CHASM: 5 Frameworks for Idea Generation

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Every week, I share a marketing tool that can help you in developing new ideas for your marketing. Typically, I provide step-by-step exercises. But they’re based on a few core frameworks.

  1. Context – Apply unique and challenging situations to the problem. Example: You only have a $10 budget.

  2. Handoff – One person starts an idea and then passes it on to another person to expand upon it. Example: Someone writes a core benefit and then someone else brainstorms ideas on how to communicate it.

  3. Aspiration – Imagine you’re a brand that you admire and think how they would handle the problem. Example: If we were Apple, what would we launch this new product?

  4. Substitution – Ask yourself how would you solve the problem if you were in a completely different industry or situation. Example: Think of all the ways you can promote a lemonade stand and then brainstorm how you can apply those ideas to your own marketing.

  5. Medium – List all the mediums you can communicate your message and brainstorm ideas for each. Example: TV, Radio, Magazine, Facebook, Instagram…

They spell CHASM because all of these require that you take a leap in your thinking in order to get more novel ideas.

Based on these approaches, you can come up with an almost infinite array of exercises that can help you generate potential solutions specific to your immediate problem.

Have fun with them. They could help you think of your next big idea.