What do you do if your brand's creativity and innovation are stagnant?

Buy some beanbags. Put some nice pictures on the wall. Get everyone into a room. And I mean everyone. Get everyone sitting on the beanbags. Drink coffee. Put some rum or whisky in the coffee. Not whiskey! Bring in lots of brightly-coloured Post-It notes and felt tip pens. Tell everyone “There’s no such thing as a bad idea!” Drink more of the special coffee. Tell everyone that you’re “super excited” about the day and everything in general. Get everyone to write a haiku about your brand. Then ask everyone to pair up and imagine the brand as a sandwich. Then write the recipe for that sandwich on the Post Its. Check the clock. It’s 4.50pm. Get everyone to drink some water and eat some biscuits. Ask them to share the recipes. Wrap up. Go home.

Revist core brand values, explore new technologies, and look for consumer insights. Seek inspiration from diverse sources and celebrate creativity. Hopefully this will infuse fresh ideas and meaningful innovation into your brand’s storytelling.

Assessing honestly can require massive humility and willingness to jettison sacred cows. Growth mindset is an important ethos for how we approach brands and their future ( if they have one). Sometimes a merger of brands or refocus of brand architecture can maximise relationships and value for internal and external audiences. A real skill to do it well - requiring judgment, rigour and courage.

If you want to be brutal (read honest) about what's needed to revive your brand - enlist some outside help. Freelancers like myself can benchmark yours against other re-brand projects they have worked on - most likely at your competition. We also don't have the "baggage" of internal marketing folks and can be expected to give honest feedback without the fear of killing a career.

Embracing change allows a brand to refresh its image, staying relevant and appealing to evolving consumer preferences and market trends. It's drive innovation, and stays competitive in a constantly evolving marketplace. It fosters a culture of adaptability, creativity, and growth that ultimately benefits both the brand and its consumers.

To embrace change and revitalize creativity and innovation in a stagnant brand, consider the following strategies: 1. Customer-centricity 2. Feedback and Iteration 3. Industry Collaboration 4. Creative Experience 5. Growth Mindset:Encourage a culture of innovation within your team, reflecting on and learning from failures. Experiment with new ideas and take calculated risks. 6. Design Strategy: Adopt a design-centric approach to foster a culture of innovation that propels your business ahead of the competition. By implementing these strategies, brand can stay ahead of the competition, meet evolving customer needs, and build a strong brand value that resonates with target audience.

Encourage a culture of experimentation, where failure is seen as a step towards success. Foster diverse perspectives and brainstorming sessions to spark new ideas. Embrace the concept of "purple cow," aiming to create remarkable, unique products or experiences that stand out in the market. Emphasize storytelling to connect emotionally with customers and differentiate your brand. By embracing these principles and cultivating a culture of innovation, you can reignite creativity and propel your brand forward.

When your brand's creativity and innovation hit a dead end, it's time to revisit your company's core values & reconnect. Remind yourself why you started in the first place and what makes your brand unique. & most importantly don't underestimate the power of taking a vacation! Step away from the daily grind & clear your mind and allow fresh ideas to flow.

Never be afraid to assess what’s working and what isn’t. Keeping your company brand and tone in mind, you may need to inject some energy into your messaging. Create a vision board and begin with words and adjectives that set the tone for the brand. You may unexpectedly realize that your previous marketing attempts were way off message!

To avoid creativity stagnation, foster an open environment where ideas can flow freely, without fear of immediate rejection. Try regular brainstorming sessions or workshops focused on creative thinking and seek inspiration beyond your industry. By cultivating a culture that values creativity, you'll build a reservoir of ideas to drive innovation when needed.

Hands off Get everyone involved in the brand including yourself out. Allow fresh blood including interns to crack it and just observe from a far. Of course this doesn’t mean you are not accountable. Just let someone else have a look from a different perspective and you will be surprised with the results

Cultivating creativity within your organization is a proactive way to prevent future stagnation. Encourage an environment where ideas can flow freely without the fear of immediate rejection. You might implement regular brainstorming sessions or workshops focused on creative thinking. It's also helpful to look beyond your industry for inspiration; sometimes the most innovative ideas come from unexpected places. By fostering a culture that values creativity, you'll build a reservoir of ideas to draw from when you need them most.

I worked for a renowned Comedy Theatre and we often organized and hosted corporate events. Surely they are not the only ways of cultivating creativity but in my experience I saw teams flourish and find new level of comfort with one another after: Comedians Roasting the Boss session Skits tailored to specific team about themselves Humour/comedy workshop Improv workshop I highly recommend one of these activities for your next team outing when you need newly found closeness and breakage of barriers.

Encourage curiosity and exploration among your team, fostering an environment where all ideas are welcomed and valued. Implement brainstorming sessions, exercises, and prompts from the book to stimulate fresh thinking and unconventional approaches. Embrace experimentation and risk-taking, allowing room for failure as a pathway to learning and growth. Nurture a culture of creativity by providing resources, support, and recognition for innovative efforts. By adopting these strategies and fostering a creative mindset within your team, you can reignite innovation and propel your brand forward. Consider having a book every month that you discuss within the team, and start with How to Be a Creative Thinker by ROYA A. AZADI.

My advice is to embrace feedback wholeheartedly. Whether it’s a casual conversation with a customer or a structured survey, every interaction holds potential inspiration. By actively listening and incorporating your audience’s input into your creative process, you not only breathe new life into your brand but also forge deeper connections with your consumers. After all, they’re the ones who ultimately shape the success of your brand.

I meet many startup founders over the week that are pitching their decks to me. I use to wonder what is the difference between the founders that are extremely self defensive and shut down even constructive criticism. And the founders that actively listen, acknowledge and try to process given criticism. Main difference I found was as simple as acknowledging that sometimes founders can act like “mothers” of the business. And what mother wants to hear her child being criticized? So, instead of staying overprotective of your ideas and look at criticism as shutting down- look at it as a team work. Feedback will inevitably help you improve, and constructive criticism is necessary for a child’s growth too!

To reignite creativity and innovation in your brand, leverage feedback methods outlined in "No Rules Rules" by Netflix's Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. Encourage candid and constructive feedback loops, where all team members feel empowered to share ideas and critique openly. Implement regular feedback sessions, ensuring specificity and actionable insights to drive improvement. Foster a culture that values diverse perspectives and embraces feedback as a catalyst for innovation. By adopting these feedback practices, you can invigorate creativity and inspire fresh ideas within your brand.

Incorporate customer feedback and user-centered design: Keep creativity aligned with customer needs by integrating feedback and adopting user-centered design principles

Data driven decisions are important. It might be a good idea to consider whether your output is still targeted at the right audience or target market from time to time to ensure that you're staying on brand and in line with your objectives. It's easy to want to follow a trend or incorporate that into your branding strategy but it might be missing the mark and negative feedback might be an indicator of that. Equally a positive response also provides valuable insights into what your customers want and can help you to stay ahead.

Ditch routines! Brainstorm with diverse teams, run innovation challenges to ignite fresh ideas. Don't be industry blind. Research creative outsiders & attend innovation conferences. Question everything! Analyze data to find unmet customer needs - the next big thing might be hiding there.

You can also encourage and foster a culture of creativity and innovation within your organization by providing opportunities for brainstorming sessions, cross-functional collaboration, and professional development. Additionally, seeking inspiration from other industries, conducting consumer research, and staying up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies can help spark new ideas and drive innovation. Remember that taking risks and pushing boundaries are often necessary to break out of a creative rut and elevate your brand to new heights.

Foster a culture that values experimentation and risk-taking, where failure is seen as a stepping stone to success. Collaborate with external partners or agencies to bring in new perspectives and expertise. Invest in ongoing training and development programs to nurture creative skills among employees. Additionally, allocate resources specifically for research and development to explore new technologies, trends, and market opportunities. Regularly review and reassess existing processes to identify areas for improvement and innovation. By fostering a dynamic and supportive environment, you can inspire creativity and drive innovation within your brand.

To enhance the experimentation as a part of our marketing strategies, I recommend adopting proven experimentation techniques from R&D teams, such as A/B testing and fake-door tests. These methods allow us to empirically assess the impact of different campaign elements and ensure that our decisions are data-driven. Adopting these techniques will not only improve the precision of marketing strategies but also align our practices with the innovative spirit of other teams in the organisation. This approach encourages a culture of learning and adaptation, which is essential in a dynamic market environment ??

Encourage a Growth Mindset Adapt Daily with ever changing Market place I believe in Innovation not just short term find out who the dominant players are in your industry creative research keep an open mind start ups can easily adjust quickly reset upskill set skills to reach goals

Foster partnerships with influencers or organizations from diverse backgrounds to inject fresh perspectives. Utilize customer co-creation initiatives to involve audiences in product development. Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration within your team to blend diverse expertise and spark innovation. Think of creative and strategic partnerships Take Apple&Nike example of developing the Nike+iPod Sports Kit (2006). This partnership integrated Nike's athletic shoes with Apple's iPod technology, allowing runners to track their workouts and performance metrics seamlessly. This strategic partnership demonstrated the convergence of technology and fitness, catering to the growing demand for wearable tech in the health and wellness industry.

A very insightful article! Love emphasis on experimentation and fostering a culture that values diverse perspectives. As we all know, it's usually the being willing to try new things that leads to breakthroughs in creativity.

One of the best ways to refresh and revitalize a trusted product or brand is to create a new package that solves an obvious problem for a consumer. Example- your favorite bottled water enhancer is a powder that is packed in a stay at home canister. Delight the consumer with an “on the go” packet that travels easily and dispenses conveniently. That’s but one example. The essence of reinventing a product stems from ensuring it remains relevant for the target audience. Address the way customers can best use your product in daily life. That’s a formula that works for consumer packaged goods and other vibrant products.

It’s time to find a new creative agency / brand consultancy. Or bring one in for the first time. Avoid so called sector specialists as they are by default conditioned to the traits of the sector.

I cannot stress enough how much a fresh perspective stimulates pretty much anything. Having been on both big agency and corporate marketing teams, it's so easy to get tunnel vision. Look to your customers, look to consultants, look anywhere to get outside the internal groupthink that can easily infiltrate any team when you're grinding day after day.

Go to the human heart of your brand story. If you’re a non-profit, it’s your partners on the ground. If you have a product, it’s your customers and the problem you’re solving for them. The more real people the better.