BBN comes to Chicago

How do you effectively integrate brand asset management, creative and technology-enabled channel strategy… and play it out on a global scale?

That was just one item on the agenda when Bader Rutter played host to the Executive Board of the Business Branding Network (BBN), which held its first ever Chicago meeting last week.

Representing a network of more than 20 agencies worldwide, the BBN Executive Board

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The BR coffee bar. More than meets the tongue.

I hate coffee.

Seriously. I think there should be a class called “Starbucks Order or Ice Skating Combo?” Triple Swedish Salchow? Half-Caf Americano? I can’t tell what’s what. Nor do I care to.

But I will never turn down a chance to go out for coffee. Why? Because going out for coffee is never actually about the coffee.

At its core, the coffee shop is about putting all of life’s distractions aside and having a real conversation. Going beyond the surface level as a way to connect and recharge your mental batteries. Writers and businesspeople haul their laptops off to the coffee shop because it’s a place where they can sit and think without interruption. It’s a lot easier to get things done there than, say, at your desk.

And I like to think these truths have a lot to do with the new coffee bar area that sprung up on the third floor at Bader Rutter a few weeks ago.

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Avoid the brainstorming shoot-down

We’ve all been there before. The meeting is to brainstorm ideas, but a few critics in the group are shooting ideas down faster than the American fighters trying to get in the air during the surprise attack in the movie Pearl Harbor. Worse, some are holding back ideas for fear of seeing them shot down. To the rescue — a technique that Frank Siebrecht, research director emeritus from Bader Rutter, often put to work in brainstorming sessions.

Frank would place a fish bowl in the center of the meeting room conference table. He’d explain that during the brainstorming session every idea will be written down just as it was stated. But anyone who starts to say that an idea can’t be done, has been tried before, costs too much, or tries any other method of shooting the idea down is immediately fined one dollar — put it in the jar.

The fine is only a dollar per offense, but the ridicule and teasing of the group is enough to ensure the focus remains on brainstorming. My first offense completely caught me off guard.

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Marcom A to Z — B for Brainstorming

I intended to write this post about structuring a productive brainstorm. As often happens during a good brainstorm session, I’ve ended up in a different place altogether. Here’s the kernel that interests me now: If a company claims to be innovative, does it encourage (and do its employees practice) big-picture thinking on a daily basis? Said another way, is there a fundamental connection between a company that brainstorms well and its penchant for creativity and innovation?

I did a quick online search of 20 companies, big and small but all leaders in their respective fields. More than half of them use the word “innovative” (or a derivative of that word) either in the About Us section on their Web site or in its primary navigation. Of the remaining companies, many talk about innovation using different terms. It’s either a very over-used word or a great goal for companies to work toward. The latter, I believe. So for companies that define themselves as innovative, does that type of culture pervade the companies’ actions and its employees’ approach to projects, issues or ideas?

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