Creative ads helped turn Snickers into the world’s best-selling candy bar. I watched every single ad and noticed something: they all use an old but powerful technique.
In fact, it’s the first creative technique ever.
Let’s rewind.
It’s 1928. NYC. Alex Osborn co-founds a new agency, BBDO. Then, the Great Depression begins. To survive, they need good ideas. A lot of them.
So, Osborn creates a list of eight prompts to help his team generate ideas fast.
He calls this new process: “brainstorming.”
Today, the BBDO creatives are still using Osborn’s checklist (maybe without even realizing it).
Snickers, one of the agency’s coolest clients, is no exception:
1. Adapt
💡 How?
Ask: What could I adapt, copy, or borrow from someone else? Whom could I emulate? What other idea does this suggest? What else is like this? Does the past offer a parallel?
2. Modify
PR stunt: Snickers replaced their regular filling with Bounty’s. People online went nuts.
The explanation? “Sorry, our factory workers were hungry.”
💡 How?
Ask: Change the meaning, color, motion, sound, odor, form, shape? Other changes? New twist?
3. Magnify
In 2020, the world went crazy. Snickers had an explanation – maybe the world is just hungry. So, they fed it.
💡 How?
Ask: What is there to add? What can I magnify or make larger? More time? Greater frequency? Thicker? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Extra value? Another ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate?
4. Minify
💡 How?
Ask: What is there to subtract? What can I tone down or delete? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate?
5. Substitute
💡 How?
Ask: Who else, instead? What else, instead? Other ingredients? Other material? Other processes? Other power? Other places? Other approaches? Other tones of voice? Can I change the rules?
6. Rearrange
When people are hungry, they make dumb mistakes online. When people clicked on these ads, Snickers offered them a real discount so they can get back to themselves.
💡 How?
Ask: Interchange the components? Transpose cause and effect? Other patterns? Other layouts? Other sequences? Change pace? Change schedule?
7. Reverse
💡 How?
Ask: Interchange the components? Transpose cause and effect? Other patterns? Other layouts? Other sequences? Change pace? Change schedule?
8. Combine
The internet is an angry place. Why? People are hungry. So, Snickers created the Hungerithm, an algorithm that monitors the mood of the internet. When anger levels rise, Snickers prices at 7-Eleven go down.
💡 How?
Ask: How about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas?
Osborn's Checklist:
