Let me tell you about the toothpaste company that invented a billion-dollar product because someone said something stupid.
A team at a major consumer goods company was brainstorming new product ideas. Someone suggested “toothpaste that you do not have to spit out.” The room laughed. It was a ridiculous idea.
But the facilitator wrote it down anyway. No judgment. No laughter. Just the marker moving across the whiteboard.
That stupid idea led to a conversation about convenience. What if you could brush your teeth anywhere? On a plane? At your desk? In a car?
That conversation led to a different idea: a dry, single-use toothbrush with toothpaste already on it. No water needed. No spitting required.
That idea became a product line that generated over $500 million in sales.
The first idea was stupid. The facilitator did not kill it. That is the difference between a real brainstorming session and a fake one.
The One Rule That Changes Everything
Separate generation from evaluation.
Phase 1: Generate ideas. No criticism. No “that won’t work.” No “we tried that.” No “that’s too expensive.” Just ideas. Quantity over quality. Weird over safe.
Phase 2: Evaluate ideas. Now you can criticize. Now you can ask about budget, timing, and feasibility. But never in Phase 1.
Most teams mix these phases. Someone says an idea. Someone else immediately says why it will not work. The idea dies. The person feels stupid. The room learns: do not share weird ideas.
That is how you get boring marketing.
Best Practice #1: Set a Number, Not a Time
“Let’s brainstorm for an hour” is a terrible goal. “Let’s generate 50 ideas” is a great goal.
When you have a time limit, people stop when the time runs out. When you have a number, people keep going until they hit it. The last ten ideas are usually the best because you have exhausted the obvious ones.
Try this: Set a timer for 30 minutes. Goal: 50 ideas. Do not stop until you hit 50. The first 20 will be easy. The next 15 will be harder. The last 15 will hurt. Those hurtful ones are the gold.
Best Practice #2: Ban These Words from the Room
During the generation phase, these words are forbidden:
-
“But”
-
“However”
-
“We tried that”
-
“That won’t work”
-
“That’s too expensive”
-
“That’s not how we do things”
-
“The client won’t like that”
-
“That’s stupid”
Assign someone to be the “word police.” Every time someone says a banned word, they have to put a dollar in a jar or do a silly dance. You will be surprised how often even smart people say “but” without thinking.
Best Practice #3: Use Prompts That Force Creativity
Open-ended questions like “any ideas?” get open-ended nothing. Use specific prompts that force your brain down new paths.
Ten prompts that actually work:
-
“What would our competitor never try?” (Then do that.)
-
“How would a child solve this problem?” (Children ignore constraints. So should you.)
-
“What would we do with a $0 budget?” (Constraints breed creativity.)
-
“What would we do with a $1 million budget?” (No constraints also breed creativity.)
-
“What is the worst possible idea we could try?” (Then flip it. The opposite of terrible is sometimes great.)
-
“How would a brand from a completely different industry approach this?” (What would Nike do? What would a church do? What would a casino do?)
-
“What are we pretending not to know?” (This one is uncomfortable. That is the point.)
-
“What would we do if we had to launch tomorrow?” (Speed kills perfectionism.)
-
“What would we do if failure was impossible?” (Bold ideas live here.)
-
“What would we do if success was guaranteed?” (Even bolder.)
Best Practice #4: Brainstorm Alone First, Then Together
Group brainstorming has a problem: loud people win. Quiet people with great ideas stay quiet.
Better process:
-
Step 1: Everyone brainstorms alone for 15 minutes. Write down as many ideas as possible. No talking.
-
Step 2: Everyone shares their ideas one by one. No criticism. Just reading the list.
-
Step 3: The group builds on the best ideas from the individual lists.
This ensures the quiet person with the brilliant weird idea gets heard. It also prevents “anchoring” (the first loud idea sets the direction for everyone).
Best Practice #5: Use Physical Movement
Sitting in a conference room kills energy. Standing kills it less. Walking kills it least.
Try these:
-
Brainstorm while walking around the block.
-
Write ideas on sticky notes and put them on a wall. Move them around physically.
-
Use a whiteboard that covers an entire wall. Stand up. Use your whole arm.
-
Go to a coffee shop, a park, or a museum. New environments unlock new thoughts.
Your brain is connected to your body. Move your body. Unlock your brain.
Best Practice #6: Capture Everything (Yes, Everything)
Do not trust your memory. Do not trust “we will come back to that.” Write down every single idea.
Tools that work:
-
A whiteboard (take a photo before you erase)
-
Sticky notes on a wall (take a photo)
-
A shared digital doc (everyone types their own ideas)
-
A voice recorder (talk it out, transcribe later)
The idea you think is stupid at 10 AM might be brilliant at 10 PM when you are half asleep and thinking differently. Capture it. Judge it later.
Best Practice #7: Have a “Yes, And” Rule
Instead of “but,” say “yes, and.”
-
“What if we did a flash mob in the mall?”
-
“Yes, and we could livestream it on TikTok.”
-
“Yes, and we could give out free samples during the dance.”
-
“Yes, and we could invite local influencers to join.”
“Yes, and” builds ideas. “But” kills them. Use “yes, and” for the entire generation phase. You will be amazed how far a silly idea can go when no one stops it.
The Evaluation Phase (Now You Can Judge)
After you have generated 50 ideas, now it is time to evaluate. Use these three filters.
Filter 1: Impact. If this idea worked perfectly, how much would it move the needle? (High/Medium/Low)
Filter 2: Effort. How hard would this be to execute? (High/Medium/Low)
Filter 3: Weirdness. Is this different from what everyone else is doing? (Yes/No)
Now plot your ideas:
-
High impact + Low effort + Weird = Do this tomorrow.
-
High impact + High effort + Weird = Plan this for next quarter.
-
Low impact + Any effort = Skip it.
-
High impact + Low effort + Not weird = Safe. Do it if you have time. But do not expect magic.
A Real-World Example: The Pizza Chain That Brainstormed Weird
A regional pizza chain was struggling to stand out. Their brainstorming session was going nowhere. Safe ideas. Boring promotions. Discounts. Coupons. Yawn.
Someone finally said the stupid thing: “What if we delivered pizza by drone?”
The room laughed. Then someone said “yes, and we could livestream the drone flight to the customer’s phone.” Someone else said “yes, and we could call it ‘Fly-by Pie.'”
They did not deliver by drone. That was too expensive and legally complicated. But the conversation led to a different idea: a real-time pizza tracker that showed your pizza moving through the oven, then out the door, then on the road. No drone. Just transparency.
That tracker became their signature feature. Customers loved watching their pizza’s journey. Sales increased. All because someone said the stupid thing out loud and no one killed it.
The Bottom Line
Brainstorming is not about being smart. It is about being brave. It is about saying the stupid thing before the critic in your head shuts you up. It is about writing down the weird idea before the person across the table rolls their eyes.
The best marketing ideas are not obvious. They are not safe. They are not what everyone else is doing.
They are hiding in the uncomfortable space between “that’s ridiculous” and “wait, actually…”
Your job is not to judge. Your job is to generate. Let the weird out. Capture everything. Judge later.
Because the idea that changes your business is probably the one you almost did not say.
Say it anyway. Write it down. Let it breathe. You can always kill it tomorrow. But you cannot resurrect an idea you never allowed to live.
