Idea Generating Techniques-Marketing

SWOT Analysis: It is the analysis of the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Through SWOT analysis a company can make a conscious, deliberate, and systematic effort to identify opportunities that can be profitability exploited. Regular SWOT analysis facilitators the generations of ideas.

Clear Articulating of Objectives: Top management should define the products and markets to emphasize and by stating the operational objectives clearly, it can channelize the efforts of employees and induce them to think more imaginatively. There should be clear articulation and prioritization of objectives to facilitate this.

Forced Relationships: By this technique several objects are listed and considered in relation to each other. For example, a sofa and a bed, two separate products are combined into one, by removing the arms of a sofa and making the back collapsible, to form a sofa-cum-bed, fulfilling a felt need of using furniture in a limited space.

Morphological Analysis; The morphological analysis will systematically explore the structural dimensions of a problem its basic parameters and all the known alternative means of fulfilling them.

Need/Problem Analysis: This technique differ from the preceding ones in that they require consumer input to generate ideas. Here, the consumers are approached to find out their needs, problems and ideas with reference to a particular product or project category.

Brainstorming: Brainstorming is an activity designed to provide maximum opportunity for the emergence of new and creative ides, approaches and solutions to particular problems.

Synetics: It is an operational theory for the conscious use of preconscious psychological mechanisms present in man’s creative activity and is particularly useful in the idea generation stage for new product development.

Lateral Thinking: According to De Bono, lateral thinking is a way of using he mind, a deliberate process, a general attitude which may make use of certain techniques on occasion. The most basic principle of lateral thinking is that nay particular way of looking at things in only one form among many other possible ways. Lateral thinking is considered with exploring other ways by restructuring and re-arranging the information that is available.

Check Lists: Literally, it is a list of factors or actins which should be considered or implemented in performing a predefined task such as launching a new product.