ON ADVERTISING WD On Advertising is published by Wesley Day Advertising
FIVE-STAR THINKING.
Traditional decision making is often profoundly flawed. New products fail. Marketing strategies bomb. Advertising concepts backfire. Despite the best of intentions, faults in decision analysis and poor team dynamics mean that key facts are overlooked. One handy tool for giving decisions the robust scrutiny they need is five-star thinking. To use it, write the decision you want to analyze on a sticky note, draw a star around it, and stick it to the center of the wall. Now label and add five colored sticky notes next to the points of the star. Take turns focusing on each one and analyzing and brainstorming your decision from that perspective. Write your ideas on smaller sticky notes next to each of the five colored perspectives. • White note – Data Analysis Focus on the data available. Analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data. • Yellow note – Intuitive Analysis Focus on gut reactions and emotions. Think how other people who do not fully know your reasoning will react emotionally. • Blue note – Pessimistic Analysis Look at all the bad points of the decision. Try to see why it might not work. • Red note – Optimistic Analysis List all the benefits of the decision and the values in it. • Green note – Creative Analysis Develop creative solutions. Be freewheeling and avoid criticism of ideas.