Brand Development on Innovation

Is Publishing The Next Dinosaur?

There's a thoughtful piece in this week's Economist reviewing Repeatability - a new book by two Bain alumni: Chris Zook and James Allen.  the central thesis is a very sensible one - that sticking to what you are good at and being very, very good at it is central to long term success. 

They use lots of good examples to demonstrate that simplicity and staying true to your core is the key.  However, Schumpeter points to examples like Nokia of seemingly invincible businesses like: Kodak, Xerox and Nokia being crushed by the "next big thing".

Is the publishing industry potentially the next big victim?  In the face of innovations on e-publishing and even on-demand book printing they are fighting a vigorous rearguard to protect their existing business model.  To an external observer - it looks unlikely that they will succeed.

Maybe they have just mis-defined the business they're in?

We work with clients all the time to identify the core essence of what they deliver to consumers - and explore what their sustainable USP could be.  Maybe that's what the publishing industry needs.

 

Why Can't All Hotel Meeting Rooms Be This Cool?

Having spent a frustrating afternoon trying to find an inspiring and energizing meeting space for a workshop I stumbled across the Ideation Space at the Crowne-Plaza in Amsterdam - it is a revelation.  Why cant all hotels offer workshop spaces this cool?

Crowne-Plaza seem to be testing the water with this concept as they have an equivalent facility in Tysons Corner North Virginia that whilst not as sexy - is still a great idea.

Come on Crowne-Plaza ... roll the idea out fast.

Harnessing Superb Service

When you are a marketer of intangible products - service is you most important value lever.  Joe Pine has been talking about the experience economy for decades - and it seems that the world is waking up to his wisdom at long last.  

We undertook a service improvement project for a high-profile UK financial-sector client last year - and quickly recognised the value of analogy as a way of getting the already good to raise their game to great.

Three shining examples kept on coming up: American Express, Four Seasons & Virgin-Atlantic.  We used them in lots of workshops with lots of staff to inspire and generate great ideas.

Geoff Colvin's leadership interview with Amex's exec VP of world service Jim Bush provides yet more valuable insights.

If you want to explore how we could help you up your service-game - we'd love to show you how.

 

 

 

Return Of The Undead Brands

DeLorean is back (ok on a limited basis - and only if you can scrape together $95,000!). It astonishing how long consumers' memories are - and much affection is retained for long deceased brands.  Anybody remember Trio - it came up in a workshop only last week and led us all on a major nostalgia trip ...

BusinessWeek have dug up a number of brilliant examples of previously deceased brands that have gone on to global success - Abercrombie & Fitch and Vanity Fair to name just two.

Makes us wonder which of our clients are probably sitting on fantastic assets without really recognising them?

Fresh Spins on Patriotism

Hovis have played the "Britishness" card a couple of times with packs featuring splashy images of the union jack, but their most recent launch introduces a far more subtle and potentially more interesting emotional connection - the idea of the British Farmers' loaf.

By forgoing the jingoistic approach in favour of what is effectively both an empathy and heritage story - they feel like they may be onto a winner.  A clear demonstration that the subtle approach is often the best.

Love the new Mars: Work, Rest & Play Your Part Ad

We love the new Mars: Work, Rest & Play Your Part Ad - its a brilliant working of the classic Work, Rest & Play strap line that lands the story into the hear of their male, millennial consumers' lives.  Watch it and enjoy a brilliantly appropriate piece of storytelling.

Celebrating the Royal Jubilee

As we gear up for the Royal Jubilee it is interesting to see how brands' activities are shaping up.  Two noteworthy examples are Heinz who are launching limited editions of the 1952 design Beans and Spaghetti; and Rachel's Dairy who are launching a limited edition Strawberries & Cream yogurt.  Looks like the consistent theme is a strong dose of nostalgia - rather than contemporary celebration.

Nike+ Fuel Station

Nike have a bit of a reputation for having cool retail venues, but they have surpassed themselves with their new Fuel Station concept.  Located in re-purposed shipping containers within the Shoreditch BoxPark Pop-Up Mall the retail experience offers unparalelled levels of consumer engagement.  Look out Apple - Nike has stolen the lead ...

Create a habit - make millions!

We are all creatures of habit.  We all do things repeatedly that we barely even consciously acknowledge. We are all trapped in the "habit loop".

There's a neat new book that maps out how innovators have successfully manipulated or created new "habit loops" to create powerful new opportunities for their brands. Think Febreze - that focused on the reward of a great fresh smell after cleaning and Swiffer that created an new midweek cleaning habit.

But before you can create new habits - you need an intimate understanding of what consumers are currently doing.  That's where our LifeLogging ethnographic techniques come in - especially when the results are analysed by our resident psychologist to decode their true meanings.

Interested? Give us a call ...

Brainstorming like the 12 greatest entrepreneurs

There's a great article in Fortune Magazine reviewing the achievement of their top 12 entrepreneurs.  We thought it would be interesting to structure a creative brainstorming workshop that takes each of their approaches and force-fits it to our client's commercial challenges.  A bit like the classic "think like your heroes" workshop game, but even more extreme.  Who's up for trying it out?  Why not give us a call to chat it through?