Why do all brands struggle to come up with new ideas?

If you’ve ever been asked to come up with a new idea for a marketing campaign, you’ll know how hard it can be. You don’t just need an idea, you need one that really fits the brief, connects with your audience, and makes sense for your brand. It’s something that almost every company wrestles with.

So why is it so difficult?

The truth is that idea generation is often misunderstood. On one end of the spectrum are people who think creativity should be completely free. They believe ideas will simply arrive with time, like magic (or in the shower). On the other end are those who treat the process too rigidly, turning idea generation into a box-ticking exercise. In both cases, frustration is inevitable.

The reality lies somewhere in the middle. The best conditions for creative thinking are not completely unstructured, but they are not stifling either. Like the story of Goldilocks, they must be just right. You need a good structure, the right environment, and a bit of space to think. With too much pressure, ideas dry up. With too little direction, they drift into vagueness. Balance is everything.

Developing your process

There’s no one-size-fits-all method for idea generation, but without a process, you’re relying on luck. The key is to create a structure that supports creativity without smothering it. That means having a framework to guide you, but also leaving room for exploration.

Start by identifying who needs to be involved and when. Not everyone needs to be involved from the beginning, but having the right mix of voices can unlock different perspectives. Next, make sure you have the right inputs. Data, insights, audience behaviours, and campaign objectives are all fuel for strong ideas.

Then, give your team the time and space to explore. That doesn’t mean waiting for inspiration to strike. It means giving people the headspace to think, play with concepts, and ask questions. Create moments for discussion, but also allow quiet time for ideas to take shape individually.

Most importantly, be ready to come back to your process again and again. Great ideas rarely land fully formed. The best ones are often the result of a few rough starts, some useful feedback, and a bit of refinement along the way.

What makes a good idea?

In marketing, ideas are not just for the sake of being clever or different. They need to work. They need to solve a problem or help achieve an objective. They need to deliver results. Without a clear link between creativity and impact, even the most exciting idea risks becoming a distraction.

That’s why we believe a good idea, just like a good objective, should be SMART.

It needs to be Specific. Vague ideas are hard to develop and even harder to sell in. They leave too many questions unanswered and quickly lose momentum.

It needs to be Measurable. If you don’t know what success looks like, how will you know if it’s working? Setting some form of metric or goal helps focus your thinking.

It needs to be Achievable. It’s easy to get carried away in the early stages, but your idea still needs to work within your resources. Ambition is good, but practicality matters.

It needs to be Relevant. Will your audience care? Does it reflect your brand and support your wider business goals? If not, it’s probably not the right idea.

It needs to be Time-bound. Even the best idea won’t land if it takes too long to execute or if the moment has passed by the time it goes live.

Applying these criteria helps you focus on ideas with real potential. The ones that are not just exciting, but also actionable and effective.

Our idea generation process

We always start by doing the groundwork. Before any creative thinking happens, we make sure we understand the challenge inside and out. We define the audience, explore the context, and gather insights. This early work gives us a strong foundation to build on.

Then, we set clear objectives. What are we trying to achieve? Is it about awareness, conversion, engagement, or something else entirely? These questions shape the direction of our thinking and help us judge whether an idea is moving us closer to our goals.

Next, we explore what competitors or substitutes are doing. This isn’t about copying. It’s about learning what’s already out there and identifying gaps or opportunities. We also go one step further by looking at brands in other industries. When we find organisations tackling similar challenges for different audiences, it often sparks fresh thinking.

From there, we start generating ideas. But we never work in a vacuum. We share early concepts with colleagues, collaborators, and sometimes even clients. We value feedback, not just because it helps refine our thinking, but because it often uncovers angles we hadn’t considered.

Throughout the process, we keep returning to those SMART principles. Every idea gets tested against what we need it to do. If it doesn’t hold up, we adjust or move on. By the time an idea is ready to present, it’s been challenged, shaped, and strengthened, and we know exactly how and why it works.

Wrapping up

Ultimately, great ideas don’t just happen. They need the right conditions to grow. That means giving them time. It means having a structure, but not being overly restrictive. And it means involving the right people, with the right mindset, at the right time.

Every brand struggles with idea generation at some point. But with a thoughtful process and a clear definition of what a good idea looks like, you can move past the frustration and get to something that really works.

Creativity thrives on clarity. When you build the right environment around it, the ideas come more easily, and the ones that stick are the ones that deliver.

Until next time, thanks for reading.