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Marketing Innovation: Chicken and the Absurd Alternative Tool

Published date: March 7, 2016 в 3:00 am

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Jacob Goldenberg, in his book, “Cracking the Ad Code,” describes eight creative patterns that are embedded in most innovative, award- winning commercials. The tools are:

  1. Unification
  2. Activation
  3. Metaphor
  4. Subtraction
  5. Extreme Consequence
  6. Absurd Alternative
  7. Inversion
  8. Extreme Effort

One of my favorites is the Absurd Alternative Tool. It works by offering exaggerated alternatives to using the product or service to highlight the benefit. But the key is to make the alternative truly absurd. Otherwise viewers can get confused.
Here’s a great example fromTyson Chicken that is so simple and effective:

To use the Absurd Alternative Tool, first identify the key benefit you want to promote in the advertisement. If your product or brand is already well-understood in the marketplace, you should select a secondary benefit to emphasize instead to get more value for your advertising budget.
With the benefit in mind, think of an exaggerated or ridiculous way the customer could obtain the benefit instead of using your product. Then communicate the message by juxtaposing the two alternatives (yours and the absurd one) in the advertisement. Here’s an another example in a print ad:
Volvo

Innovation Clusters: Why companies are better together

Published date: February 29, 2016 в 4:16 pm

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  • Innovation clusters require six key ingredients: skills, accommodating policy framework, infrastructure, low cost structures (in early stages), a good lifestyle offering and serendipity.
  • Clusters are like the companies they host: they change over time, and their long term success depends on how well they adapt to the challenges of success, like congestion and increased rents
  • Clusters are strongly reliant on an open immigration policy at the national level – tightening borders reduces a cluster’s access to global talent

Innovation is often associated with triumphant lone inventors. The likes of Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur or Bill Gates are the central characters in this narrative. But all innovators spring out of a specific context. The environments that foster their individual and collective success are very often ‘innovation clusters’: ecosystems that stimulate and nurture the best ideas and attract the brightest talents.
Clusters emerge when a network of companies co­exists within a geographic location, allowing each of them to collaborate – and compete – in a way which delivers greater productivity gains than they would achieve in isolation. Silicon Valley is the most famous, but there are countless others across every continent.
Clusters attract innovative people. They network, leading to the cross­-pollination of ideas. Companies benefit from each other’s success: What one invents, rivals can access – think of a productivity­boosting tool like Dropbox. And what one firm invents, others can build on. Think of the ‘sharing economy’, led by trailblazers Uber and Airbnb, in turn giving rise to an army of start­ups taking the same idea to new applications. The sharing of knowledge, the spill­over effects of innovation and the networking that densely populated spaces enable are all key ingredients for start­up success.
Yet for all their benefits, innovation clusters are not straightforward to build – and many do not last, even with the ‘magic ingredients’ seemingly there. To prosper, clusters need six key success factors: skills and talent, accommodating policy frameworks, infrastructure, low costs (especially in the early stages), a good lifestyle offering to draw talent, and finally ­ good luck, whether geography (proximity to key markets), historical accidents or even good fortune.
The ‘big 6’ success factors
EUI-BriefingPaper-Dubai-v2-r2_graphic-1
These six factors are necessary conditions, although they are not always sufficient. Many places in the world lay claim to these six, but never give rise to a successful cluster. These factors are best seen as the necessary conditions for clusters, but not – on their own – the silver bullet. Cluster success depends both on individual factors, but also the interplay between them. Good universities are little use if there is no connectivity with industry. A high standard of living is not helpful if immigration policies prevent global talent from moving to the cluster.
There are clearly many that have done it well, are still doing it well, and some that have tried and struggled.
– See more at: http://destinationinnovation.economist.com/part-1/#sthash.iRIxQ9vD.dpuf
 
 
WRITTEN BY THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT (with permission)
 
 
 

Innovation Sighting: Coca Cola’s Green Billboard

Published date: February 22, 2016 в 3:00 am

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The Task Unification Technique is great because it generates novel ideas that tend to be novel and resourceful. It’s one of five techniques in the SIT Innovation Method.
Task Unification is defined as: assigning an additional task to an existing resource. That resource should be in the immediate vicinity of the problem, or what we call The Closed World. In essence, it’s taking something that is already around you and giving an additional job.
Here’s a great example – Coca Cola’s green billboard functions as a traditional billboard by communicating its brand while filtering the air with live plants. From AdWeek:

Advertising doesn’t get much greener than this: Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund have unveiled a new 60-by-60-foot billboard in the Philippines that’s covered in Fukien tea plants, which absorb air pollution. Each plant can absorb up to 13 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. “This billboard helps alleviate air pollution within its proximate areas as it can absorb a total of 46,800 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, on estimate,” says botanist Anthony Gao. The rest of the billboard is just as environmentally friendly. The plants are contained in 3,600 pots made from old Coke bottles and designed to help the plants grow sideways. The potting mixture was made from industrial byproducts and organic fertilizers. And a drip irrigation system was installed, which saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, through a network of valves, pipes, tubing, and emitters. “We are proud that we have brought to life the first plant billboard in the country,” says Guillermo Aponte, president of Coca-Cola Philippines. “It is an embodiment of our company’s ‘Live Positively’ commitment to making a positive difference in the world by incorporating sustainability into everything that we do. With this, we hope to inspire Filipinos to join us in our journey, because we know that together, we can make a positive impact.” 


To get the most out of the Task Unification technique, you follow five basic steps:
1. List all of the components, both internal and external, that are part of the Closed World of the product, service, or process.
2. Select a component from the list. Assign it an additional task, using one of three methods:

  • Choose an external component and use it to perform a task that the product accomplishes already
  • Choose an internal component and make it do something new or extra
  • Choose an internal component and make it perform the function of an external component, effectively “stealing” the external component’s function

3. Visualize the new (or changed) products or services.
4. What are the potential benefits, markets, and values? Who would want this, and why would they find it valuable? If you are trying to solve a specific problem, how can it help address that particular challenge?
5. If you decide the new product or service is valuable, then ask: Is it feasible? Can you actually create these new products? Perform these new services? Why or why not? Is there any way to refine or adapt the idea to make it viable?
 
 

10 Valentine’s Day Surprises Created With S.I.T.

Published date: February 14, 2016 в 1:01 pm

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Today is Valentine’s Day, and to celebrate, here are ten creative ways to show how much you love your partner. I generated some of these for a TV interview yesterday on FOX19-WXIX morning news is Cincinnati. They wanted me to share how to use S.I.T. to be more creative on this special day. So here is my extended list:
1. Flowers are very common on Valentine’s Day, with the most common gift being a dozen long-stem red roses. So to be more creative, apply the Division Technique. Divide the 12 roses into single versions, each in their own vase. Place them throughout your home. That way, you get twelve little surprises instead of one big one.
2. Building on the first idea, place eleven of the roses throughout your home, but hide or hold on to the 12th rose (the Subtraction Technique). When your partner realizes there are only eleven, he or she will wonder where the 12th rose is. That’s the time to place it somewhere strategically (hint: pillow) or give it to your partner directly. Nice touch!
3. I love the Task Unification Technique for challenges like this. I like to pick a component in the home randomly and force it to take on an additional job. These ideas that leverage a resource in the immediate environment (Closed World) tend to create surprising, forehead-slapping ideas that make you utter, “Gee, why didn’t I think of that?” For example, take the garage door. Imagine taking your traditional Valentine’s Day card and taping it to the bottom of the garage door so that when she opens it, the card will dangle invitingly from the bottom. Clever!
4. Here’s another example of Task Unification. Take shaving cream and draw a big heart with the words, “I love you” somewhere fun like the inside of your shower (make sure it’s on the inside or you’ll be in big trouble.)
5. Food is another way to inspire love. Instead of making a plain old salad, try taking tomato and mozzarella cheese slices and make a heart shape on the plate. Easy, cheap, and one of those little touches your partner will appreciate.
6. I found this idea on the Internet, but I love it anyway because it demonstrates the Multiplication Technique so well. Take a bunch of different size envelopes or perhaps boxes and place them inside one another (like Russian nested figures). In the last one, place your favorite love poem. Maybe corny, but it works!
7. We have a computer in our kitchen, and I love to use the screensaver function to surprise my wife with fun and loving things (especially if I’m in trouble from something!!). Try this by placing a big heart shape on the screen, perhaps with an image of the two of you together (wedding photo?). It’s a winner every time.
8. Building on that idea, change her screensaver or background photo on her smartphone to show an old, nostalgic photo of the two of you. (Be sure you have a way to get her previous image on there, though, or you’ll have a problem).
9. Attribute Dependency is a great pattern seen in the majority of innovative products and services. As one thing changes, another thing changes. Here’s how to use it. Create a special smartphone playlist of all love songs. Put it in her library (when she’s not looking). Show it to her after she gets out of the shower where you placed the big shaving cream heart shape. Play it for her. You’re gonna have a good day!
10. Perhaps because I use dry erase markers so often in my work (teaching, speaking, facilitating), that I just love them. You can use them to write on lots of surfaces, and they can be erased just like on a white board. So take a (red) marker, and place loving messages all around the house on glass surfaces – bathroom mirrors, microwave winder, car window – you get the idea.
Have fun and enjoy the day!

Got a Great Idea? Don’t Take Credit For It

Published date: February 8, 2016 в 8:10 am

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You’ve heard that old adage – “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” The same holds true in creativity. We want to resist the temptation of judging ideas depending on where it came from. Yet, its very difficult for us to do this. If we like the person, we tend to like their idea. And if we don’t like that person, well, let’s just say we might see a few more flaws than we might have otherwise.
Now you and your colleagues might not even be aware that you’re doing this. And what this means for you in practice is that you have to find a way to strip ideas of their identity.
You can boost the creative out put of your team just by making sure these ideas don’t get thrown out prematurely. Here’s how you do it. When you’re facilitating a session to generate ideas, announce to the group that there’s a new ground rule and the ground rule is simply this, people cannot put a name to any idea. That means that people are, are going to have to stop saying things like, “hey that was my idea,” or “hey, let’s go back to that great idea that Michael had earlier.”
People will find this hard to do. So, you’re going to have to be firm about the rule.
Another good technique is to tell people that whenever they have an idea, they have to write it down on a piece of paper, again, without putting anybody’s name to it. Every so often go around and collect those pieces of paper, and then pass them out randomly to people in the group, and have people take an idea and read it aloud to the rest of the group. That keeps the ideas anonymous.
And finally, another good technique is to have people work in pairs or groups of three. And whenever they share their idea, they do it as coming form the entire group, not just from one team member. And what this does is it makes it more difficult for other people in the group to figure out where that idea came from. It helps them eliminate that natural tendency to have a bias to that idea. Now these techniques might take a little bit more time and may feel a bit awkward, but trust me it’s well worth it.
You’ll boost you’re creative output at work by making sure good ideas don’t get thrown out too quickly.

Grow By Creating New Categories

Published date: February 1, 2016 в 10:59 am

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A clever way to find new growth is to change your market category or create a new one. When you create or change your category, you’re redefining the boundaries of your market space, and that opens your eyes to new targets of opportunity. Let’s look at how to do it.
One way to do this is by zooming up from your current category. That means you dial the category definition up a bit to create a bigger market space.
Here’s an example. Take the McIlhenny Company. It was founded in 1868 on Avery Island, Louisiana, and it makes one of my favorite products – Tabasco Sauce. Today, the company competes in its traditional category definition: hot sauce. But if it zoomed up that definition, it would imagine itself competing in the condiments category, putting it up against companies that make ketchup, mustard, and so on. That simple change in perspective might lead to new ways to communicate their brand or perhaps find new shelves to occupy at the grocery store.
But it doesn’t have to stop there. Let’s imagine the company zoomed up even more to a very broad level of food and beverages. Sound crazy? Well, not really. Viewed this way, the company might imagine creating new food items with its secret hot ingredients inside. Perhaps foods like pizza, or spicy tasting snacks. How about Tabasco chocolate bars. Imagine a new Tabasco carbonated beverage – cold, spicy, and very refreshing. The growth opportunities can seem endless when you zoom up.
Another way to redefine a category is to do just the opposite – zoom down. By doing this, you’re creating a subcategory that helps you focus your sales efforts more effectively to create growth. Let’s go back to our Tabasco example. To zoom down, you start with your current definition – hot sauce – then imagine dialing it down to a more precise definition. In this case, imagine a category called pepper sauce, or perhaps Louisiana pepper sauce. The trick here is to take a unique ingredient in Tabasco, like pepper, and create a new category definition with it. Be careful not to get so narrow that you limit sales. You have to promote this new category definition so consumers see it as a better choice over the hundreds of products out there.
A final way to find new categories is do what I call plotting the market. I sometimes need to see my market as a two dimensional space where I can plot my position versus my competition. This may help me see empty spaces that I can move into. Let’s do an example.
Imagine you compete in the personal computing market. First, I create a x-y plot where the x axis is the main, category benefit. In this case it would be computing power. On the y axis, I use another important benefit that consumers seek. Let’s use mobility.
In the lower right, you find desktop computers – powerful but not mobile. At the top left of the plot, you find smartphones – very mobile, but not so powerful. And in between, we plot laptops and tablets. Now notice the spaces in between these computing solutions. Today, we see companies trying to fill these voids with more powerful tablets, net books, and so on. All of these become potential new category definitions.
So take a look at your current products and services. Then, zoom up, zoom down, and plot your markets to find those new sales growth opportunities.

The Wheel: A Great Innovation?

Published date: January 25, 2016 в 3:00 am

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People who believe that the wheel is the greatest invention ever assume two things: That it was wholly new when it was invented, and that is was so wonderful that people adopted it immediately. Historically, neither is true.
What is true is that three different types of wheels evolved over time, but none of them were as great as sliced bread.
The concept of a wheel emerged a long time ago. Archaeologists uncovered evidence that Olmec children in southern Mexico played with toy dogs on wheels 3000 years ago. But their parents never transferred the wheel idea to carts or wagons. How could anyone who understood the concept of the wheel not have used it for transportation?
Here’s why. Ancient Mexicans lacked domestic animals to hitch to a wheeled vehicle. There was no advantage over human porters. A more important question: Was the wheel such a good idea that building a toy dog on wheels should inevitably have transformed a transportation system?
Evolutionary biologists tell us that modern humans have not improved their basic store of physical or intellectual capacities for 100,000 years. So when we migrated out of Africa to people the globe, we did it without the benefit of wheels. And we kept on walking and carrying the “stuff” that George Carlin would later poke fun at on our backs for the next 90,000+ years. We could divide up our stuff into manageable loads that were light and compact enough to carry. Finally, some 10,000 years later, we started loading some of our stuff onto the backs of animals.
This solution satisfied the transportation needs of most of the world down to the invention of the internal combustion engine, even though by that time some peoples had been using wheeled vehicles for over 5000 years. But carts and wagons weren’t all that common. So long as roads were seas of mud in rainy weather people thought twice about whether to entrust their stuff to a wheeled vehicle.
Wheeled transport is not an obviously good idea. People who insist that it was truly revolutionary ignore the fact that many societies that became aware of wheeled vehicles over the centuries chose not to use them. It took so many other innovations over a long period of time to make the wheel useful.
 
 
Richard W. Bulliet is professor of history emeritus at Columbia University and author of “The Wheel: Inventions and Reinventions” (Columbia University Press, January 2016).

If You Can Think It, You May Want to Ignore It

Published date: January 18, 2016 в 3:00 am

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Imagine you and your colleagues are sitting at a meeting listening to a proposal from one of your suppliers. It’s an interesting proposal about a new innovation that can help you and your team. You have first rights to the new concept before they shop it around to your competitors.
But something is bothering you. You remember reading a story in the newspaper just last week about a company that tried something new. It invested too much time and money in a new concept. Then their business turned bad, people lost their jobs, and the company went out of business. The local community was devastated. You recall vividly how it ruined many families.
Even though your supplier showed solid evidence for the innovation, you decide to pass on it. They take it to a competitor who scoops it right out from under you.
So what happened? You may have been a victim of a cognitive bias called availability.
The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that occurs when people make judgments about the probability of events by how easy it is to think of examples. The availability heuristic operates on the notion that, “if you can think of it, it must be important.”
Using the availability heuristic, people judge the probability of events by the ease with which instances could be brought to mind. We believe an event to be more likely to occur if we can think of more examples of that event.
It also has another affect on our judgements. The easier it is to recall the consequences of something, the greater in magnitude we perceive these consequences to be.
We tend to rely heavily on more recent information. We are especially affected by vivid, unusual, or emotionally charged examples. So we make those memories more important, and we make bad decisions based on them.
To avoid availability bias, keep these pointers in mind:

  • When making important decisions, pause and think why you are deciding as you are. Is it because of information you have recently received? Who gave it to you? Why did they give it to you?
  • Do new research as though you knew nothing about the situation. Start from scratch and try to ignore what you know about a situation. Assume it’s not trustworthy. What you know about a situation is likely to be a tiny fraction of what you need to know.
  • Realize that you are drawing on recent or vivid events, and you are not able to draw up facts and experiences that you have not be exposed to.
  • Look for the mundane contrary examples to what you are considering. Are you being overly focusing on dramatic cases rather than common cases?
  • Ask for opinions from others, especially from people who tend to have opinions different than yours. You need to get new perspectives.

Be wary of things you learn in the media. Just because something is reported in the newspaper does not make the event more likely to occur. In fact, it’s usually just the opposite. The media likes to report things that are bizarre and highly unlikely. Don’t rely on these events as evidence for doing or not doing something.
I know it’s counterintuitive, but you’ll make better decisions and show better judgement if you downplay what you already know about a situation. It goes along with the old saying, “It’s not what you don’t know that will get you; it’s what you know that ain’t so.”

Great Innovators Embrace Resistance, Not Fight It

Published date: January 4, 2016 в 3:00 am

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Imagine your marketing team comes up with an idea for a great new product. You absolutely love it. But when you start shopping the idea around the building, you get some very strange looks from people. People are resisting the idea, and you and your team are getting frustrated. Resistance to innovation is a natural phenomena in companies, and it can become a huge challenge unless you manage it correctly.
Why do people resist new ideas? As you’ll see in a minute, there are lots of reasons. But before I dive into them, let’s first understand that resistance is necessary. That’s right. Necessary. Here’s why.
First, innovation and resistance cannot be separated. In a real sense, they help define each other. After all, something’s not really innovative unless it meets with at least some resistance. Think of resistance as a gatekeeper. All adoption of new ideas starts with resistance, and think of resistance as an important filter to get to the best ideas.
That said, it must be addressed if progress is to happen. You, as the leader, have two important roles to play. First, see yourself as a Resistance Maker. When new ideas are brought to you, it’s okay to question it, bring up challenges, and so on. But you also have to serve as a Resistance Breaker, someone who works within the company to knock down the barriers and cause adoption of the new idea. Let’s understand the sources of innovation.
Resistance comes from three domains: characteristics of the innovation itself, characteristics of the resistor/adopter, and characteristics of the innovator, meaning you or the person selling the idea.
By characteristics of the innovation, I mean the factors of the idea itself that make people resist it. For example, what value does it bring, how risky is the idea, how compatible it is with your current products and services? Can the idea be tested, preferably in stages, and can we back out it if needed? How complex is the idea, and can it be communicated clearly? Sometimes people resist ideas because they just don’t get it. Finally, is there flexibility to change the idea, how long will it take to realize the benefits, and will the idea have some unintended side effects on other projects? In the exercise files for this course, you’ll find a handy checklist and definitions for all of these factors.
Resistance can also arise because of certain personality traits of the resistor/adopter. I call them that because we all start as resistors to a new idea, even if just a tiny bit before adopting it.
These traits include how much they perceive the benefits and risks, how motivated they are to change, and their attitude and experience with previous innovations. If they had a bad experience with the last idea, they’re going to be more resistant to the next one. Another trait that can affect how reistive they are is their own ability to generate highly creative ideas. The poorer they are at innovating, the less likely they’ll be open to new ideas.
Resistance can also arise depending on who you are as the person selling the idea. If you’re seen as credible and as someone who explains ideas clearly and informatively, you’ll meet with less resistance.
Your job as the Resistance Breaker is to understand the strongest sources of resistance and to find ways to lower the effect. Don’t try to tackle every source, just the ones that matter and that can be changed. If you do, you’ll find that next great idea winning in the marketplace.
To learn more, read Resistance to Innovation: It’s Sources and Manifestations (University of Chicago Press, 2015) by  Shaul Oreg and Jacob Goldenberg

Eight Years of Blogging at Innovation in Practice

Published date: December 21, 2015 в 3:00 am

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This month marks the eight year anniversary of Innovation in Practice. As always, I want to thank my many readers and supporters who follow it.
When you start blogging, you’re never quite sure who will read it and continue reading it. A fellow innovation blogger told me not to worry about. “Blog it, and they will come,” is what he said. In essence, readers self-select based on their interest in the topic. I can’t control it.
That said, I’ve learned a lot in the last eight years, and I see predictable patterns in the types of people who find me here and contact me about speaking engagements. They are:

  • Strategy/Innovation Leaders: executives who are looking to make transformational change in their business
  • Technical/R&D Leaders: executives who are driven to fill their product pipeline
  • Commercial Leaders: marketing executives who need to strengthen their franchise vis-a-vis their colleague’s franchises
  • HR/Leadership Training Leaders: HR executives or consultants who want to embed innovation in their programs
  • Meeting Planners: people who source talent for a wide variety of programs

My goal is to make this blog different from other innovation blogs and websites. Instead of focusing on why innovation is important, I focus on how innovation happens.  The themes of this blog are:

  • Innovation can be learned like any other skill such as marketing, leadership, or playing the guitar.  To be an innovator, learn a method.Teach it to others.
  • Innovation must be linked to strategy. Innovation for innovation’s sake doesn’t matter. Innovation that is guided by strategy or helps guide strategy yields the most opportunity for corporate growth.
  • Innovation is a two-way phenomena. We can start with a problem and innovate solutions. Or we can generate hypothetical solutions and explore problems that they solve. To be a great innovator, you need to be a two-way innovator.
  • The corporate perspective, where innovation is practiced day-to-day, is what must be understood and kept at the center of attention. This is where truth is separated from hype.

I’m expecting 2016 to be another strong year in terms of keynotes, workshops, and training programs. My marketing and PR team are going to completely re-position the “Drew Boyd” brand in terms of a new website, design, and messaging. It’s an exciting project, to be launched in the first quarter.
The book, Inside the Box, is now in fifteen languages and continues to sell well globally. As of now, I have three additional book projects lined up with some amazingly-talented co-authors. Four more video courses will be added to my lynda.com lineup. Now that LinkedIn owns lynda.com, the viewership of my courses has skyrocketed.
And the biggest news for 2016 is…the launch of our new web app – Innovate! Inside the Box, a software tool that helps you use the SIT Innovation Method. Today, we have an iPad version of the app, but this new app will be browser-based so you’ll be able to access from any Internet-connected appliance. STAY TUNED!
I want to thank Jacob, as well as Amnon Levav, Yoni Stern, and the entire team at SIT LLC. I thank Marta Dapena-Baron at Big Picture Partners, Bob Cialdini and the team at Influence at Work, Yury Boshyk at Global Executive Learning, the Washington Speakers Bureau, the team at Lynda.com, Jim Levine, Emilie D’Agostino, Shelley Bamburger, the team at Wordsworth Communications, and my fellow faculty at the UC Lindner College of Business.
Drew

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