Ever hit a brick wall when describing a creative concept to a consumer? Want to avoid those uncomfortable and ineffective silences?

Help consumers dimensionalize the concepts you are presenting by creating stimuli-rich research. They are great at telling you what they like or dislike, so supply them with specific things to react to. Create Picture Prompts: a series of colorful pictures of to help trigger new thinking.

For example, for our client Clairol's Natural Instincts brand, we supplied many beautiful and colorful picture prompts about hair color: A sunrise in the Grand Canyon, an African waterfall, a parrot in the Amazon jungle, etc. As we explored these visual metaphors, and worked to identify the mechanisms, principles or processes that made them so naturally colorful and beautiful, we discovered very interesting new product/line extension ideas. We created a Natural Instincts sub-brand with hair colors reminiscent of the beautiful colors in these exotic locations; and included exotic natural ingredients to help deliver the product's claims of color superiority and vibrancy. Natural Instincts Exotics, this sub-line included: Burmese Ruby, Moroccan Spice, Egyptian Plum, Tahitian Honey, Martinique Moondance, and Brazilian Topaz.

For more information on creating stimuli-rich research, read Bryan Mattimore's IDEA STORMERS: How to Lead and Inspire Creative Breakthroughs (published by Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley) or contact The Growth Engine at (203) 857-4494.

Find out how you can receive a free copy of Idea Stormers by visiting us at http://www.growth-engine.com/