On far too many occasions I sit down with others in marketing “brainstorming” sessions and hear the same old ideas regurgitated for the umpteenth time. Usually what ever the hot idea of the moment is is pounced upon and ruminated over until the meeting breaks up for lunch and everyone realizes that they don’t have enough money available to pull it off. What doesn’t happen nearly enough is the cultivation of fresh ideas born of original (if some times stupid) thoughts. In order to properly brainstorm you must first rid yourself of prejudice and then allow all of you life experiences and influences (family, friends, job, news, etc.) to guide you to those fresh ideas.
Think of the musician. They create their music from inspiration. That inspiration comes from soaking in their life experiences and musical influences and regurgitating them out as (hopefully) unique compositions. There is absolutely no reason you can’t do the same when conceptualizing a marketing plan.
Steve Waxman has hob nobbed with some of the music world's biggest stars for the past 20 years. He's that single player that has joined your group on Saturday or Sunday mornings and has found a way to drop the names of Madonna, Phil Collins or Kiss sometime during the round. 
Great marketing stuff – keep it up! Love the early discount idea.
Ian