Coming up with ideas
CEREBRAL ACROBATICS

I don't use a unique four-stage IntelliTank™ process to think outside the box and churn out IdeaGiblets®.

I'm usually given the brief and I disappear home with a bottle of Blue Nun returning the next day with two pages of ideas.

Admittedly, some may not be what you were expecting* but they'll be on brand, will get you coverage and I guarantee you'll like a few. I particularly like ideas that take the client outside their comfort zone - they're quite often the ones that tend to catch the eye of journalists.

I'm used to running brainstorms, which ideally involve the client. I ran one recently with a team of high-level management from BT Global Services. The resulting ideas were used the following quarter as speaking topics for their CEO.

I've written a guide to successful brainstorming which is now used by three PR companies and a branding agency. I recently advised creative hotshop Freud Communications on ways in which to improve their creative processes.

I believe the whole purpose of being alive is to be creative. The subject fascinates me and I read every book on the subject that I can get hold of. I particularly enjoy thrashing out ideas with friend, author and creativity guru Andy Green.

Recent ideas include Nuclear 2.0 - a rebranding of the UK nuclear power industry, an online collaborative novel to allow teenagers to express their creativity, and teams of talented freerunners creating a stir as they back-flip their way around UK summer events promoting a leading teenagers' social network.

*I once suggested a mobile phone company launched a new game by shooting dwarves dressed as superheroes from a branded cannon into the River Thames.