Creativity and Innovation Training

Project Overview

We have supported a number of our leading clients with a range of different Creative Facilitation and Innovation Training courses.  The main training objective is to provide individual delegates with the skills, tools and confidence to plan and facilitate their own creative innovation projects. Since 2020, all courses can now be run virtually via different 3 hour interactive modules using Zip-Zap Ideas®, our agile online innovation platform that supports creative workshops and virtual innovation teams.

For one international company, we have run 8 creative facilitation courses across Asia, Europe and Latin America.  The challenge was to provide individuals with a toolkit that they could use to step-change the way that they run innovation projects with internal teams and external key stakeholders such as retail customers.  To see the approach in action, watch the following video.

Our Approach

Our Zip-Zap Champions Creative Facilitation Training involves a fun and intensive 3-day interactive course.  Delegates are provided with guidance on the Zip-Zap™ approach and they follow a case study project that encourages then to "learn by doing" and to "learn from mistakes". 

The first day of the training kicks-off with an interactive exercise called Into the Danger Zone that is based on the principal, that to be a good facilitator, you need to take some risks.  Delegates also cover some core facilitation models, and they use the Case Study to cover some "Zip-Zap Secrets" linked to planning for a successful innovation outcomes. 

Day two focuses on how to run a successful innovation workshop event over 1 or 2 days.  Delegates cover important learnings linked to room set up followed by extensive practice using a wide range of creative facilitation and brainstorming techniques. They are guided on how to write effective ideas and they all receive a licence and training on how to use Zip-Zap Ideas®. 

The final day provides delegates with an opportunity to refine ideas with target customers and to turn leading ideas into specific action plans. As the course closes, all delegates get feedback from one of our Innovation Coaches who observes all delegates over the course of the full 3 days.

Since 2020, the Zip-Zap Champions Training can be run virtually.  For example, we have recently trained 24 people from one organisation, with delegates attending four separate Zoom sessions over 4 days.  On each day, delegates were split into 2 groups, attending in the morning or afternoon.  On each day, delegates completed a number of different tasks in virtual breakout room, ensuring that the course was highly interactive.

Results

To date, over 400 delegates have received our Creative Facilitation Training, including over 200 delegates who have attended the full 3-day Hothouse™ Champions training and over 50 delegates who have recently attended online virtual training.  To date, over 85% of delegates say that the training has given them new skills that they can effectively use with their own teams. And on average, each delegate goes on to plan and run at least 2 projects, using a range of tools and techniques. Since 2020, all delegates receive a licence to run their own projects using Zip-Zap Ideas®. 

"The training is creative and hands on, with tools and techniques that are highly relevant to our business" (recent virtual delegate). "Providing this training has transformed our relationship with some of our leading customers. The approach is imbedded in our culture and how we work with some of leading retail partners" (Global VP Category Management).

More Case Studies

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Creativity and Innovation Training

We have run 8 Hothouse™ Champions courses in Asia, Europe and Latin America for a leading international company.  The challenge was to provide individuals with a creative facilitation toolkit that they can deploy with their own innovation teams, to encourage more creative out-of-the-box thinking.

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Personal Care Claims Innovation

Developing winning claims can step-change the appeal and perception of a brand or product.  This is an example of how we ran three claims innovation projects for global FMCG company, with each project being run over a period of 10-14 weeks using our Zip-Zap Ideas® approach.

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Health Care Product Innovation

Global product innovation project for a leading international health care company with a project team based in Europe, North America and Latin America.  The challenge was to develop and identify compelling product concepts for a fast growing OTC and prescription driven category.

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Mobile Phone Retail Innovation

Developing and identifying winning retail activation ideas for a leading electronics brand, that engaged a global innovation team of 112 delegates in 22 countries world-wide, with cross-cultural workshops and virtual ideation sessions.

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Innovation for Home Care Appliances

A virtual innovation project for a global home care appliances brand, to quickly identify winning product concepts and claims. Supported by our team of Creative Agents and Zip-Zap Ideas®, final concepts were refined and tested with target consumers in Germany, Mexico and the USA.

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Fast Concept Testing in Fashion

How we used Zip-Zap Ideas® with a global fashion shoe brand to develop, refine and test new shoe designs that have greatest consumer appeal. The work involved 4 different projects over a period of 9 months, to refine and test over 150 different concepts with more than 3,000 consumers in key global markets.

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Soft Drinks Consumer Co-Creation

How we used a team of 15 Creative-Thinking consumers to develop new ideas and concepts for a large European drinks brand. All concepts were captured and refined using Zip-Zap Ideas® before wider online evaluation with 200 target consumers, to identify leading concepts with the greatest potential.

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Global Eye Care Innovation

A concept development project run over 8 weeks using Zip-Zap Ideas®. The online project engaged a global innovation team of over 60 delegates in 10 markets, who worked in small break-out teams to evaluate, refine and identify winning ideas to drive future growth in the Eye Care category.

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Fast Food Product Innovation

A European chain of fast food restaurants wanted some fresh thinking to generate and identify new menu options....a tasty challenge! The project was driven by a Hothouse™ workshop and online idea sharing with 32 company delegates and 10 creative agents. A total of 8 "winning ideas" were progressed into production and further testing.

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Health Care Retail Innovation

Working for one of the UK’s leading chain of supermarkets, we used Zip-Zap Ideas® and our Shopper Hothouse™ process to QUICKLY generate a pipeline of new and compelling activation ideas in the health and wellness, with fast feedback from target shoppers.