brand innovation and growth.
At Ideas First®, we continue to refine our agile, creative and collaborative 5-step approach designed to help leading brands identify a more robust pipeline of winning concepts and claims that are inspired by pertinent consumer insights and pain points. This work is supplemented by Insight Deep-Dives and Creative Thinking Workshops, and in the past two years, by the increasing use of our Zip-Zap Ideas® online platform, together with how AI tools can be used to define a brand's next big idea.
Step 1 - Define a Tight Innovation Focus
The first step in any successful innovation project is to clarify the focus and scope of your innovative thinking, alongside the ultimate problem you aim to solve. In many cases, the innovation objective is determined by the overall goals and strategic direction of the business; what the business or brand excels at; or the agreed plans for the future. However, the innovation project objective could be even more specific. For instance, it may involve making brand X more accessible to younger audiences, enhancing brand Y’s ability to deliver convenience, or leveraging emerging AI technologies to improve customer service. In most projects, we typically identify three or four "Innovation Challenges," such as various customer profiles or end-benefit outcomes. Ultimately, a more focused approach fosters deeper and more creative thinking in the subsequent four steps. For further information, read how to define your 2025 focus for winning innovation.
Step 2 - Gather Deeper Insights and Trends
Before jumping into ideation, take time to search for deeper insights and relevant trends linked to your agreed innovation focus defined in Step 1. However, do not be intimidated by this task. An initial step is to simply revisit “old data” with a fresh perspective. Many brands and companies we work with possess substantial amounts of data that remain valuable. The analysis of “old data' is typically combined with trend scouting from other markets and 'social media listening' combined with the use of AI tools to gather insights from online blogs, community forums, or competitive product reviews. For any missing gaps, we seek additional insights from consumer observational studies or online depth interviews. For more information, watch the following movie on finding deeper insights and trends.
Step 3 - Refine and Identify Your Star Inspiration Insights
All early insights and trends from Step 2 are normally captured and shared using our online Zip-Zap platform. Insight agents and project team members are encouraged to utilise the platform to highlight the deeper insights with the greatest potential. This work can be carried out virtually or in an Insight Brainstorming Workshop. Our team of Copywriters then work to group and refine leading insights to ensure that we capture sufficient context to inspire successful innovation. A good insight should stimulate creative thinking by capturing: the situation and context; the specific problem or pain point; and, importantly, the “deeper why” behind the problem. For a typical project, we will refine approximately 20-40 leading insights that are evaluated with target consumers or key stakeholders to help identify the 10-15 "Star Insights" that will drive creative thinking in Step 4. For more details, please read an earlier blog post on finding insights to inspire creative thinking.
Step 4 – Use Insights to Brainstorm Early Ideas and Claims
Step 4 is all about brainstorming early ideas and claims linked to the leading insights identified in step 3. If you want fresh thinking, this work can be kick-started by an external team of Creative Agents or by Creative-Thinking Consumers and in the past 2 years, by the use of AI tools to generate early ideas. To increase collaboration, we run Idea Hothouse™ workshops for 12-24 delegates from different functional backgrounds. The Hothouse™ events can be further enhanced with direct involvement from target customers, either by attending the session to provide feedback, or via overnight online evaluation of early ideas. In addition to leading insights, creative thinking is encouraged by using different idea generation techniques and games. Creative Facilitators should encourage delegates to truly think out-of-the-box, and all early ideas are captured and edited using our online Zip-Zap Ideas® platform.
Step 5 – Identify The Winners and Keep on Innovating!
In the final step, and in order to fill the pipeline, we recommend that you look to refine and test between 20-40 "leading ideas”. This should include some that have potential for short term execution, and others that will require longer term development. We also recommend that, ahead of external customer testing, that final ideas and claims are refined by Copy Writers using a standard "mini-concept format". This helps to ensure that you are looking to test "apples vs apples" with all ideas written to a similar length, language style, and where the benefit / claim “hits the reader early”. Ideas can then be screened and tested randomly to identify the leading ideas with "greatest potential". On most projects, we look to test ldeas against one or two “known benchmarks” (ideas that have tested well in previous studies or that are already doing well in the market). And if you fail to find some real winners....either go back and start again but with a slightly different innovation focus, or maybe look to explore new areas of opportunity. For more information, read a recent blog post on how to identify winning ideas and claims.