Ideas generation in the marketing minefield

Failure is something we all want to avoid at all costs, both from a personal and a business standpoint.  But, if looked at from a different perspective, failure can be a learning exercise. Because, really, how can you learn without making mistakes? When it comes to ideas generation, learning how to fail successfully and accepting it as just another part of the process could, over time, lead to greater wins.

Everyone’s heard of the phrase ‘there’s no such thing as a bad idea’. Tunnel vision, a fear of hurting feelings, laziness or a lack of objectivity – these are just a few of the reasons why there have been plenty of false starts in the idea generation process. In reality, there are bad ideas. Probably more bad ones than good. Ideas that aren’t goal-orientated, that don’t meet the brief, or answer the audience’s questions, desires and demands. But how can we turn this seemingly negative truth on its head? Can bad ideas contribute to the creative process?

Creativity is often seen as a mystical art that only a select few can muster. In reality, we’re all capable of coming up with new and exciting ideas – that’s what makes us tick. To survive and thrive in an ever evolving and unpredictable marketing landscape, B2B marketers need to embrace their creative sides and think a little bit more outside the box.

But as fellow marketers, we understand that sometimes it can be difficult to summon the right idea when you really need one. That’s why, in our latest issue of The Knowledge, we’re covering:

• The biology of idea generation
• 5 steps to creating brilliant ideas
• The importance of creativity in B2B
• Categorising your thoughts
• Sorting the good ideas from the bad