We’ve been doing a lot of UGC content, and honestly, we’re in a creative rut. The ideas that used to feel fresh—product close-ups, lifestyle montages, testimonials—are now everywhere. Our creators are burnt out because they keep getting briefed on variations of the same concept. And our audience is probably burnt out too.
The problem gets worse when we try to create for both Russian and US markets. It’s like the middle-ground idea that “works” for both markets is inherently generic. So we end up making content that’s safe and forgettable.
I think the real issue is the way we’re doing ideation. Right now, it’s mostly: we brainstorm internally (marketing team), lock in a concept, then brief creators. Creators execute. Done.
But recently, I sat down with a couple of creators from different countries—one Russia-based, one from the US—and we just… threw ideas around for two hours. No agenda, no briefs, just riffing on what gets people’s attention. Some of the ideas were weird, some were terrible, but there was actual energy and novelty to it. We ended up with like 4 concepts we actually want to test, and they felt completely different from our usual stuff.
So now I’m wondering: how do you structurally set up those ideation sessions so they actually unlock creativity instead of becoming another meeting where everyone sits quietly?
I’m thinking about running more of these bilateral, cross-cultural brainstorms, but I want to be intentional about it. Like:
- Who should be in the room? (Just creators? Mix of marketers and creators? Both markets represented?)
- What’s the format that actually gets people comfortable sharing wild ideas?
- How do you keep it focused enough that you walk away with actual concepts, but loose enough that creativity doesn’t die?
- How do you translate the weird, non-linear ideas into actual briefs creators can execute?
Have any of you done structured ideation across markets or with creators as true collaborators (not just executors)? What made it work—or where did it fall apart?
YES. This is exactly the shift I’ve been pushing for. The idea that creators are just executors is the biggest creativity killer.
Here’s how I structure cross-cultural ideation sessions that actually work:
Session Structure (90 minutes total):
- 10 min: Warm-up. Share one thing that surprised you this week, unrelated to work. Gets people out of business-mode.
- 15 min: Context dump. Marketing person (you or your team) explains the challenge: “We need UGC for [product], target audience is [description], and we want it to feel fresh, not generic.”
- 40 min: Wild ideation. Everything is on the table. No judgment, no filtering. Person at the front writes everything down (even weird ideas). The rule: you can’t say “that won’t work” until we’ve filled the board.
- 15 min: Clustering. Group similar ideas, kill the obvious non-starters, keep the 4-6 strongest concepts.
- 10 min: Next steps. Who’s testing what, and when do we debrief?
Who should be in the room:
Mix of creators from both markets (3-4 total, so they’re not outnumbered by marketers) + 1-2 people from your team who actually know the brand. Don’t invite too many marketers or the meeting becomes a politics session instead of creative.
The magic ingredient:
Before the session, I always share a playlist or mood board—not the concept, but the feeling we’re going for. Like, “We’re aiming for ‘chaotic energy’ not ‘zen wellness’.” That orients people without constraining them.
From chaos to brief:
After ideation, the creator who’s most excited about a concept takes the lead on “translating” it into an actual brief. They explain what the idea means to them, what makes it work, what format it should be. Then you document it together. This way, the brief stays true to the creative intention instead of getting watered down by marketing-speak.
I’ve run dozens of these now, and the ones that produce the best ideas have one thing in common: the creators felt genuinely heard and like collaborators, not service providers.
One practical thing: time zone coordination is non-negotiable. I always schedule at a time that’s actually reasonable for both markets (rarely perfect, but try to split the difference). If you’re asking people to ideate at 11pm, you’re not getting their best thinking.
Also, I’ve found that having one person from each market act as a “translator” (not of language, but of cultural context) helps a lot. When an idea comes up that’s brilliant in Russian but might confuse a US audience, that person can explain the why so it doesn’t get dismissed without understanding.
One more meta-thing: I always record the session (with permission) and share a super loose transcript after. It helps creators remember what we discussed, and they often have follow-up ideas that emerge later. Some of my best UGC concepts have come from feedback a creator sent the day after, when they’d had time to think.
Okay so from the creative side: I love when brands actually involve creators in ideation. It makes me feel respected, and I literally create better content when I’ve been part of the concept development.
What makes me actually engaged in those sessions:
- Real platform time. If you’re asking for ideas about TikTok content, someone in the room should be a regular TikTok creator. General marketers often miss what actually works on-platform.
- Permission to fail. Some of my best ideas come after I propose something totally weird and marketers riff on it instead of shutting it down immediately.
- Context about the actual customer. How they talk, what they care about, what other brands they follow. Not demographics (“18-24 females”), but actual insight into who they are.
What kills brainstorms:
- Too many people talking (more than 6 total is too much, people stop contributing)
- Meetings that run 2+ hours (brains stop working)
- No clear output (we ideate and then… nothing? Feels pointless)
When it comes to translating ideas into briefs: honestly, ask the creator who proposed it to write the brief. Or ask them questions while you write it and make sure you’re capturing why the idea works. A brief that’s just “make something fun and relatable” is useless. A brief that says “people feel unseen by mainstream brands, so we want UGC that acknowledges tiny specific problems most content ignores” actually guides me.
Also, I notice stuff gets 10x more creative when you give creators specific constraints instead of “be free.” Like, “you can’t use trending audio, you have 60 seconds, product has to be in the frame at least twice” is WAY better than “just create something awesome.” Constraints force better thinking.
We’ve been running bilateral brainstorms for expansion purposes, and I’d say they’re genuinely game-changing if you set them up right.
What’s worked for us:
- Pairing one Russian creator with one US creator (not big group sessions). They riff off each other, actually listen.
- Preparing them beforehand with a single question instead of a full brief. Like, “What parts of [product] do customers never realize are important?” Gives direction without killing creativity.
- Recording audio, not writing everything down (writing kills flow). Then transcribing later.
- Actually compensating creators for ideation time, not just execution. They deserve to be paid for thinking, not just posting.
One surprise: creators from different markets often have wildly different instincts, and that friction is actually where the best insights come from. The US creator will say something, the Russian creator will go “that won’t work here, but what if we…,” and suddenly there’s a concept that actually bridges both markets because it evolved from both perspectives.
The trap: taking those raw ideas and “professionalizing” them until they’re boring. You have to protect the weird, authentic energy from the ideation session. If marketing gets their hands on the brief and it turns into something generic, you’ve wasted the whole thing.
How long do your brainstorms usually run? And do you use any tools to keep track of ideas, or just notes?
Structurally, you’re describing what’s essentially an innovation workshop. There’s actually research on what makes these work, and I’ll share what translates to UGC ideation:
Principles that matter:
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Psychological safety. People don’t share wild ideas if they think they’ll be judged. Explicit rule: no critique in the ideation phase. Everything gets written down. Critique comes later.
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Diverse perspectives. Cross-cultural is good, but also ensure you have different types of thinkers in the room. One creator who’s super strategic, one who’s purely instinctual, one who’s very edgy, one who’s wholesome. That variety generates better ideas.
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Constraints (paradoxically). “Make something creative” produces nothing. “Make something that appeals to both Russian and US audiences without feeling generic” produces ideas because there’s actual creative tension to solve.
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Sleeping on it. Some of the most generative sessions I’ve ran are 2-part: ideation on day 1, then day 2 everyone comes back with refinements. Sleep activates different part of brain.
From idea to execution:
The brief-writing is critical. I’d do this:
- The creator who championed the idea explains it to a note-taker (don’t let marketers summarize yet)
- That person distills it into: “Core insight” (why this idea works), “Format” (TikTok? Reel? Static post?), “Constraints” (any hard no’s?), “Freedom” (what can creator actually experiment with?)
- Show it back to the creator. Make sure it’s still recognizable.
That process preserves the creative intention without hand-waving.
Cadence: Run these sessions quarterly. Monthly is exhausting, quarterly keeps ideas fresh without burning people out.
One strategic question: are you measuring which ideas from brainstorms actually outperform internally-generated ideas? That data will tell you if this is actually better or just feels better. My hypothesis is bilateral-brainstormed ideas perform 25-40% better on engagement and probably 15-25% better on conversion, but that’s a hypothesis worth testing.
I’ve been collecting data on this. Campaigns sourced from creator-inclusive brainstorms have:
- 34% higher engagement rates (average across our client base)
- 18% higher conversion rates
- Better retention (these creators are more likely to want repeat work)
But here’s the insight: only if the idea makes it to execution intact. If the marketing team takes the brainstorm output and rewrites it into a generic brief, performance drops back to baseline. So the leverage is in protecting the integrity of the idea.
On session structure, data says:
- Smaller groups (4-6 people) generate more ideas per capita than larger sessions
- 60-90 minutes is optimal (less gets incomplete, more gets fatigued and idea quality drops)
- Mixing nationalities actually increases idea novelty by ~40% compared to homogeneous groups (measured by rater surprise/freshness)
- You need a facilitator who’s not the brand voice—someone neutral who can keep things moving
Process recommendation:
- Prep session: send creators the actual data on what’s been working/not working (transparency helps)
- Ideation session: structured as described above
- Refinement window: creators get 48 hours to “sit with” ideas and add notes
- Brief writing: creator + data person partner up
- Test: run 2-3 variants of 2-3 ideas with same creators, measure performance
The testing piece is important. Not all brainstorm ideas will work. Some will flop. But you’ll learn which type of ideas (weird/vulnerable/instructional/humorous) actually perform best for your specific market combo. Then you can brief future sessions accordingly.
Do you have baseline engagement/conversion data on your current UGC? I’d use that to benchmark the brainstorm-sourced ideas against.