Building

new boxes
We are going to discuss effective brainstorming.
Start by reviewing this article on the BCG website:

Building New Boxes: How to Run Br

ainstorming Sessions That Work
The article offers five suggestions to achieve real, valuable insights from brainstorming
We will focus on three of these in today’s task (as well as the brainstorming itself), highlighted in green

Brainstorm
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Frame the Create Reveal and Bring new Follow up
question creativity doubt your boxes
effectively conditions boxes
Your task

BCG has been brought in to help ClothingCo, a

luxury clothing brand, grow their top line (i.e.,
increase revenue) after a period of declining
sales.

The client is gearing up for the winter season.

Imagine that you are a strategy consultant
working on the project.

You will enter your responses in the green

boxes throughout the remaining slides.
 Question to be reframed
How could we sell more outerwear this
winter season?
Frame the question effectively –

Revised, effective questions:

1. How can our winter wear look
fashionable and feel comfortable
at the same time ?
2. How can we make our winter wear
“If I were given one hour to save the planet, be the first choice for office going
crowd ?
I would spend fifty-nine minutes defining 3. How can we get the young
demographic on social media to
the problem and one minute resolving it.” get talking about our winter wear
and indirectly promote our
– Albert Einstein products.

Remember: A good question for

brainstorming will be narrow and
concrete, so that people feel they know
how to begin answering it.
 In this fictional scenario, make
assumptions that seem reasonable

Reveal and doubt your boxes –

What boxes currently exist that are

still relevant?
The first step in the creative process entails
1. Luxury winter wear swerves a
identifying and doubting one’s current boxes and niche target audience.
determining which ones require re-evaluation or 2. Winter wear is made out of wool
primarily.
replacement.
–
Make a short list of the shared beliefs and What boxes currently exist that
assumptions that likely prevail in ClothingCo. need to be doubted?

Determine which are still relevant and which need to 3. That the winter wear is thick and
heavy to wear.
be redefined. 4. That winter wear is usually not
fashionable.
5. That winter wear can be worn only
during a particular time of the
year.
Bring new boxes
New box #1
Prepare for brainstorming by creating New box #2
new boxes to bring to the session; new [Luxury Woollen Formals]
[Luxury Fashion Show]
boxes will nurture ideation and can
● Integrate soft woollen like
dramatically increase the odds of a useful ● Having a fashion show to display
Pashmina or Cashmere into
result. and market the winter clothing
formal clothing like shirts, pants
line is good marketing tool.
and suits catering to the business
● Bringing in popular models for
crowd.
the ramp walk.
● New product with a good
Remember: Defining new boxes ● Publicising the event and the
potential to boost revenue.
requires a mixture of analysis and art. clothing line will bring in more
● Good alternative to cotton
demand.
Boxes need to be grounded in fact. formals during the winter.
Different sectors will call for different
inputs.
 Question How can we make our winter wear be the first choice
Brainstorm for office going crowd ?
Choose one of the effective questions you created on slide 5, and a new box from slide 7, and
brainstorm potential ideas to address the question

New box Luxury Woollen Formals

● Use luxury fabrics like Pashmina and ● Target audience might be top10%
Cashmere executives in any given company.
● Run ad campaigns which signify values
● Consider blending cotton but keeping
such as success, luxury and rarity.
it minimal
● Once demand is high, we can run limited
● Make them look elite and supply campaigns.
professional ● Partnering with local manufacturers of
● Target business crowd fabric will reduce cost and have better
quality control.