Flexible Thinking Forum

It appears the owners of Chevrolet do not like the nickname ‘Chevy’.

According to a report in the ‘Daily Telegraph’ (Friday June 11) in a memo to Chevrolet staff at their HQ in Detroit, GM urged them to stop saying ‘Chevy’ even at home.

They feel it apparently cheapens the brand.

In a memo to staff by Alan Batey, the vice president for sales said: “That most recognised brands concentrate on the consistency of their branding….. the more they were consistent about the car’s name, the more prominent and recognisable it is with the consumer.”

Yet the word ‘Chevy’ has become synonymous with the American brand, the open road, popularised in such songs as Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ (singalong now, ‘Take the Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry…’)

The forthcoming World Cup is an outstanding opportunity to boost your creativity and come up with great new ideas according to a leading creative thinktank.

The feast of football can be harnessed as a carnival for personal creativity claims the Flexible Thinking Forum, and is providing an 11 point gameplan to help armchair fans be more creative during the tournament.

With the election this week we have seen a display by various political parties to demonstrate their differences and how they offer the best choice.

I was just wondering if we have gone about this the wrong way. Rather than initially highlight the points of difference should we not at first examine what they all have in common.

A complaint about this so-called ‘most exciting election for years’ is that it isn’t.

There appears a remarkable disinterest among the general public, marked by an inability to mark any real difference between the different parties.

I initially had a good laugh about the story of the embarrassment caused by UK Foreign Office document on the forthcoming visit in September by the Pope to Britain.

The report contained ideas for the Pope to launch a new ‘Benedict’ condom, visits to abortion clinic and blessing a gay marriage.

But then I got annoyed, even angry, that the media – and the wider world – is promoting ignorance of the creative process.

News that a study by Texas A&M University that brainstorming could be counter-productive is welcome in at least bringing the subject of how you go about creating ideas under the spotlight.
The real fundamental is that a vast majority of people don’t know how to manage getting the most out of their creativity and when it [...]