THINKing

Tap The Crowd

Photo credit: Piresco from morguefile.com

We talk a lot about listening, and some companies are beginning to give it a try. But, too often, the company doesn’t really hear because it is too focused on what it wants, not what the customer is asking for. At other times, companies get customer input but don’t ferret out what a customer really wants.

Creativity 2011 – Week #39

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Better Brainstorming - How do you lead a brainstorming meeting? First, forget about the box that, according to generally accepted brainstorming practices, you’re supposed to be thinking outside of.

Netflix’s Corporate Seppuku

It’s good that Netflix has a red background on its logo. That way the blood doesn’t show from its self-inflicted wounds.

Creativity 2011 – Week #38

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Getting Started - Whether we plan to create a performance, composition, essay, or mousetrap, we have to launch our project and work on it regularly.

Need A Brilliant Idea? Steal It - When you can borrow and build off of ideas from other entrepreneurs and companies, do it.

Top 5 Social Media Posts

In case you missed some of our earlier posts about social media, below are our Top 5 social media posts. Hmmm, there seems to be a trend.

Top 10 Story Starters For Blocked Bloggers - Are you blogged out? Got writer’s block big time. So big even my previous post on writer’s block didn’t help? Never fear, your doctor of creativity is here. I have some big time block busters.

A Time For Print

Photo credit: mconnors from morguefile.com

Marketers have a tendency – like pendulums – to swing too far in one direction and then reverse course. In my estimation, most marketers are too far on their swing toward digital delivery of marketing information. There are some marketers who understand there needs to be a balance and that printed material can be used very effectively to make that tangible connection with customers.

Creativity Boost #2 – Urban Photo Adventure

This is the second installment in our series, Creativity Boost. Go here to read Creativity Boost #1. Today’s boost is about an urban photo adventure to inspire your creativity, and we’d like to see examples of your work. So, let’s use the Flickr tag creativityboost.

Creativity 2011 – Week #37

To Cultivate Innovation, Work Like An Artist - How do we put ourselves in a frame of mind where we can receive inspiration when it comes to us? Think like an artist.

Writer’s Block: How To Break Through – Sometimes to break writer’s block, you need to start at the end and not the beginning.

I Heard That!

There are still a lot of companies that haven’t yet figured out – or worse, don’t care – that social media is a great way for them to monitor the mood of their customers. But some – like Olay – really  get it. My wife read about a new Olay product and began looking for it. Turns out the product is not fully into the distribution channels yet.

Creativity 2011 – Week #36

Creativity Not As Well Received As We Think - Using creativity to solve problems is usually encouraged and championed as companies’ secret to success. But researchers have questioned whether people actually welcome creative tastes with open arms.