Brain Blink

  • Braink Blink: Do you REALLY need that brainstorm?
    Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 09:38
    Blog entry

    Susan Cain in The New York Times suggests that solitude is better than “group think” when it comes to creating ideas. Her examples of creative loners range from Sir Isaac Newton and Picasso to Jesus and Buddha. Cain says studies show brainstorms can actually hurt ideation, due to shy, lazy, or overly dominant participants.

  • Brain Blink: That Jacket is Hurting Your Brand
    Thursday, January 5, 2012 - 11:07
    Blog entry

    Lowering prices is not a brand strategy that builds differentiation – any brand can lower a price. Powerful brands, such as Apple, focus on the emotional aspects of design, imagination and creativity rather than price.

  • Brain Blink: When giving means getting
    Tuesday, December 13, 2011 - 15:00
    Blog entry

    The nonprofit group, Disabled American Veterans, generally gets an 18 percent response rate when it sends out mailings requesting contributions. However, when the same letter is sent with personalized address labels (each costing just eight cents apiece), the response rate jumps to 35 percent. Sociologists call this phenomenon the "Rule of Reciprocity”.

  • Brain Blink: From fizzle to sizzle
    Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - 15:51
    Blog entry

    Interested in making the absolute worst sizzle reel ever? Try these tips.

  • Brain Blink: Brand-Ding
    Friday, October 21, 2011 - 14:32
    Blog entry

    Sometimes we get so caught up in the target audiences, the consumer traffic-driving, the narrow business objectives, etc., that we forget to actually understand and believe in what a brand stands for at its core, i.e. why it was created; how it emotionally impacts the lives of consumers. Shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple – a company that was 90 days away from bankruptcy – he gave this impassioned speech to his employees about the true meaning of the Apple brand and how it needed to be marketed.

  • Brain Blink: Prediction - you will read this
    Friday, October 14, 2011 - 16:26
    Blog entry

    British performer Derren Brown denounces those who claim he has psychic or paranormal abilities. Brown swears his communication skills involve nothing more than psychology, suggestion and a bit of showmanship. He says he influences his key target audiences with carefully orchestrated visual and verbal cues and communication. Sound familiar?

  • Brain Blink: Storm stash
    Tuesday, November 2, 2010 - 17:04
    Blog entry

     

    What are the chances of you coming up with a new idea if you walk into the same conference room, sit around the same table, surrounded by the same people and staring at the same old walls?

  • Brain Blink: book smart
    Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - 16:03
    Blog entry

    Seth Godin is the author of 11 books, including such hits as “Purple Cow” and “The Dip.” In a recent publishing challenge, Godin asked 70 innovative thinkers to come up with a 10- to 200-word essay or picture about “a big idea that matters now.” Godin turned the submissions into a free downloadable e-book packed with quick thoughts, fresh ideas and intriguing perspectives.

  • Brain Blink: the ugly secret about brainstorms
    Friday, July 2, 2010 - 12:10
    Blog entry

    A study at the Wharton School, considered one of the world's preeminent business schools, reveals that group brainstorms may not be the best way to come up with ideas. Instead, researchers say, a hybrid brainstorm where people are first given time to think on their own before sharing ideas with a group resulted in more, and better, ideas.