Imagine that work has been hectic lately for your marketing team. In addition to creating some product brochures, they’ve just cranked out a portfolio manager presentation, a couple of ads and maybe an infographic.
Now they’re being asked to develop a suite of materials for a fund launch, where the expectation is to whip up something innovative that will capture the attention of advisors and investors.
Your creative team has that look of a deer caught in the headlights. Give them a boost with the following five ideas for sparking creativity.
Work together
Tackle creative challenges as a team to build upon each other’s ideas.
Focused, facilitated brainstorm meetings can work for specific initiatives, or maybe hold general creativity sessions with guest presenters and interactive segments to get everyone engaged.
Log creative ideas
For reference, maintain a running log of creative ideas, industry best practices and ideas from other industries that can apply to financial services.
When your team needs a shot of inspiration, they can scan through the log for thought-starters.
Assess external campaigns
Have your team do mini case studies of a successful external marketing campaign. They can assess what works and why, and how they can apply the learnings to their own materials.
Regular sharing and discussion of marketing insights can jump-start the imagination.
Leverage collective talents
Innovation and creativity aren’t limited to marketing materials.
Leverage the collective talents of your team to improve work processes or create a more vibrant and inviting work space. The benefits of this mental exercise may carry over to their respective jobs.
Give ’em a break
Let your team catch their breath by briefly switching them to a more mundane task like reviewing and updating existing materials. The goal is to let them refresh their batteries and do a creative reset.
Creativity can be a tough nut to crack. We hope these ideas help.