Tom Fishburne: Brand Camp cartoonist and marketing guy

ideation nation

I like ideations as much as the next guy.  Particularly when there are good snacks.  I just think they are too often treated as a cure-all.  Need an innovation? Just hold an ideation.  I don't think that an isolated brainstorm once a year is the best approach for coming up with innovations.  I think it works better when innovation is a constant, continuous process involving everyone. 

We have something at work we call a "wikiwall", which is this massive magnetic whiteboard where we're all constantly tacking up new ideas and building on old ones.  It's always there and ideas are inspired by all sorts of things at random times throughout the year.

There's also this funny "find your inner hippy" dynamic that often happens in setting up an ideation.  It often feels that if you set the right mood (room, props, music, snacks, etc.), the ideas will just come.  This environment can feel really superficial, because when you leave the room the dynamic is often different.  In the cold light of the day-to-day office, it easier and more acceptable to criticize and squash ideas, rather than find creative ways to grow and adapt them.

Anyway, I visited another company's ideation not long ago and they'd rented jumbo beanbag chairs to place all around the room.  It got me thinking of the whole ideation phenomenon, and led to this cartoon.

dance of the retail partners

I've been involved in some kooky one-sided retailer negotiations lately, including thorny topics like exclusivity.  The retail market is more concentrated in the UK than in the US, so it's pretty clear where the power lies here.  But, I think the basic dynamic holds true in the US too. 

Of course, in this one-sided dynamic, it takes extra creativity (and fast two-stepping) to turn it into something like a partnership.  Instead of submitting to pressure, it's possible to create something unique and powerful even when you're much, much smaller than the retailer.

And then, last night, my daughter's school hosted a Gaelic Scottish dance called a Céilidh, which involved a lot of dance instruction (not to mention a lot of kilts). As everyone danced around the room, my mind wandered to cartoons.  Retailer relationships struck me as a sort of elaborate dance.

how to come up with a product name

An old colleague emailed me recently to ask if I'd ever done a cartoon on product naming.  She was helping a friend start a naming company called Spark.  Good name for a naming company.

Anyone, I was surprised to discover that I'd never covered product naming.  I have certainly been in lots and lots of ridiculous naming sessions over the years, but for some reason had never turned those into a cartoon.

So, Janine, this one's for you.

free prize inside

I was thinking recently how many package promotions seem a little gratuitous. 

I actually love the idea of a "Free Prize Inside", and found Seth Godin's book by that name really inspiring.  But I think that often the "free prize" just doesn't connect as well to the product as it could.  It could be any prize and any product.

I remember someone at General Mills comparing two promotions that had run with Cheerios.  In one, they gave away $5 off of a Dominos Pizza delivery.  And, in another, they gave away a free children's book that mothers could read with their kids.  Given that the Cheerios brand promise was "nurturing", it's pretty clear why one was the better and more memorable fit.

Anyway, I tried to take the idea of gratuitous promotion to the extreme and for some reason the image of a birthday cake stripper coming out of a box of cereal seemed appropriate.