Brian Eno's website describes Oblique Strategies: "In 1975, in collaboration with the artist Peter Schmidt, Eno also developed the 'Oblique Strategies' set of problem-solving cards for artists. Each card states an act or attitude which can make an immediate intervention into the creative process."
I borrowed the basic idea to come up with a deck of Oblique marketing strategies. You can print them on cards or use a random number generator to pick one. You can also view and interactive version on the Articulate website. I'd welcome additional suggestions.
- Be more specific
- Be more emotional
- Subvert clichés
- Go across the street
- Who is in a similar business?
- Cement? Consolidate?
- Turn it upside down
- Which medium?
- Be quick and dirty
- Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do & do the last thing on the list
- Take a risk
- Work against your better judgement
- Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance
- BANJO – Bang Another Nasty Job Out
- Phone a Friend
- Use an egg timer to get started
- Faced with a choice, do both
- Do something really tiny but exquisite
- Don't be frightened to display your talents
- They can only say no
- Ask for more money
- Use 'unqualified' people
- Do as much as you can for a short period of time
- Bridges -build -burn
- Tidy up
- Do the words need changing?
- Shut up for a moment
- Call ten people who don’t want your product
- Remove the error from something human
- Discard an axiom
- Listen to the quiet voice
- Buy a strange magazine
- Give the game away
- Use fewer words
- Repeat your greatest success
- What would Microsoft do?
- What would Linus Torvalds do?
- Just carry on
- Reinforce success
- Spectrum analysis
- What mistakes did you make last time?
- Courageous spending
- Do it for nothing
- State the problem in words as clearly as possible
- Change the order
- Cluster analysis
- Do something boring
- Overtly resist change
- Accept advice
- Work at a different speed
- Down the pub
- Free associate
- Go for a run
- Build a bridge
- Do the things you love and the money will take care of itself
