Control.
The tried-and-true approach you have always used ought to be a control tactic. A standard against which others are compared. Develop challenges to it. Try tactics that test any assumption you can identify. Decide in advance what it is you think you are comparing. Write this down so you can't kid yourself later.

Serendipity.
Counter-intuitive methods often work. Your audience may respond to ideas, appearances, even pricing that makes absolutely no logical sense.

Rigor.
Count everything. Don't generalize. Identify even the smallest distinctions. Classify. Dice. Chop. Strain. Pick your way through every detail.

Re-Test.
Whenever you do anything, do two things. The first ought to be the thing you want to do and the second should be something else. Compare these.