Upon reading and thinking and endless brainstorming it is finally comforting to know that I have arrived at a final solution for Costa Vida to gather new customers as well as to improve retention rates on their existing ones. These creative thinking strategies have led me to think in ways I frankly would have never even hinted at, and therefore allowed me to see things I might have otherwise completely missed.
My final solution for Costa Vida is to create and implement a customer rewards program, and expand the marketing budget appropriately if necessary. This rewards program will be targeted mainly to college students, it will also be an incremental rewards system where the more customers eat at Costa Vida the better the rewards they can earn. Another idea I heavily entertained is that of a partnership with organizations in school and also with a delivery company; it is imperative that we reach the full market available in Gainesville and I think that if Costa Vida makes itself available throught the city it will reach more customers and retain them as well.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Awakening the Collaborative Spirit
While some may take this to be one of the most basics forms of idea generation, it is important to notice that it is also one of the most crucial ones. Working together to arrive at new solutions and conclusions is one of the earliest forms of critical thinking seen in humans. Our ability to bring in together different points of view as well as different thought processes and being able to communicate them across to others is invaluable. This is the exact purpose of this strategy, to gather not just one but many minds and interchange ideas and concepts. Through this process there are many brains working towards a solution and not just one.
For the execution of this creative thinking strategy I gathered my roommates during breakfast and they agreed to help me come up with ideas and solutions. I will be using the "Idea Pool" technique which features a center stack of index cards with everyone's ideas mixed in the middle. We then proceeded to brainstorm and every time we seemed to be running out of ideas we grabbed an index card and read our friends' ideas and kept on going. For the sake of this blog and proper documentation I will write some of the ideas that were written in the stack of index cards.
Index Card Ideas:
- Partner up with Social organizations
- Cater school events
- Have people dressed as burritos at the football game (my idea)
- Advertise in local TV and radio
- Go preach in Turlington
Results:
Out of these wacky, but yet innovative ideas, together we came to the conclusion that what might really work here is to really get involved in student life. Whereas it be football games, catering events or even running around campus in a burrito, students are a key demographic in a college town.
For the execution of this creative thinking strategy I gathered my roommates during breakfast and they agreed to help me come up with ideas and solutions. I will be using the "Idea Pool" technique which features a center stack of index cards with everyone's ideas mixed in the middle. We then proceeded to brainstorm and every time we seemed to be running out of ideas we grabbed an index card and read our friends' ideas and kept on going. For the sake of this blog and proper documentation I will write some of the ideas that were written in the stack of index cards.
Index Card Ideas:
- Partner up with Social organizations
- Cater school events
- Have people dressed as burritos at the football game (my idea)
- Advertise in local TV and radio
- Go preach in Turlington
Results:
Out of these wacky, but yet innovative ideas, together we came to the conclusion that what might really work here is to really get involved in student life. Whereas it be football games, catering events or even running around campus in a burrito, students are a key demographic in a college town.
Find What You're Not Looking For
The purpose of this strategy is to condition our creative mind to observe and find ideas and potential in things other might just dismiss as mundane or everyday. This in turn can inadvertently lead to the creation of brand new ideas that can and will flourish with the proper push and nurturing. It is quite easy to get bogged down by a specific task and tunnel vision so that we ignore the rest of the world around us and focus only on what we think matters most. But in reality, everything matters, ideas are everywhere and inspiration is to be had by all.
The tool I will introduce in this part of the blog is the "Imagineering" tool. This tool takes advantage of crazy ideas, one crazier than the last and puts them under a new light. It is essential to focus on the essence of the idea in order to further down the line understand what it is that makes it work and why as a new idea. Lastly, draw comparisons and create ideas of how one might be applied to another.
Subject: Costa Vida's Customer Rewards Program needs ways to gain and retain people
Crazy Ideas:
- Send them free stuff to their homes
- Dress as tacos and serenade them
- Pay them
- Have ninjas throw reward cards around as ninja stars
Analysis and Result:
The first crazy idea, the one about sending people free stuff to their homes is actually quite interesting. The principle behind it is not so much free stuff, as it is the advantage of having something mailed to you rather than you having to go get it, so commodity. Drawing from this principle, if we could make it so that after a certain amount of time in the rewards program customers qualified for a delivery system that will take their orders straight to their home without charging ridiculous fees.
The tool I will introduce in this part of the blog is the "Imagineering" tool. This tool takes advantage of crazy ideas, one crazier than the last and puts them under a new light. It is essential to focus on the essence of the idea in order to further down the line understand what it is that makes it work and why as a new idea. Lastly, draw comparisons and create ideas of how one might be applied to another.
Subject: Costa Vida's Customer Rewards Program needs ways to gain and retain people
Crazy Ideas:
- Send them free stuff to their homes
- Dress as tacos and serenade them
- Pay them
- Have ninjas throw reward cards around as ninja stars
Analysis and Result:
The first crazy idea, the one about sending people free stuff to their homes is actually quite interesting. The principle behind it is not so much free stuff, as it is the advantage of having something mailed to you rather than you having to go get it, so commodity. Drawing from this principle, if we could make it so that after a certain amount of time in the rewards program customers qualified for a delivery system that will take their orders straight to their home without charging ridiculous fees.
Looking in Other Worlds
When one looks into other worlds, one can oftentimes observe things working in an entirely alien environment. Yet we can draw comparisons and analogies as to what can two vastly different worlds have in common, the answer may sometimes be so obvious it surprises us. This creative strategy does exactly that, it allows the user to draw conclusions from observing, comparing and contrasting concepts, objects and ideas from vastly different fields. And from that, creating a meaningful and useful solution to a problem.
A tool that can be used to bring this technique to life is the World of Essences tool, and it consists of basically an issue or a problem an individual or firm may be facing. This problem can be represented by a simple principle such as "sales" or "recruitment". We now look outwards at the aspects of the world around us and focus on the same principle applied to different environments. Once we lock into a certain environment, we draw similarities, differences, analogies, etc.
In the specific case of a customer rewards program at Costa Vida, the main theme and principle will be "retention".
Subject: Retention
Other Worlds:
- Colleges retain students for a number of years
- Businesses often try to retain good employees
- Braces and retainers keep your teeth from moving
Solution:
When businesses seek to retain employees, it is often their strategy to increase pay or better working conditions. They can even go so far as to modify perks and benefits that will entice the employee and drive them to keep working for the same company for a larger period of time. Costa Vida can replicate the same sense of importance towards their customers. They can tailor and tweak their rewards program so that it will appeal to the sort of demographic they are mainly targeting, thus improving customer retention in an important area.
A tool that can be used to bring this technique to life is the World of Essences tool, and it consists of basically an issue or a problem an individual or firm may be facing. This problem can be represented by a simple principle such as "sales" or "recruitment". We now look outwards at the aspects of the world around us and focus on the same principle applied to different environments. Once we lock into a certain environment, we draw similarities, differences, analogies, etc.
In the specific case of a customer rewards program at Costa Vida, the main theme and principle will be "retention".
Subject: Retention
Other Worlds:
- Colleges retain students for a number of years
- Businesses often try to retain good employees
- Braces and retainers keep your teeth from moving
Solution:
When businesses seek to retain employees, it is often their strategy to increase pay or better working conditions. They can even go so far as to modify perks and benefits that will entice the employee and drive them to keep working for the same company for a larger period of time. Costa Vida can replicate the same sense of importance towards their customers. They can tailor and tweak their rewards program so that it will appeal to the sort of demographic they are mainly targeting, thus improving customer retention in an important area.
Looking At The Other Side
One of the purposes of this creative thinking strategy is to get the individual or group to think outside currently set boundaries. It is important to remember that, while boundaries are great for a project structure, they do not necessarily result in the best solution. Thus it is important to at times look outside these boundaries, into places and into ideas that might have been otherwise ignored.
The tool that I will use to illustrate this thinking strategy is the "Reverse Assumption" tool. Through this tool, I will write down basic assumptions about common rewards programs. I will then reverse these assumptions and observe the results; afterwards I will look for ways to fit these results into Costa Vida's reward program plan.
Subject: Customer Rewards Program
Assumptions:
- Customers buy things in order to get points
- The more customers buy, the more they receive
- Customers physically make purchases
- They receive free food in exchange for loyalty
Reversal:
- Customers don't buy things, but refer people instead
- The more people they refer, the better
- Rewards aren't only for physical purchases but also apply for online and delivery orders
- Customers get not only food but can also receive apparel, cash prizes, shirts, etc.
Results:
What this creative strategy has taught me is that there is no one set way of doing things. When you reverse all these assumptions, you may sometimes get silly things but other times a genuinely useful idea, such as the flexibility of a online rewards program
The tool that I will use to illustrate this thinking strategy is the "Reverse Assumption" tool. Through this tool, I will write down basic assumptions about common rewards programs. I will then reverse these assumptions and observe the results; afterwards I will look for ways to fit these results into Costa Vida's reward program plan.
Subject: Customer Rewards Program
Assumptions:
- Customers buy things in order to get points
- The more customers buy, the more they receive
- Customers physically make purchases
- They receive free food in exchange for loyalty
Reversal:
- Customers don't buy things, but refer people instead
- The more people they refer, the better
- Rewards aren't only for physical purchases but also apply for online and delivery orders
- Customers get not only food but can also receive apparel, cash prizes, shirts, etc.
Results:
What this creative strategy has taught me is that there is no one set way of doing things. When you reverse all these assumptions, you may sometimes get silly things but other times a genuinely useful idea, such as the flexibility of a online rewards program
Connecting the Unconnected
This strategy for creative thinking focuses on the fact that some people perform better when the right creative ingredients are present. In this case, there is ultimate freedom in the sense that individuals are required to bring in two completely different things and compare their aspects and characteristics. From this, one is able to pick those that would fit interestingly together and create a brand new idea.
In order to better demonstrate how to seemingly unrelated concepts can come together to create genius, I will use the "5 Senses" tool. Through this tool I will list my problem and all 5 senses; ultimately I will come up with ways in which the senses will play key parts in the realization or solution to my initial problem.
Challenge/Issue: Create a customer rewards system to increase the number of clients.
Sight: Create personalized reward cards, dress people up as burritos and go to campus distributing reward cards and signing people up for the program
Hearing: Propose an Apple Music partnership after the customer reaches a certain number of purchases
Smell: Scratch and smell cards!!
Touch: Every time someone registers for the rewards program they get a hug and a high-five!
Taste: For those in doubt of the quality of the food, they can get free samples before they register in the program.
Results:
As seen from this technique and the above mentioned tool, enhancing a product with even the simplest of ideas can give rise to concepts that further down the line will really increase customer retention as well as increase market share.
In order to better demonstrate how to seemingly unrelated concepts can come together to create genius, I will use the "5 Senses" tool. Through this tool I will list my problem and all 5 senses; ultimately I will come up with ways in which the senses will play key parts in the realization or solution to my initial problem.
Challenge/Issue: Create a customer rewards system to increase the number of clients.
Sight: Create personalized reward cards, dress people up as burritos and go to campus distributing reward cards and signing people up for the program
Hearing: Propose an Apple Music partnership after the customer reaches a certain number of purchases
Smell: Scratch and smell cards!!
Touch: Every time someone registers for the rewards program they get a hug and a high-five!
Taste: For those in doubt of the quality of the food, they can get free samples before they register in the program.
Results:
As seen from this technique and the above mentioned tool, enhancing a product with even the simplest of ideas can give rise to concepts that further down the line will really increase customer retention as well as increase market share.
Making Novel Combinations
The point of this creative thinking strategy is to combine things. These things can be names, ideas, places, tastes, anything. The individual or group then combines these seemingly unrelated concepts and brings them together in order to create a whole new idea that he otherwise could not have achieved. This basically means a collision of two worlds that might have never met and the beautiful formation of a new idea.
In order to fully be able to explain this strategy, I will showcase the Combinatory Matrix as it applies to my current Costa Vida business issue. This matrix is essentially a way to list parameters that are essential to an initial plan. Afterwards, as many variations of the parameters as desired are listed. Lastly, through randomization a certain combination is picked. This tool ultimately demonstrates the essence of the strategy and allows for easy production of ideas.
Challenge: Create a rewards program for customers
Reason of Reward Reward Type of Reward System
1.Continuous Purchases Food Flat earning point system
2.Eating their food fast Offers/Deals Rewards get better as you go
3.Eating Healthy Money Prizes Flat number of purchases
Once the matrix is established, a certain combination is picked and applied. For example, if done by integers, a combination might be 3-1-2 which indicates a reward system where customers can earn free food or eating healthy, all the while the better tasting foods are reserved to loyal customers.
In order to fully be able to explain this strategy, I will showcase the Combinatory Matrix as it applies to my current Costa Vida business issue. This matrix is essentially a way to list parameters that are essential to an initial plan. Afterwards, as many variations of the parameters as desired are listed. Lastly, through randomization a certain combination is picked. This tool ultimately demonstrates the essence of the strategy and allows for easy production of ideas.
Challenge: Create a rewards program for customers
Reason of Reward Reward Type of Reward System
1.Continuous Purchases Food Flat earning point system
2.Eating their food fast Offers/Deals Rewards get better as you go
3.Eating Healthy Money Prizes Flat number of purchases
Once the matrix is established, a certain combination is picked and applied. For example, if done by integers, a combination might be 3-1-2 which indicates a reward system where customers can earn free food or eating healthy, all the while the better tasting foods are reserved to loyal customers.
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