Use “Match Maker” to find new ideas

We mix’n'match everyday – these pants with this shirt make an outfit; peanut butter and banana makes a sandwich; this single friend and the guy next door make a cute couple. We rarely call it a creative technique. However, matching up things – either similar or dissimilar – is a quick way to generate ideas for products, services and names. (Scroll down now to get the exercise!)

Our world is full of ideas born of mix’n'match. Below are a few examples; many were pulled from Springwise.com – a site that lists new innovations weekly. (Browsing it is one way to ignite new ideas.)

Mix’n'match products

The history of technology is full of mix’n'match products that have had profound implications. The Walkman was a combination of a mini tape player and tiny headphones that, individually, were failed products. In 1973 the president of Sony put these two “bad ideas” together and created portable personal music – the concept that carved the way for iPod and iTunes. The music industry was changed forever.

Another industry – photography – was redefined by the combination of camera and phone. By 2003, more camera phones were sold worldwide than stand-alone digital cameras, and the way the world receives news changed dramatically. The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of 2004 is was the first of many global news events to be reported via camera phone users rather than professional news crews.

Here are just a few recent examples of mix’n'match…

• Car + Plane: A flying car was recently approved by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Owners of a Transition can now drive to any any airport and take off.
• Mirror + TV: Flat screen technology has made it possible to embed a TV screen in mirrors as well as refrigerator doors. This luxury hotel conceals TVs in designer mirrors.
• Bicycle + library: Brazil delivers books to the homeless from a tiny library on the back of a bike. (The donated books aren’t returned, just passed on.)
• Bicycle + bamboo: The mix’n'match in this case is product and material. A bike made from bamboo has less impact on the environment and also supports the communities in Zambia who make them.
• Phone + metropass: In Paris, there is a smartphone app that gets you on the bus. It’s a natural extension to apps that predict the arrival time of the next train or bus.
• IKEA + IKEA: Ideahackers.net shows how customers have combined parts of various IKEA products to make something original.

Mix’n'match services

Elevator + Fast Food

In a time-pressed world, multi-tasking has inspired mix’n'match services.

• Prayer + fast food: The True Bethel Baptist Church in Buffalo, New York, now houses a Subway Sandwich franchise.
• Elevator + fast food: Another Subway Sandwich in located in a giant elevator at the new construction site for the World Trade Centre. Workers no longer have to waste time going up and down for a sandwich.
• Laundry + coffee: At Wash and Coffee in Germany, you can sip fine coffee while waiting for your clothes to dry.
• Shopping and obsessive sports watching: God forbid a man should have to do a grocery run while the game is on! Now he can do both with a grocery cart rigged with iPad holder.
• Shopping and transit-riding: This idea from South Korea is mind-blowing. Shop while waiting for a train, using a smartphone to scan codes on pictures of products in a “virtual store” on the subway platform. The order is delivered to your home!

Mix’n'match brand names

You can mix’n'match words or word fragments to create brand names. Beyond the obvious examples – Facebook, SlimFast – there are…

• Wikipedia = wiki (a technology for creating collaborative websites) + encyclopedia
• Microsoft = Microprocessor + Software
• Accenture = Accent + future
• Exlax = Excellent + Laxative
• Kleenex = Clean + Extra
• Popsicle = Pop + icicle
• Clamato = Clam + Tomato

Get it now

To download the pdf, click here: Match Maker (pdf)

Warning: You can use Match Maker casually but I recommend you pause to “define your challenge” or risk wandering off topic and wasting time. It’s the first step of B.I.5, Breakthrough Ideas in 5 Steps (download the B.I.5 Cheatsheet).

This is a preview of the pdf:

Please respect copyright: all material belongs to Creative Expeditions Inc. Feel free to use the exercise within your team but please secure the permission of Inge Christensen before replicating material obtained from this website for any reason!