6. Creativity Questions Flashcards
What is the method for answering creativity questions?
- Use a Mini Framework: supply chain, value chain, customer journey, concentric circles
- Be creative: draw parallels, imagine the future
- Prioritise: by ease / impact
- Highlight potential risks
What is the generic structure to answering creativity questions?
- Be polite, reiterate key objective
- Key elements / key steps in the process
- Explore each element
- Prioritise based on impact / ease
- Potential risks & mitigations
Thank you for your patience. To reiterate, the key objective for our client is ABC. A good way to structure the different strategies that can be implemented is DEF
No.1. . . No.2. . . No.3. . ..
Now, let me explore each element / step in more detail.
Given these are a lot of different ideas, I think it could be helpful to prioritise them. The ideas I would focus on first would be A, B, C because these (are essential. . . have the highest impact. . . should be the easiest to implement). Once these are done, I would do X, Y, Z.
Finally, when we are implementing these ideas, we need to be careful of ABC. A potential way to mitigate this risk is DEF.
Example Q’s
- What are some of the things Client ABC can do to return to profitability?
- What are some things Client ABC can do to reach its sales target?
- What are some things Client ABC can do to reduce their costs?
- How can Client ABC successfully introduce their product in a new market/country?
- What process can Client ABC follow to design a loyalty programme that maximises brand recognition?
- What are some things Client ABC can do to increase employee engagement?
1. Ideas for growing sales
What are some things Client ABC can do to reach its sales target?
In this case, I’ve identified 4 main ways Client ABC can grow sales: No.1 growing the sales per customer, No.2 growing the number of customers, No.3 launching new products, No.4 Expanding into new markets.
Given these are a lot of different ideas, I think it could be helpful to prioritise them. I suggest first focusing on growing Client ABC’s core business to the maximum by increasing the sales team and getting in new countries. Then Client ABC may want to try some of the diversification ideas.
Finally, there are some risks in trying to grow the business too rapidly: No.1 Client ABC risks losing focus on its core business, No.2 launching completely new products might be costly and hinder profits in the short term, No.3 new products and digital channels may cannibalise sales from existing ones, No.4 quantifying the financial impact for new products may be difficult and require a lot of assumptions, No.5 different countries have different cultures and diff ways of doing things which may require our client to adapt their product and sales approach.
Potential risks can be minimised by piloting the ideas, testing slightly different approaches, and then adopting the best tactics when scaling up.
2. Introducing products in new markets
e.g. How can Mei Jiu successfully introduce and sell Chinese rice wine in Europe?
- Concentric circles framework
- Marketing framework
In this case, a good strategy for Client ABC could be to start focusing on a small community of customers and grow this community in concentric circles until the product becomes mainstream.
In this case, in order to maximise its chances of being successful, Client ABC could apply this 3 step plan to a handful of selected countries/cities first instead of trying to sell its product across the entire continent from the beginning.
Risks to this plan can be minimised by testing slightly different approaches in the different pilot cities and then adopting the best tactics when the client is confident in rapidly scaling up.
3. Customer journey framework
e.g. What are the different things we can do to attract a new customer segment?
Thank you for your patience. To reiterate, the key question our client wants answered is what are the different things they can do to increase sales from this new customer segment.
In this case, a good approach is to look at the customer journey and develop ideas at each stage of the journey. For Client ABC, the typical customer journey starts with X, then Y, then Z.
Given these are a lot of different ideas, I think it could be helpful to prioritise them. The ones I would probably focus on first are ABC as seem essential to attract this new customer segment. Once we have the basic things set up, I would set up a small marketing campaign to communicate our client’s new brand.
Finally, when we are implementing these ideas, we need to be careful not to alienate our current customer base. A potential mitigation to this risk is XYZ.
4. Value Chain / Costs Framework
e.g. What are some things Client ABC can do to reduce its costs?
Thank you for your patience. To reiterate, the key question our client wants answered is what are the different things they can do to reduce costs.
In this case, a good approach is to look at the value chain for Client ABC and identify savings that can be made at each step. For Client ABC, the typical value chain starts with X, then Y, then Z.
Given these are a lot of different ideas, I think it could be helpful to prioritise them. The ones I would probably focus on first are ABC because it is the easiest to implement immediately. If this works well, then we can do DEF as well.
Finally, there are some risks related to these plans: No.1 some initiatives have upfront costs and which would actually increase costs and reduce profitability in the short term, No.2 in our cost-cutting exercise, we could risk losing focus on sales and hinder potential expansion, No.3 employees may protest against the move and result in absenteeism, No.4 certain customers may receive the change negatively.
A potential mitigation for these risks is by tracking metrics like changes in sales, profits, customer feedback very closely.
