With such a wide range of pitches coming through, a lot of our Mentors are finding that one or more of their student pitches are just one line, or don't match the brief at all. We have pulled together some additional guidance and support here, if you find yourself in this situation.
You are the Experts
Think about what you would say to junior team members in a similar situation. As a Mentor, you have a unique ability to ask the why, as we all do in our own capacity as professionals, and draw out the answers from them. They will have the answers, they just need the confidence to trust them.
Starting their Creative Journey
Our B!G Idea students are mostly all new to this creative process and way of thinking. Positivity and encouragement on their progress to date is really important and you could think about how you can provide clear, manageable challenges and opportunities for skill and idea development.Practical Advice
You could even break down the wording of the brief so, for example, if it's a campaign, explain what a campaign is, what a campaign should look like, important things to consider in creating a campaign etc.
Refer them back to the research, to their Hero and to their empathy maps to better understand the problem they are developing the solution/ B!G Idea for.
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Do they need to go back a stage to research again? Could you outline a step by step framework to help them understand the various steps they should take to best develop their idea?
Do you have specific resources that will help them with their research? Feel free to add hyperlinks to projects you worked on or resources that you think might be helpful for students to drive their idea forward.
What have you done in your own career that followed a similar process? Can you share some of your learnings to help them focus on their next steps?
If you think that their idea is good but doesn’t fit the brief, ask them how they could tweak or integrate their idea so that it does. Be direct in suggesting ways to expand on adapt or modify their idea (which is important to them) into an idea which responds to the problem posed.
For example…
“I like your initial idea, however there’s scope to explore….”
“Can you tell me more about…”
“I think to move this idea forward you should look back at the challenges your Hero faces…”
“Are there any other solutions which you find interesting that you have read about in your research? What can you offer that these solutions can’t?”
“Look back at your Persona map. What does this tell you about the successes and challenges your Hero faces?”
”Love how this idea is developing. You have clearly stated one of the challenges with X. Are there any others?”