I started to have the ideas by myself.

giving them a clear structure to bring the idea IN. (we always used problem, insight, idea, execution.) making them think through all the steps on how to sell it vs. just vomiting found images and headlines onto a slide deck helped train up junior teams and improved the output significantly.

Write about what the brand hates in first person. It’s the strongest emotion, reveals tone of voice (vivid imagery, sarcasm, humor), and allows people to have much more fun. Make it a stream of consciousness rant, and then pick out the most interesting parts and guarantee you’ll have the start of some fun stuff.

Work with them. My ECD made 10x better by seating down with me and my partner, cracking the creative together. Now he doesn’t need to do it as often. But he likes to do it because it’s fun.

I always tell them to be their own CD when they vet their ideas. Then I tell them to ask themselves - is this something I want to make?

Nothing has changed.

This seems overly simplistic, but provide a good brief and good ideas follow. I once heard someone say, when you see a good brief 10 ideas should jump into your head. But too often I’m getting briefs that are basic or just plain confusing. What’s the insight? What’s the point of differentiation? If a creative has to fill in those gaps, it’s less time finding creative ways to communicate.

More time and early check ins without pressure. Get the first crappy ideas out of the way.

Get them in the habit of writing brand tenets at the start of project. “As a brand, we believe ________”. Get 15 to 20 on a page, you focus in on the ones that make the most sense, strategically, and send them back out to concept around those thoughts.

Talk with them. Have discussion around the problem you’re trying to solve both in the brief and beyond. If the problem is their ideas, have conversations that probe what’s not working and paths around the blockage.

If you ask them to show you how their brains are working out the problem in real time, it may show you what’s wrong. And, it stops you simply being a critic.

I actually just told one of the jrs in my group to look for old awards books…and look at how the greats of yore did it. “How the guy who runs the snow plow gets to the snow plow.” Volkswagen. Alka Seltzer. How they synthesized big selling ideas in a handful of snappy words.

Start with strategy.

Then:
Disrupt routines.
Give thought starters.
Go for walks.
Anything to change the scenery.