You Don't Know Beans About Creativity

We've already covered the importance of BEAN-Storming, and the role coffee beans play in creating powerful ideas charged that magic chemical -- caffeine. Today, I'll be providing details on some other important beans to keep in mind during your next BeanStorm session. Some are cute, some are clever, some are profound (No, wait... Nope. None are profound...) but if you use each of them to measure against the ideas generated, they just might make evaluating, executing, or helping others embrace your concepts a little easier.

Chili Beans
Add some hot sauce to your concept.
How can you spice-up your idea? Can you make it dangerous? Sinful? Would it have the power to tempt your prospcts to try out a new service? Lure away users from their loyalty to another product?

Green Beans
What is the profit potential of your idea?
Will the concept raise money for a good cause? Is it inexpensive to implement? Is it expensive to procure components? Cheap to mass produce? Costly to produce in exclusive quantities?

String Beans
What other ideas can you tie together?
Good ideas can be made great by building on the concept and creatively adding on lesser ideas to build it into something greater than the whole. What smaller ideas can you stack together and build into something big?

Pork-n-Beans
What fat can you trim from the idea?
Some ideas have too much clutter and confusion. What can you cut away from your concept to make it leaner and meaner? Avoid the shotgun approach and go for a laser-like focus on your target.

Lima Beans
What are the "yucky" components of your concept?
Are there some aspects to your idea that others mind think distasteful? Will critics of the idea be left with a bad taste in their mouths? Find the objectionable components and either build the strong points to overcompensate for the weaker points, or eliminate them altogether. Sometimes allowing a critic to eliminate a point they find sour can be used a negotiation strategy. Perhaps it might be wise to leave a piece in play on the gameboard that you yourself know does not fit -- and then use that piece as a pawn to be sacrificed to get what you really want.

Jelly Beans
Make your ideas sweeter and more colorful.
You catch more flies with honey, and bees are attracted to colorful flowers -- what can you add to your idea to make it more attractive to your intended targets? Do you have a colorful story to tell about how the idea came into being? Is there a sweet reward for becoming a user or buzzing others about the product?

Snap Beans
Which ideas are a 'snap' to implement?
How long will it take for this idea to make an impact on your audience? Are there components that can be put into action immediately, even though the total process might take longer? Can you take action on the idea fast enough to capitalize on current trends? Remember, the rewards go to those who put an idea into action.

Pinto Beans
How far can you ride on this idea?
Short term or long term concept? The Pinto horse in the old west was well-suited to the strenuous working conditions of the day. Native Americans held Pintos in high esteem, and attributed them with magical properties in battle. The Pinto was one of the horse breeds favored by the legendary Pony Express for their hearty nature and quick speed. Do your ideas stack-up equally well with this equine?

Navy Beans
Can the idea float on its own?
If you set it adrift in the rough waters of criticisms, committees, and creativity killers is the idea sturdy enough to survive the sink or swim test? At some point your ideas will have to sail under their own power. "A ship is safest in the harbor, but that's not what ships are built for." ~ Mick McCarter.

Kidney Beans
Do your ideas come from deep within?
Do you have the guts and backbone to see them through?
Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs about the size of your fist that are positioned just below your rib cage -- one on each side of your backbone. Does something deep in your gut just tell you this idea needs to be recognized and addressed? Does that belief translate into the intestinal fortitude needed to go up against any force to see it enacted?

Yellow Wax Beans
Do your concepts cause fear in others? In your industry?
Are you at least a little frightened by just how much trouble this idea might cause? Which ideas are YOU too scared to implement? Which ideas scare your BOSS? If your ideas don't cause others to fidgit in their seats and look uncomfortably at those around them -- they probably aren't unique to the point of being revolutionary. My friend Jeffrey Gitomer introduced me to the "three you're crazy rule." If at least three people tell you that you're nuts for pursuing a specific course of action, you know you're on the right track.

Magic Beans
Just like Jack's beanstalk -- you never know what might sprout up!
Never underestimate the power of 'happy accidents', the forces of nature, and the fickle hand of fate. Walt Disney said "Fun and wonder are the important elements" when it comes to the quality and performance most responsible for the success of Disney productions. Sometimes the strangest circumstances come together through random chance and create innovations of phenomenal (and sometimes earth-shaking) proportions. Silly Putty, Post-It Notes, Microwave Ovens, Velcro, Matches, Cellohane, Stainless Steel, and Dynamite were all accidental inventions.

Garbanzo Beans
I got nuthin'... just wanted to use the word "Garbanzo." ;)

...And once again...
Coffee Beans
Don't forget the power these beans have on generating ideas that are energized and charged with caffeinated creativity.

Venti Burrito, Please.

Chipotle is using a clever parody of Starbucks' coffee sizes and vertical cup imprint for a print campaign pictured below.



I've been a big fan of Chipotle's advertising and in-store signage. They do a pretty good job of using humor effectively. Their online ordering is also visually appealing -- something of which the pizza companies (ALL the pizza companies) should take note.

Ordering a pizza online always turns into more of a pain than a convenience. I know this post when from mexican food to italian rather quickly. Can you tell it's dinner time for Don?

Crossing the Small Talk Chasm

I'm in company sales conferences all week. It's a great opportunity to meet counterparts from our other media properties.

I've always know that the more I know about a person or business, the better I am at creating more targeted ideas for their specific situation. The formal presentations at these conferences are excellent for learning more about the BUSINESS, but what about the PERSON?

Spending so much time with my face buried in books and browsers makes me feel a little geeky and a bit of a social retard when dealing with individuals unknown to me. All insecurities evaporate once I get a chance to know them -- but how to cross that chasm...

Could this article possible have come along at a better time??

It's a lesson in how to avoid silly small talk altogether and have a real conversation.

Branding beyond slapping your logo on something

Excellent article from Adweek.com's Saneel Radia has been posted to Yahoo News. It focuses on the need to look at marketing within video games (as well as other media) from level of interactivity with the consumer, rather than slapping your logo on any ol' space in the game and waiting for users to knock you down and shove money in your pocket.

Here's Saneel's take on it: "...when brands think about music's role in their marketing, do they find ways to integrate their brand name into lyrics? The answer is a resounding "no" for a number of reasons. First, they aren't dazzled by music's interactivity. Second, the music industry is motivated in ways that movie studios and game publishers are not (yet). The state of their business requires finding innovative ways to partner with brands, but there's no reason we need to wait until gaming publishers are in dire need of our dollars--because that's not going to be the case for a very long time."

Three suggestions to consider:
1. Approach game publishers as partners
2. Determine how the brand might add value to the consumers' experience
3. Include all aspects of gaming in the equation: from retail experience to social interactivity to extension of game content

In my opinion, the most important question Radia raises in considering how to include your brand within gaming content (or ANY media content) is this: How do your consumers choose to fit gaming into their communication platform? Answer that question and you're impact will go beyond just slapping your logo up on another billboard -- whether in the real world or a virtual one.

Read the entire article here.