We here at Vulture Central would like to wish a very happy birthday today to all you Strategy Boutiques out there doing so much to redefine the world's brand frontage paradigms and evolve the value proposition your clients represent to their constituents.

Indeed, it was today in 1957 that Chemical and Engineering News first proposed the use of the word "brainstorming" as "group-oriented, uninhibited thinking - a problem-oriented 'bull session'" - although we don't think the magazine quite realised how accurate the description "bull session" would become to describe the kind of PowerPoint and whalesong-driven synergistic insanity where nose-Ajax-crazed ying-yang realignment executives discuss the implications on the corporate feng-shui of kicking a product-set deep dive over the fence and seeing if the neighbour throws it back before taking it offline to the nearest wine bar.

According to a bit more digging, Strategy Boutiques were actually born in 1938, when Alex Osborn of (you guessed it) advertising agency Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn developed the concept of "the brainstorm session, or group brainstorming".

In 1955, Business Week gave its stamp of approval, describing brainstorming as "free-wheeling sessions that encourage wild ideas but prohibit any evaluation or discussion until the session is over".

The etymologists among you will, of course, wish to point out that the original meaning of brainstorm was "a sudden, violent disturbance of the mind" - with which thought we'll leave the Strategy Boutiques to hoover up some Bolivian marching powder, pop the lid on a chilled continental lager and celebrate an undefined number of years solutionising sweet spots and incubating mission-critical users. ®

Strategy Boutiques - many happy returns

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• LogoWatch Airline grounded by rebranding madness (6 November 2006)
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• LogoWatch NZ power company decimated by rebranding madness (5 September 2006)
• LogoWatch MasterCard succumbs to rebranding madness (6 July 2006)
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• Strategy Boutiques: click here for instant bullshit (4 January 2006)
• LogoWatch Strategy Boutiques invade Japan (9 July 2004)
• LogoWatch Capgemini succumbs to rebranding madness (13 May 2004)
• LogoWatch Welsh dragon struck by rebranding madness (28 January 2004)
• LogoWatch NZ army reels under rebranding frontal assault (21 January 2004)
• LogoWatch Taiwan hit by sudden outbreak of rebranding madness (20 January 2004)
• LogoWatch Terrifying outbreak of rebranding madness in France (20 June 2003)
• LogoWatch Whalesong-driven rebranding madness spreads to Spain (18 June 2003)
• LogoWatch Rebranding kiss of death strikes Deloitte Consulting (7 April 2003)
• LogoWatch Deloitte Consulting fires up the whalesong and joss sticks (10 March 2003)
• Updated LogoWatch The future's bright – the future's purple (20 August 2001)
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• LogoWatch Zarlink trumpets imperial pretentions (1 June 2001)
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