Shoes, sleep and designer cupcakes? How cool people designed a new lifestyle brand. Finding cool people requires thinking about things a little differently. You can't simply call someone on the phone, inquire about their "coolness" and invite them to a focus group. You need to find people who know cool people, who know other cool people. Similar to networking, but on a more personal level, we called women we knew exuded coolness and, in turn, they knew others just like themselves.

Once we found them, we asked them to show us their worlds. They created collages and took pictures of the things that made their world go round and the things that were important to them. Things such as getting enough sleep, organic produce, drinking enough water, having enough "me time" and, for some, creating their own special rooms devoted to themselves! We asked them to go grocery shopping and to purchase products they considered truly revolutionary. They brought cool things from home, things that made them happy — funky shoes, trendy clothes, even their favorite comfort foods. All of this provided stimulus for our client. With the use of creative and innovative techniques, we were able to give our client fresh information that helped create a new brand for today's lifestyles.