Shift Perspectives (Future Lab)

8/9/2019 Shift Perspectives (Future Lab)

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CHALLENGE WHAT YOU KNOW

DEBATE

INQUIRE

ASK

TESTTHINK

WHO

WHERE

WHYWHICH

WHEN HEARD

READ

SAW

FELT

FUTURELAB


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October issue 2

SHIFT PERSPECTIVESFUTURELAB

T

hese are exciting times. Sure, we have a recession, and there is the looming threat o ination, unemployment and urther value destruc-

tion. But all these clouds are also lined with opportunity. The opportunity to change the way we work. Toset things right.

Aer all, people only change when they have to. And rom a business perspective, this is the case. In many companies, doing more o the

same is not an option any more. While this possesses challenges, it also allows shedding the bad practices that have accumulated over

the past two decades. The mindlessshout and sellcommunication eorts. The customer-toxic practices. The oen uninspiring types o innovation

which shun breakthrough risk to the beneft oplay-it-sae-incrementalism.

So or me, and or Futurelab, these are great time s. Aer all, beyond helping our clients, we are on a mission to change the nature o marketing itsel.

We want to bring the proession back to its roots by ocusing on the customer, the bottom line and breakthrough innovations that truly dierentiate

a company. We want to make marketing an all-company sport. Get fnance, logistics, sales, production, HR and yes even the marketing department

to do what is right or the business and or the customer, rather than what their silos dictate.

But we cannot do this alone. In act, no one can. For marketing to regain its position as a truly meaningul proession, it needs to step away rom the

centralist knowledge paradigm. Here, a number o smart people hold all knowledge and disseminate this to those less literate. They oen call them-selves proessors, thought leaders, strategists or even gurus.

Yet i there is one thing weve learned rom this recession, is that no one holds all the wisdom. The world as we know it has become unpredictable,

and anyone claiming to have all the answers is simply not being truthul.

That is why we have started to look or initiatives rom people thatget it. Individuals whose thinking and actions we can help ampliy by means we

have available. You are currently looking at one o them.

Launched by Bogdan Meica & Stean Moghina, Shif Perspectives is a digital publication that transers on to 30 pages what we attempt to do on the

Futurelab blog. Bring together the thinking o some o the sharpest minds in marketing, strategy and innovation into one thought-provoking piece.

I have to say, they did it quite well. From Seth Godin to Tom Anderson they brought together global thinkers who understand that a project by two

young people in Romania can have the same value as the journal o a prestigious business school.

To ensure it also has the same reach, I am proud that they asked Futurelab to endorse their initiative and help launch it to world.

This we gladly do. Because it is people like Bogdan and Stean that are the real change agents o t he marketing revolution.


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October issue 3

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

SETH GODIN

CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO IS WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING

ARE WE SOLVING THE SAME PROBLEM?

NOT SO GOOD AT MATH

GERALD NANNINGA

IT MUST BE BETTERLIVING IN FEAR

JONATHAN SALEM BASKIN

TRANSFORMATION INTERRUPTED

SCARCITY AS A BENEFIT

MITCH JOEL

MAYBE ITS TIME FOR MARKETING TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE BIG IDEA

TRUST IS NON-TRANSFERABLE

THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS WHEN IT COMES TO DIGITAL MARKETING

IDRIS MOOTE

WHATS YOUR STRATEGY FOR STRATEGIC INNOVATION?

WHATS THE LAST INNOVATION YOUVE SEEN COMING FROM THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY?

CHRIS LAWER

LESS CAN BE MORE: PREPARING FOR THE RECOVERY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES

DAVID ARMANO

5 CHALLENGES SOCIAL BUSINESS WILL FACE

JOHN CADDELL

TO MOTIVATE FRONT-LINE EMPLOYEES: DONT jUST THANK THEM, USE THEIR INSIGHTS

TOM H. C. ANDERSON

SHOULD FORTUNE 1000 COMPANIES BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL NETWORKS?

INTERVIEWING SETH GODIN

FUTURELAB


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October issue 4

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

But i you choose to do that, its essential

that you know more about it than everyone else,

not less. Certainly not zero. Be skeptical, but be in-

ormed (about everything important, not just this

issue, o course). Screaming ignorance gets atten-tion, but it distracts us rom the work at hand.

Its easy to t in by yelling out, and ar more

dicult to actually read and consider the acts.

Anytime you hear, I dont have the time to un-

derstand this issue, Im too busy being upset, you

know that something is wrong.

Brands ace this as much or more than politicians

do. I witnessed a knock-down ght between two

teenagers over which operating system was best.

There are generations o arguments between Fordand Chevy owners. Motorcycle gangs are ofen

parochial in their choice o bike. And in each case,

the less people know, the more they yell.

I you want to change what your boss be-

lieves, or the strategy your company is ollowing,

the rst step is to gure out how to be the best in-

ormed person in the room.

Willfully ignorant vs. aggressively skeptical

C

hallenging the status quo is what I do

or a living. Either that or encourage

other people to do it. But there are two

ways to do it, and one o them is ine-

ective, short-sighted and threatens the abrico the tribe. The other seems to work. I heard

someone screaming about death panels and

how the government was not only going to

kill his grandmother, but would take out Ste-

phen Hawking himsel i it had the chance. The

screaming is a key part, because screaming is

ofen a tool used to balance out the lazy igno-

rance o someone parroting opposition to an

idea that they dont understand. (I you want to

write to me about this post, please write to meabout the screaming part, not about whether

or not you agree with the acts or the science.

Thats what the post is about, the screaming.)

I you want to challenge the conventional wis-

dom o health care reorm, please do! Itll make

the nal outcome better.

SETH GODIN is a bestselling author, en-

trepreneur and agent of change. Godin

is author of ten books that have been

bestsellers around the world. Seth is a re-

nowned speaker as well. He was recently

chosen as one of 21 Speakers for the NextCentury by Successful Meetings and is

consistently rated among the very best

speakers by the audiences he addresses.

Seth was founder and CEO of Yoyodyne,

the industrys leading interactive direct

marketing company, which Yahoo! ac-

quired in late 1998. He holds an MBA

from Stanford, and was called the Ulti-

mate Entrepreneur for the Information

Age by Business Week.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com

FUTURELAB
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/willfully-ignorant-vs-aggressively-skeptical.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/http://sethgodin.typepad.com/http://sethgodin.typepad.com/http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/willfully-ignorant-vs-aggressively-skeptical.html


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October issue 5

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

S

imple quiz or smart marketers: Lets say your goal is to reduce gasoline consumption.

And lets say there are only two kinds o cars in the world. Hal o them are Suburbans

that get 10 miles to the gallon and hal are Priuses that get 50. I we assume that all the

cars drive the same number o miles, which would be a better investment: Get new tires

or all the Suburbans and increase their mileage a bit to 13 miles per gallon. Replace all the Pri-uses and rewire them to get 100 miles per gallon (doubling their average!)

Trick question aside, the answer is the rst one. (In act, its more than twice as good a move).

Were not wired or arithmetic. It conuses us, stresses us out and more oen than not, is used to

deceive.

This is the biggest disconnect I know o. It happens all the time in B2B sales, in service mar-

keting, in getting along with your boss and even in hiring someone. One side thinks they

have gured out a solution. They spend a long time talking about the solution, architect-

ing it, rening it, pricing it, pitching it, delivering it. The other side ends up not liking what

they get. The disconnect: the rst side says, this solution is exactly as we described it! the other

side says, it doesnt work right.

The disconnect is caused because people ocus on the solution instead o the problem youwere given to solve. Its a lot easier to talk about eatures and hours spent and someones resume and

a lot more dicult to dig into the problem itsel. This is where the obligating question becomes so

critical. I we can deliver a dam that stops the water ow, will you be delighted? I I can hire some-

one who can answer ten calls an hour and keep customers coming back, will that work? I this

book cover receives an award or best design, will that be a win? The dicult conversation about

the problem is ar more useul than the endless efort on solutions. The reason is that people dont

tell themselves (or you) about the problem theyre actually solving. Sure, theyd like an employee

that does x, y or z, but you know what, theyd also like that person to be really good looking and will-

ing to do our bidding, waiting on us hand and oot. Sure, wed like a personal computer with a lot o

computing power, but wed also like it to be light and sexy and covetable...The more clarity you canget about what a successul solution looks like, the more likely you will be to have a delighted cus-

tomer when youre done.

FUTURELAB
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/are-we-solving-the-same-problem.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/are-we-solving-the-same-problem.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/are-we-solving-the-same-problem.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/are-we-solving-the-same-problem.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/not-so-good-at-math.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/not-so-good-at-math.htmlhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/08/not-so-good-at-math.html


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October issue 6

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Many years ago, there was a comedian who

specialized in doing impersonations. Now,

it used to be that a lot o comedians did im-

personations. This comedian, however, put a unique

spin on the genre. He specialized in doing imper-

sonations o people who died

long beore the invention o re-

corded sound.

For example, he would

do impersonations o people like

Abraham Lincoln or Aristotle. It

was interesting to watch, but was it

accurate? I have no idea what Aristo-

tle sounded like or what his manner-

isms were. For all I know, this comedian

could have it all wrong and not even be close. But in

the end, I guess it doesnt matter. Since nobody elseknows what Aristotle sounded like or acted like, no-

body could challenge the accuracy o the imperson-

ations. As long as the comedian was unny, the audi-

ence would accept his impersonations. It was those

other comedians, who did impressions o people we

knew, who were more sharply critiqued (Hey thats

not what John Wayne sounds like).

THE STORY THE ANALOGY

I have nearly 30 years o ex

perience in business, having worked

with a number o leading retailers,

including Best Buy, DSW, Supervalu,

Shopko, Filenes Basement, Tweeter Home Entertainment, SaveA-Lot,

and Value City, among others. Most

o my work has been in the area o

Strategic Planning, but I have also

done work in marketing, fnance

and consumer research. I am bilin

gual (speak both marketing and f

nance) which helps me take a more

complete and balanced approach

to business problems/issues.

http://planninga-from-nanninga.

blogspot.com/

When nobody knows what truth is

(and nobody is able to discern the truth), then

nobody can eectively challenge your posi-

tion. This was the situation the comedian was

in. Nobody knew what those ancient people

sounded like or acted like, so the

audience could not challenge the

comedians impression o these

old people. They just sat back and

enjoyed the show. However, i

someone is doing an impression

or imitation o something you are

very amiliar with, then the criti-

cisms come fying. You know what

truth is because you have experi-

enced the real thing. Any variation

rom the real thing will be noticed as a faw ordeect. Rather than just sitting back to enjoy the

show, you compare the imitation/impression to

the reality (as you remember it) and get upset

i the imitation does not live up to your expec-

tations o what truth is. Youll shout something

like, I know what John Wayne sounds like and

acts like, and that was not it!

FUTURELAB
http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/http://planninga-from-nanninga.blogspot.com/


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October issue 7

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

This situation is similar to what happens in business. In product devel-

opment, you have one o two strategic choices: either create something totally

new, unlike anything else in the market OR create a me, too product that is a

variation o something which already exists.

The rst choice would be like our comedian, who did impressions that

were totally new to you (you had never heard the voice o these people be-

oreyou have no reerence point). Similarly, totally new products have no re-

erence pointwhat you invent denes the category. It is accepted as authentic

and people enjoy it or what it is.

The second choice (oering a me too product) is like comedians who

do impressions o people we are very amiliar with (you have a reerence

point). You are more critical, because you have a benchmark to compare it to.

Any variance rom the original reerence point makes your product less au-

thentic.

The principle here is that the less the amiliarity, the greater the accep-

tance. Thereore, i you blaze new trails in product development towards areas

unamiliar to your customers, your development eorts have greater potential

or acceptance.

We could see this principle at work in the comedian story. We are more

orgiving o the comedian going where wed never been than ones covering a-

miliar impressions with a slight imperection. I also experienced this principlerecently in a restaurant. This was no ordinary restaurant. It was an exotic restau-

rant specializing in exotic oods which I had never eaten beore. Heck, I couldnt

even pronounce the words on the menu, let alone understand it.

When the ood came out, I had no preconceived notion as to how it was

supposed to taste. I had never eaten anything like this beore. Some o it tasted

ne. Some o it tasted very odd to me. But since this was a nice restaurant with a

THE PRINCIPLE

good image, I assumed they were all supposed to taste like that. It

never occurred to me that the dishes might be prepared wrong.

They supposedly had excellent ches, so I just took it or

granted that these concoctions were supposed to taste that way

even i I didnt like it.

But what i I was wrong and the ood really was prepared

poorly? What i this really was bad tasting ood? I wouldnt know.

So I was satised, whether it was right or wrong, because I didnt

have a pre-conceived notion o what good would taste like. I just

sat back and enjoyed the d inner.

Now i this ancy restaurant had served me a hamburger, I

would have had a reerence point. I could have complained i their

gourmet burger drifed too ar away rom my concept o what a

hamburger is supposed to look like and taste like. But they d id not

oer a me too burger. They oered me a taste o the unknown. A

taste o the unknown is always yummier than an o-beat versiono the amiliar.

You can also do this at the low end o the restaurant spec-

trum. Quiznos has had great success with their $4 Torpedo. The

beauty o the Torpedo is that it is so unlike anything else out there

that there is no reerence point to tell i it is a good torpedo or a bad

oneso you accept that it is a good one, and worth the $4.

I had nevereaten anythinglike this before.

FUTURELAB


8/30

October issue 8

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Quiznos knew that having a $4 item on their menu would be a key to

success in this recession. They could have lowered the price o their amiliar

regular sub sandwich to $4, but that would have caused problems. First, once

you lower the sub to $4, there is an expectation that $4 is now the right price

or that sub. It would be dicult to raise the price back up later without ruining

the new perceived value. Second, the regular sub is not designed to work in the

business model at $4. Either you have to cheapen the sub (which would be no-ticed, since people were amiliar with it) or you have to lose money on the deal.

By contrast, the Torpedo was designed to work in the business model

at $4. It wasnt a cheapened anything, since it was brand new. Sure, it had less

meat than a regular sub, but the Torpedo never was a regular sub and was not

expected to be one. It was a Torpedo, and this i s how Torpedos are supposed to

be. They had never been anything else. A strategic piece o genius!

So what does this mean for your strategy?

1

It is almost always better to create something brand new,

where you can dene the parameters o success, than to

copy someone else, who has already dened success (as

being them). When you control how a product is dened,

then you can dene the perect product as the one you are

oering. Apple has been very good at this.

When Toyota invented the Prius, they made a brand

new car which dened what a hybrid is supposed to be. Afer

that, anyone else who tried to make a hybrid brand had to be

compared to the denition o the perect hybridthe Prius.

And o course the Prius is the superior Prius, so it wins. Worse

yet were automakers who tried to make a hybrid version o a

non-hybrid car people were already amiliar with. That didnt

work, because their amiliarity with t he gas hog version biasedthem against the hybrid version (amiliarity made them more

critical).2When positioning your product, dont spend too much ti me com-paring it to the status quo product.

I you make too big a deal out o the status quo, you are acknowledg-

ing its leadership, which makes you an also-ran. People will say, I you are

so good, then why does t he status quo have higher sales? Instead, position

yoursel as an entirely new way to solve an old problem. Theres just some-

thing about saying that my revolutionary new way is better which sounds

more believable than saying Im making basically the same thing as what

is already out there and successul, but Im better.

3Sometimes you can get around cost pressures by replacing the

amiliar with a cheaper unknown which is positioned as a wholly

new product.

Cheese was getting very expensive, which is a problem or

companies like Taco Bell, who use a lot o cheese and want to keep

their prices low. But Taco Bell has never been araid o inventing

new menu items nobody has ever heard o. So the new items sub-

stituted cheaper cheese sauce or cheese. However, since these

were brand new items that never had real cheese in them, it didntlook like a cheap substitution. It was just how the new item was sup-

posed to be. This is ar more successul than i they had taken amil-

iar items and did the substitution. Then, Taco Bell took this cheap

sauce and put hot spices in it and invented Hot Lava Sauce. So

now the cheaper substitute was a unique, premium item in brand

new menu items.

FUTURELAB


9/30

October issue 9

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Winning strate-

gies tend to blaze new

trails rather than re-

work the amiliar. The

revolutionaries get to

dene the category in

their avor and tend to

receive less criticism.

Because they dene

the category, they must

be right.

SUMMARY

Even i your

product is not all that

revolutionary, that

doesnt mean that you

cannot package it in a

revolutionary manner.

Chrysler was makingairly ordinary trucks,

but they were pack-

aged as revolutionary

because they had the

magic Hemi engine.

FINAL THOUGHTS

THE STORY

I

knew a woman who was very

curious. She liked to read all the

time. One o her avorite topics

to read about was the dangers

and threats which could beset theworld. She became an expert in un-

derstanding all the potential dan-

gerseverything rom the dangers

which could beset a women walk-

ing alone in a parking garage to the

dangers to the entire planet rom

the thinning o the ozone layer.

The more she read about

potential dangers, the more ear-ul she became. She eventually be-

came araid that all o the potential

dangers had a high likelihood o

happeningto her. She became in-

creasing araid to leave the house.

Her ear or the entire health o the

planet (and her inability to stop ev-

ery threat) became so intense that

she was prescribed medicine in or-

der to cope.

Over time, the ear so gripped

her that she could no longer unc-

tion in the outside world. She was a

true suferer o agoraphobiaand it

was so sad to see.

THE ANALOGY

Although it is not a bad idea to become inormed about

potential risks, too much ear about those risks can be very det-

rimental. As we saw in the story, excessive ear over potential

threats can be paralyzing. Too much ear leads to an inability to

act and move ahead. The ear can trap us in our homes.Business is all about taking risks. As they say, No Risk, no

Reward. O course that doesnt mean we should ignore all warn-

ing signs o risk and dive into a situation blindly. That almost

always leads to disaster. The recent economic collapse, or ex-

ample, was due to not properly understanding the risks o the

complex nancial products which were introduced. Financial

institutions dove too deep into these risky venturesblind to the

extent o the riskand it almost collapsed the entire economy.

One o the key roles o strategic planning is to provide

knowledge and insight so that the risks are minimized. Better,

less risky moves can be made based on the discipline o strate-

gic analysisa solid understanding o the environment. Strategic

planning makes you smarter so that you can act smarter.

However, even with the use o strategic planning, the risks

do not go entirely away. I you wait until all the acts are in, it will

be too late to take the lead. The market dynamics will already be

set in concrete and not have room or your late entry. Thereore,

there will always be an element o the unknown in every goodstrategy.

The key is to not become paralyzed with ear. Instead, the

goal is to make risk your riend.

FUTURELAB


10/30

October issue 10

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

The principle here is that risk

is not to be avoided, but rather to be

exploited. Dont be like my riend who

was so ear stricken that she was araid

to leave the house. To win, you have totake your business out into the market-

place and aggressively ght or success.

Even in tough economic times, one can-

not just hunker down in the bunker in

ear and wait it out. Market share chang-

es hands all the timeespecially when

times get tough. Customers are more

willing to reconsider their habitual buy-

ing patterns when their economic con-

dition worsens. Thereore, tough times

are not times to hide in your house, be-

cause your share is more vulnerable

than ever. O course, the share o your

competitor is also vulnerable, so you

have an opportunity to gain i you go

out and act smartly.

Taking calculated risks into uncharted

territory can be one o your best riends,

because:

a. It allows you to get a head start in anarea which is relatively uncontested

(like the Blue Ocean Strategy).

b. It allows you to write the rules in your

avor.

c. It increases your chance o being the

leader and reaping most o the rewards.

THE PRINCIPLE

Of course, not all ventures into new space are successful. So how can we improve

our chances of success within this uncertainty? Here are four suggestions.

1Plan the Entire Chain

Successul ventures are based on successul business models. In todays increasingly sophisticatedmarketplace, it is not enough just to create a cool product. To make money, one needs to plan and

control the entire value chain around it. Your business model strategy must include a way to get the

rest o the value chain to work in your avor. Otherwise it can work against you. Compare, or example,

Sony versus Apply. Sony has concentrated on making cool devices. Apple has concentrated on making

cool business systemsdevices, apps, stores and so on.

Apple realized that a cool device can quickly become a commoditya piece o hardware that gets

the prot margin kicked out o it i you do not control the selling process downstream. Thereore, Apple

has tightly controlled its retail distribution. Second, Apple knew that i the cool applications shi to an-

other device, nobody will want the Apple device, because what customers really want is the ability to

get to the cool apps. As a result, Apple did its best to become THE place or the cool apps programmers to

programming or.

Finally, devices get purchased inrequently, whereas the apps get purchased all the time. Apple

knew i it was not getting a cut o the apps business, it was losing out on where most o the ongoing value

in the business model was being made. Thereore, Apple made sure it was THE place or purchasing the

apps, so that it could get a cut o the sales. By planning the entire value chain, Apple was able to ensure

that the value chain continued to ow through Apple and did not get diverted somewhere else. This this

thoroughness and control signicantly increased Apples ability at being a success in risky new ventures

like the ipod and the iphone.

By contrast, Sonys recent ventures aimed at cool devices only have not been as successul. They have

recently sufered a large loss. Sonys cool devices are not cool enough on their own to create a secure busi-

ness model. By not controlling distribution downstream or applications upstream, Sony is more vulner-able to being bypassed in the value chain. By not having the compelling stickiness o a tight value chain,

Sony has to cut prices in order to create preerence, which hurts margins. Sir Howard Stringer, head o

Sony, has seen the error o this narrow ocus and is in the process o transorming Sony to think more ho-

listically about the entire value chain. So, success in new ventures goes up i you plan out the entire value

chainto build a system which is biased in your direction and makes all the players better of i they play

by your rules.

FUTURELAB


11/30

Even though new ventures pose ri sks, that is not a reason

to hide and resist venturing into new areas. The idea is to use a

strategic planning process which minimizes the likelihood that

the risks will hurt you. This includes ideas such as planning the

entire value chain, planning for superior solutions, narrowing

the funnel quickly, and experimentation/adapting.

If you do the types of activities mentioned in this blog,

risk moves from being an enemy to being a friend, because it

gives you an edge over the competitors who do not follow this

advice.

October issue 11

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

2Look for Superior Solutions

A lot o businesses get excited by a new venture when it uses the

latest and greatest technology. The mindset tends to be that i it

uses the latest technology, it has to be better, so the business model

should succeed. The problem is that most people dont care about how

up-to-date the technology is. What they really want is a superior solution

to a problem. Sometimes, the latest technology does not improve the abil-ity to solve a problem. Sometimes it even makes it worse.

Take internet grocery shopping, or example. Nearly every venture

into this space has been a miserable ailure. Is it because they did not use

the latest technology? No, its because internet grocery shopping is an ine-

rior way to shop.

They claimed that internet grocery shopping would be more con-

venient. However, how convenient is it really when you consider that:

a) You have to sit at home or a 4 hour delivery window (which is a longer

time than it takes to shop).b) I they are out o stock on an item you want, either they may make a sub-

stitution you dont like or they will not supply the item, leaving you with

only hal the ingredients needed or a meal. Is that convenient?

c) The ordering process on line is less enjoyable than shopping, and un-

less you like eating the same ood every week, it is still time consuming.

On top o that, a lot o the things a customer does or ree when

shopping the store (picking out the items, checking them out, taking them

home) now are done by labor that must be paid i you buy o the internet.

This makes the internet process a lot less ecient and the groceries a lot

more expensive. As it turns out, the minor bit o convenience is not seen as

enough to justiy the higher prices the new internet grocery model needs

to earn a prot. So the business model ails. The moral? Just because a

model uses newer technology does not automatically make it better. Only

go aer ventures which truly have a signicant advantage over the status

quo in solving the customers real problem.

3Narrow the funnel quickly

Although there are risks to putting all your eggs in one basket,

there are also risks to trying to venture into too many dierent

directions at the same time. The solution? Dont be araid o look-

ing at a lot o potential new ventures early in the process. This increas-

es your chance o nding a real winner. However, quickly determine

which ones have the best shot o success and stop the unding on therest. One o the biggest drains occurs when one delays halting support

or the losers. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.

4Experiment and Adapt

Ultimate successes rarely end up looking like the original vi-

sion. They tend to morph along the way as you learn. Thereore,

rather than working in the lab alone until the original vision is

perected, do some early experimentation. Let beta models out into the

marketplace. Get input along the way rom your customers. Be willing

to fex and adapt. This increases the likelihood that the nal product iswhat the market really wants.

SUMMARY

FINAL THOUGHTS

FUTURELAB


12/30

October issue 12

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Im Jonathan Salem Baskin, and Ive

worked for 27 years translating branding

strategy into something more than images

and words, leading marketing communica-

tions for world-leading brands and advis-

ing others. For almost a decade, I partnered

with experts in 6 major markets worldwide

to serve clients in Europe, Asia, and NorthAmerica, leading a number of business initia-

tives to deliver the behaviors that substantiate

brand by crossing departments, functions,

and both digital and offline communications

domains. My experience taught me one,

overwhelming truth: The best way to discov-

er better answers consistently is to ask better

questions relentlessly.

I have dedicated my work and writing

to this purpose, in the hopes of improving thedelivery and experience of brand marketing

for businesses and their consumers.

http://www.baskinbrand.com/

According to market research rm Hartman

Group, consumer loyalty is shiing -- rom

products and brands, to the experiences

ofered by retailers -- in a radical transor-

mation that started beore the recession.

I think the change is much bigger than that.

Hartman is onto something because it specializes in

enthnographic market research (among other tools),

which is an attempt to understand consumers in the

context o their lives, both in terms o their knowl-

edge and belies, and through their behaviors.

I believe the rm is saying that capturing con-

sumers attention with creative and/or compelling

marketing communications no longer carries the

water in our busy, conused, noisy lives; experienc-

es are what stick, bring diferences into sharp ocus,

and compel purchases. The problem is that retailers

cant own experiences or, more broadly, experience

is a synonym or the context o reality.The more people know, or think they know,

the less they believe (broadly), and more tenacious-

ly hold onto what little they do (specically). This is

the intriguing dichotomy o our Internet Age; as con-

sumers gain the capacity to explore and share, they

lose the ability to trust and commit.

Institutions are no longer credible,

and historic truths arent reliable; acts and

ction are endlessly available, and oen

impossible to tell apart; every subject is up

or discussion and debate, which occurs in

real-time, all the time. No wonder people

arent willing to buy based on the intan-

gibles on which brands have relied or al-

most a Century. Reality is the new imagina-

tion, providing the context in which actions

can assert truth (i not simply immediacy,

and thus clarity) to consumers. This idea

isnt limited to retailers; the challenge is or

any business to make what it does, not just

what it says, believable and compelling.

FUTURELAB
http://www.baskinbrand.com/http://www.baskinbrand.com/


13/30

October issue 13

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Actions, and the myriad o experi-

ences they enable -- rom in-store environ-

ments, online glimpses o manuacturing,

policy decisions, to the behavior o every

employee and vendor, whether at work or

not -- are what eed awareness, conversation,

and thus brands.Brands exist in this reality o experience. Communications can describe it, but mar-

keting can no longer serve as a substitute or dictation or it. Its a great opportunity, and its bigger than,

say, a social media strategy, or something thats experiential and in-store. These are tactics. The radical

transormation underway in the marketplace started beore the meltdown, and its inevitably chang-

ing the very substance o what marketers do or a living. The recession was a brie interruption.

The challenge is to see past it.

Think how many marketers ail

to see this somewhat simple truism, and

waste time and money trying to edu-

cate consumers about what they should

know about stu.

The whole concept o dieren-

tiation relies on a series o attributes that

are oen lost on olks; consumers are

supposed to discern the bold position-

ing o one product rom the reliablequalities o another one (thats other-

wise all but identical). This is especially

evident in new product launches, which

struggle to break through the cluttered

mediaspace to get seen.

But who cares i a laundry de-

tergent has 5% more stalagmites than

another, or that one bottle o hooch is

aged 9 years vs. 8? These can be very

meaningul and relevant attributes, but

Knob Creek bourbon has announced that it

may run out o stock yet this summer, and

that thirsty customers will have to wait un-

til the next batch arrives on store shelves

in November. I think this is brilliant, old-school mar-

keting. One o the most important brand attributes

o successul products and services is success; con-

sumers want to know that other consumers want

stu, and sales is a qualier that goes ar beyond

conversation as proo o that interest.

Thats why movies strive or big opening

weekends, and why a sellout o anything invariably

leads to reservation lists. While sofware mechanics

strive to make supply meet demand in an idealized

state o ongoing one-to-one perection, a little extra

demand goes a long way.

Which brings me back to Knob Creek.

It announced that it is letting its current sup-

ply run out, which may lead to shortages..so

it pretty much told its customers to go out and

horde the stu. I love it. It could have also ap-

plied some new media strategies to the ploy:

Letcustomersregisterforupdates/ac-

cess to the next batch (even pre-order, though

I bet theres some law against doing that on-

line) Howabouta socialmediacampaign

letting drinkers post their last Knob Creek ex-

perience and enter some contest or game or

a payo via the next batch?

Why not create a campaign that let

would-be customers witness the production

process? I its the true dierentiator, theyve

got the nanosecond part communicated, so

why not get olks involved in the education

part. I could see an Aging-cam that let peoplestare at an oak cask.

Nothing would happen.

Get it?

Campaigns like this renew my aith in the

marketing business.

Scarcity is a brand beneft. I hope its a

successul strategy or Knob Creek.

the communications challenge is to make such things apparent in a nanosecond. Perhaps long-

tail growth plans look smart on a spreadsheet, but I suspect that loads o people have lost their jobs

beore reality ever lived up to the aspirations o the ar right-hand column. Thats why social media

chatter isnt synonymous with sales, and why so many o the latest product campaigns have ailed

to deliver. Talk is cheap, i not outright worthless somet imes, and I think the defnition o success

in this business context requires the tangible, unequivocal truth o paid transactions. Anything else

canbeanenablerand/orsustainer,butnotasubstitute.

FUTURELAB


14/30

October issue 14

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Marketing Magazine

dubbed him the Rock Star o

Digital Marketing and in 2006

he was named one o the most

inuential authorities on Blog

Marketing in the world. Mitch

Joel is President o Twist Im-

age an award-winning Digital Marketing and Communica-

tions agency. In 2008, Mitch

was named Canadas Most In-

uential Male in Social Media

and one o the top 100 online

marketers in the world. His rst

book, Six Pixels o Separation,

named afer his successul Blog

and Podcast will be published

in the Fall 2009 on Grand Cen-tral Publishing Hachette Book

Group (ormerly Time Warner

Books).

www.twistimage.com/blog

Everything we do in Marketing, Adver

tising and Communications comes

out o The Big Idea. Its what drives

the marketing strategy, its what drives

the brand and agency to get excited about the

campaign, and its what drives consumers to

put their hands in their pockets and hand over

their hardearned dollars. Maybe it is time orMarketing to move away rom The Big Idea.

Whether we like it or not, times have changed.

Prior to the Internet and the social media plat

orms it has given us, we never could really

hear what consumers wanted, we never could

listen in on the types o conversations they had

between them, and we never could really un

derstand what made them buy, click and share.

In a world o Twitter, Facebook status updates,

Google Proles and FriendFeed, we know more than

we ever thought we would know and the truth is were

barely scratching the surace o what we can do with all

this inormation, data and insight. On top o that, we are

getting this inormation in realtime (or close to it).

To couple that concept with advertising, in theMad Men days o wooing the big clients and winning

them over with one pitch and one big idea, it was es

sentially a strategy where a brand was putting all o its

eggs into one basket (all o them rom the same chicken).

That big idea had better work, or heads would roll. We

all know the proessional liespan o the Chie Market

ing Ofcer (its anywhere between 1-2 years) and there

are very ew brands that still maintain a single agency o

record or a signicant amount o time. In act, ad agen

cies and brands are as ragmented as the media outletsthey serve.

So, in a world o media ragmentation, multiple

media outlets, new media platorms and brands har

nessing multiple agencies to meet their needs, perhaps

the time has come to ditch the concept o the big idea

and move more towards a world o many ideas.

In a world of Twitter, Facebook

status updates, Google Profiles

and FriendFeed, we know more

than we ever thought we would.

FUTURELAB
http://www.twistimage.com/bloghttp://www.twistimage.com/blog


15/30

October issue 15

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Thats not to say that the many

ideas should not all tie into the overall

strategy, consumer insights or be stun-

ningly perect (in terms o creative and

execution), but that it is to say that in

this day and age, winning the market-

ing game is going to be about doing alot o little things, over one big thing that

brands will then cram into multiple out-

lets. Doing many things also doesnt

mean to think small.

In act, its probably a much

more dicult strategy to organize and

execute. In this era o Digital Marketing

its also a signicant amount o work

because as the campaigns evolve, so

should the creative and strategy. I

some o the many ideas dont oat, we

kill them and move on. I some o the

many ideas take of, we nurture, opti-

mize and push on. Our overall market-

ing strategy and execution becomes a

lot more ocused on the types o people

were connecting to, where theyre con-

nected, and how brands can add value

while building trust and community. It

sure does sound like it will take more

than a big idea to get that done.Maybe, the big idea in Market-

ing today is all about how were all go-

ing to move towards a many ideas

platorm?

Are the days of the big idea over?

What do you think?

The idea o being paid to post is a as-

cinating and recurring topic (shall I

trot out the dead horse now?), and

one that needs to be removed rom

these specic incidents and looked at with a

more macro perspective. The reality is that

there are many great Bloggers out there who

are seen as leaders. People want to connect

to them and, more importantly, some compa-

nies see them as an opportunity to connect

their brand to that community, or to build

credibility and create awareness or their

brands, products and services. Also, because

there are no clear advertising and sponsor-

ship models in many o these newer social

channels (beyond buying banners), wereseeing a ton o experiments to gure out

what works. Its very interesting and some-

what conusing - but thats the amazing part

o being in the Marketing, Advertising and

Communications business right now.

Some Bloggers were recently taken to task when they published a sponsored Blog

posting about a shopping spree they took with a major retailer. It is an amazing view intowhat marketing and advertising is in this new media channel (especially one where ev-

eryone can be a pundit and critic).

Real interactions between real human beings.

Advertising works when its the right brand in

the right environment with the right audience. The

general comments on these Blogs are all ocusing on

the levels o transparency and whether or not the

Bloggers are entitled to take money in exchange or

a Blog posting. I think this is the wrong conversation

to have (all o these Bloggers were very transparent).

Marketing and advertising works when there is trust

between the content provider and the audience.

Its not just about that relationship o trust, it is

extended towards two very diferent sides o publish-

ing - the content and the economy behind it. On the

one hand, the audience trusts that that the content

creator will stay true by providing valuable content,and on the economic side, the audience continues to

play along knowing ull well that all o this great con-

tent comes at a cost - advertising, sponsorships, con-

sulting gigs, book deals, speaking opportunities, and

everything else.

FUTURELAB


16/30

October issue 16

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

No matter what, both sides have

to live up to the audiences expectations,

meaning the content must be strong and the

advertising must be relevant. Thats how all

successul publishers across all o the media

channels have won to date.

You cant buy trust.

The best advice a Digital Marketer

can give a client who is asking them i they

would accept money to post about them,

etc... would be to help them understand that

a brand cant buy trust, but they can - overtime - build community and earn reputation.

And, by going through with a program o this

nature, its also not very social media at all -

its just advertising (whether a Blogger yaps

about it or they run a banner ad on their site).

Someone is being paid to write about some-

thing.

The advertorial has been around or-

ever (well, at least, since the 1960s).

Theres nothing all that experimen-

tal with this ormat. But theres a problem i

it doesnt work: the bigger brands can chalk

it up to experimentation and simply move

on, while the Bloggers now have to rebuild

something that is incredibly rail and impos-

sible to buy rom their audience: trust.

Many Bloggers react with an, I dont ask my

readers or money, I give readers all o this great

content or ree, so whats wrong with a little money

rom someone else along the way to cover somecosts and put shoes on my babies eet? statement.

Theres nothing wrong with that, i its the under-

standing o the community rom the get-go. There

might be something weird about it i it just sudden-

ly appears out o nowhere.

Trust in non-transferable.

We expect Bloggers who post - and are

paid to do so - to be transparent. Transparency

is table stakes. We expect people to disclose

what is an advertisement, what is sponsorshipand what - i any - aliations are had with other

things that are mentioned within these social

environments. But, there is something more pro-

ound going on here.

When a company pays someone to

post, they are hoping that the trust people have

or that Blogger will be transerred to them. No

chance. Trust is non-transerable. We have com-

panies who have little-to-no social community

credibility riding the coat-tails o Bloggers who

have spent a long while building up their com-

munity and, i there was no prize at the end o

the rainbow (meaning the community also gets

a chance to win something - not just the Blog-

ger), it would probably leave everybody eeling

a little icky.

The only way or that not happen is when

the company that is paying to post has equal or

more trust within the community.

Ultimately, everyone has to fgure out whatworks best on their own spaces - be it a Blog, Pod-

cast, Twitter or Facebook. The real challenge is

in knowing your community well enough to de-

cide i its a good ft and, i its not, is it worth the

advertising dollars over the community trust

and engagement?

FUTURELAB


17/30

October issue 17

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

In a recent keynote address I gave, a discussioncame up surrounding Facebook, privacy, and the general

publics best interests.

Its a story that has been covered in the news in re-

cent months, but the truth is that this story has little to do

with Facebook and much more to do with the Internet as a

new media platorm and communications channel.

Somehow, we as people have this amazingly powerul (and

weird) tendency to orget events o the past. It wasnt too long

ago (about 2000) that we were all concerned about cookies.

According to the website How Stu Works, an Internet cook-

ie is a piece o text that a web server can store on a users hard-disk.

Cookies allow a website to store inormation on a users machine

and later retrieve it. Without getting too technical, its a little digital

imprint that websites use to better understand users behaviour and

preerences (like when you select your country and language pre-

erence the rst time you visit a new website, and on all subsequent

visits, that website remembers your choices).

Aer cookies, we became more concerned with what Google

was doing poking around our e-mail. Googles ree e-mail service,

Gmail, provides targeted ads embedded in your messages based onthe content o the e-mail itsel. Lets say you were writing to a riend

about an upcoming trip to New York City - you would see ads or ho-

tels in New York, or cheap ights to that city.

Googles computers are scanning your Gmail account and

sending you targeted messages (also known as behavioural target-

ing) in hopes o putting the right message in ront o the right person.

Back to my keynote presentation: One person questioned whether or not it is a good

thing that all o these online social networks and websites have so much inormation (much

o it quite personal) about so many individuals. It can be scary when you look at it rom that

very valid perspective. What real choices do we have? The terms o service or many o the

more popular online social networks (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or Twitter) are nearly

impossible to read with all o their legalese. And even i you can keep your eyes open long

enough to work through the details, only a ew people would understand the real implica-

tions. So, lets put all that aside and agree that many o the terms-o-service waivers are com-plex, or even incomprehensible. Bottom line, heres what they basically say:

Listen, were going to give you all o this new and cool stuf or ree. So, yes, its ree or you to

use, but how we - the people who are giving this to you - get paid is by selling the data (not you as an

individual) were gathering to marketers. Now listen, I know what youre thinking. You think that rom

now on youre not going to be able to do anything here without getting some kind o annoying mes-

sage about how we can increase your sexual stamina or help you to lose weight. We dont want to run

those types o ads, but i someone doesnt buy some advertising space with messages that are more

relevant to you, we probably will have to. Sorry, but thats what you have to endure or having the abil-

ity to upload your photos and videos or ree and share them with your amily, riends and colleagues.

At any point in that dialogue you - as a consumer - can opt out.

But, be orewarned, i you agree to move orward, the gi o being able to poke your riends,

tweet about your dog, or post a book review, is brought to you courtesy o the advertising

and marketing messages that surrounds your online experience. Some say, Its the price o

admission - especially when that admission cost is ree. Others see it as an invasion o their

privacy.Both sides have valid points.

From an economic perspective, its important to understand the business model or many

o these online channels. Many o the new digital and online platorms have not gured out

the ideal revenue streams. Until they do, they are using advertising and marketing products

and services to monetize their trafc. As an individual, always be aware that the more de-

tailed inormation you provide, the more they know about you. (They being the serviceyou signed up or and all o the marketing partners they are currently working with - or may

work with in the uture.)

The bigger question becomes: Would you preer the random and annoy-

ing weight loss ads, or highly targeted messages based on what you have dis-

closed on an online social network? To the average consumer, it all still eels like a

lesser o two evils.

FUTURELAB


18/30

October issue 18

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Idris Mootee is a highly acclaimed

strategy and innovation expert and keynote

speaker who has a long history o working as

a strategy adviser serving C-level executives

and start-ups. Idris leads retreats, acilitates

executive strategy meetings, speaks at pres-

tige conerences on the topic o strategy, busi-ness model design and innovation, and con-

ducts executive level workshops around the

world.

He is the author o our business

books (some are published in mulit-languag-

es). Quoted in publications including the WSJ

and NY Times. He holds advanced degrees in

business and management.

Idris presentations range rom 40

minutes to 90 minutes. Each presentation

is researched and customized specifcally to

company and its industry.

http://www.mootee.typepad.com/

As the pace o innovation accelerates

and beyond the speed limit, execu-

tives are experiencing two other kinds

o hot water, declining bottom line re-

sults caused by the credit crisis and declining

consumer attention as they are becoming im-

mune to marketing. Everyone is thereore look-

ing or ways to improve their innovation capabil-ity and process; both within the organization as

well as with outside help through consultants

and even consumers that can help them detect

early trends.

Their mission is to nd ways to both dras-

tically widen (and deepen) the unnel o ide-

ation and then more efectively manage the pro-

cess rom concept to pilot and roll-out. Some are

seeking to update their obsolescent innovation

process and many dont even have one. Theyjust struggle to get started and many are simply

borrowing rom product development process

which isnt design or innovation. Everything

company has diferent needs and once a deci-

sion is made that your company must innovate

to remain or to become competitive, you should

start planning a logical yet adaptable process

to guide the team during the entire course o

action.

Where to start? First pick a type o inno-

vation process that works or your company.

Declare your intent and objective. Are you re-

sponding to a disruption or simply want to nd

want to grow your business? The result o thisprocess could include a new product, a new

service, a new business model? Look at what

tools you have and what are your ingredients

that you have to work with. How many cycles

o innovation is needed on a 12 month basis?

Second: Once you have decided on

your strategic intent, you should look at your

organization to see where and how this pro-

cess should be initiated. How much collabo-

ration is required both inside and outside theorganization? Do we have the right support

rom outside consultants? Does your orga-

nizational structure support the innovation

process you have selected? Will the culture

within the company support the innovation

development procedures?

FUTURELAB
http://www.mootee.typepad.com/http://www.mootee.typepad.com/


19/30

October issue 19

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

The important point here

is that the level o acceptance o

transormative ideas as well as

the level o risk tolerance must be

compatible with the overall man-

agement philosophy o the com-

pany, or the dissonance could

doom the project.

Third: What is the time

scale or such innovation pro-

cess? This will depend on a cou-

ple o actors. Among these are

the drivers o the project and the

size and complexity o the proj-

ect. I the development project is

an extension or minor modica-

tion o an existing product or ser-vice, the time scale could well be

a ew months versus a disruptive

move that takes up to a ew years.

Fourth: Decide on how

you want to nance it? Do you

have an innovation budget? Or

i you plan to nance it though

your marketing, product develop-

ment, research or other budget?

Or you need to create the busi-ness case beore you get started?

Or it is a corporate mandate and

you have access to some corpo-

rate strategy dollars which the

CEO put away or special use.

Even Google has nally

realized they just cant let contin-

ue using a laissez aire approach

to innovation and product de-

velopment. In a recent interview

with a WSJ they admitted that

Google can no longer aord to

let promising ideas all by the

wayside.

The Internet search gi-

ants once-torrid growth has

slowed. At the same time, it aces

resh competition rom Micro-

sofs new search engine, Bing,

and start-ups such as Twitter

Inc., which was ounded by ex-

Googlers.The response? Google

has recently started doing inter-

nal innovation reviews, they

are ormal meetings where ex-

ecutives present product ideas

bubbling up through their divi-

sions to Schmidt, Google ound-

ers Page and Brin, and other

senior olks. The processes are

designed to orce managementto ocus on promising ideas

at an early stage, according to

Schmidt. Even innovation needs

a process.

FUTURELAB


20/30

October issue 20

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

With the average age o agents

rising steadily; sales is stagnant and mar-

gins getting thinner, insurance company

needs to rethink marketing and distri-

bution. Steady o inux o new invest-

ment products rom banks that are also

competing or insurance dollars. The big-

gest disruption will most likely remain

on the distribution side. The importance

o asset accumulation products is par-

ticularly noteworthy because this is the

market where insurers ace the most in-

tense competition rom all the banks, mu-

tual und cos, and investment advisory

rms. Because these non-

traditional competitors have much lower

distribution costs than insurers, insurersace intense pressure to operate more e-

ciently. Distribution costs are one o the

largest expense items associated with lie

and annuity policies.

Industry consolidation in insur-

ance is diferent rom banking. Weve

seen small banks going away but there

are not many changes among insurance

players, because it has less restriction

and many are successul in operating innationally. But the restructuring o the

lie insurance industry primarily tends to

involve such strategic objectives as an in-

creased emphasis on core competencies

or the expansion into new markets rather

than the consolidation o geographically

concentrated rms as in banking. Expect competitive

intensity to remain the same.

Back to the question posted to me. I think

there are two ways the insurance industry can take

advantage o social technologies. First is to empower-

ing agents to take advantage o social media as their

CRM systems. It is the best way to reach people with

common interests, while the other is connecting with

people engaged in a similar occupation. Provide them

with tools to make content a lot more engaging and

tons o training. It is as important as knowing how to

use a phone.

Second is the extreme widgetization o the

products an services. Innovative thinking needs to be

built in the existing products around their socialabi-

ity and connectivity.

Lie insurance is a high involve-

ment product, it helps us to prepare or two

risksdying too young or living too long. I

think living too long is more o a problem.

A recent study done by The Boston College

Center or Retirement Research ound that

43% o American households are at risk o

being unable to maintain their pre-retire-

ment income.

And i you take away some optimis-

tic assumptions such as using a reverse

mortgage, over 60% are not prepared.

You can put a lot o innovative thinking

into making the product (and experiences)

more engaging. Here are a ew o the ideas I

have rom the back pocket and each one o

them can be big: Asocially-enabledannuityproduct

designed to be marketed through online

word-o-mouth?

Amassproduced,multi-component

prepackaged one-click solutions there is a

gap in the market place or this?

A hyper-ecient direct distribu-

tion model a super low cost solution that

makes ING looks expensive?

Adirectsellingmid-marketlifetimeincome solution income is now the most

practical consideration?

Plan conversion exchange allow

people to convert dened contribution as-

sets into income or lie through annuitiza-

tion?

Life insurance is a high

involvement product,

it helps us to prepare

for two risksdying tooyoung or living too long.

FUTURELAB


21/30

October issue 21

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

I am MD o Strategyn UK. We create product and service

strategies or client companies using our patented innovation

methodology. We work with a companys executive manage-

ment to invigorate growth and drive shareholder value through

creating an internal engine or innovation. Our structured

innovation process takes approximately 4 months to complete

and the result is a precise view o where in the market there are

opportunities or our client companies to create value. This

process has created billions o dollars or value in market cap or

client companies. Our list o clients includes Microso, Unilever,

Colgate, MetLie, StateFarm, Motorola, J&J, Medtronic and AIG

to name a ew.

Specialties:

Innovation, New Product Development, Breakthrough product

creation, Outcome-Driven Innovation and Research

I also lead The OMC Group - a UK-based network o cus-

tomer strategy consultants. Collectively, we have several years

senior, international management and consultancy experience

in consumer and business-to-business companies and thepublic sector as well as strong academic research pedigrees. We

work in the felds o strategy, innovation management, organi-

sational learning, marketing and brand management, customer

insight and customer-ocused capabilities development.

http://chrislawer.blogs.com

Faced with tough decisions that can make or break their companys

uture, it is little wonder that innovation managers are seriously retting

over their product portolios, go-kill decisions, new projects, resource

allocations and go-to-market timescales. Latest orecasts indicate it

may be the end o 2010 beore the recession bottoms-out and growth starts to

return.

So ar, many companies have responded to the unprecedented trading

conditions by slashing costs, cutting employee numbers, conserving cash andreducing investment in all new initiatives as though their survival depended

upon it. This may be necessary or now but in the longer-term, companies may

already have gone too ar by postponing or cancelling key innovation projects

that had the potential to plant green shoots and drive long-term business suc-

cess. Whilst riding out the perect storm may be the watchword or some, scal-

ing back too heavily could bring serious consequences or the longer-term.

I recognise that making such critical decisions in times o high economic

uncertainty is not easy. Crucially, it hinges on knowing - with a high degree o

confdence which pipeline projects or platorms should get the axe and which

should receive any remaining investment to secure market growth once recov-

ery arrives. But exactly how can these decisions be made? Well I suggest the an-

swer can be ound in developing one critical capability that many companies

still lack - that o acquiring, assimilating and commercially applying a ar deep-

er understanding o unmet customer needs with which to review an existing

pipeline o innovation projects and make critical growth planning decisions.

Let me explain.

FUTURELAB
http://chrislawer.blogs.com/http://chrislawer.blogs.com/


22/30

October issue 22

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

The problem with what

still passes or innovation in many

companies today is that it is not

innovation at all, but rather in-

vention. Companies that invent

rather than innovate tend to mea-

sure the success o their eorts by

the number as well as the quality

o new ideas they generate, their

ability to develop and market ex-periment these ideas quickly and

then speed them to market with a

anare. Summed up by the man-

tra - i were going to ail then at

least lets ail ast this accepted

culture o risk-taking and mistake-

toleration cannot be sustained in

a downturn when cash is king and

certainty is in short supply.

Acquiring, assimilating andcommercially applying afar deeper understandingof unmet customer needs

Lets look at some evidence that

compares the perormance o invention

with innovation. Goldenberg et al (2001)

tracked the perormance o 197 new prod-

uct introductions.

They then categorised them accord-

ing to how the products were originated,

whether through ideas, need spotting, mar-

ket research or in response to events. They

identifed that the least successul new

products were most likely to have been

born rom internally-generated ideas or

what they term, mental inventions. Such

inventions had only a 25% success rate. By

contrast, the most successul new products

originated rom capturing and understand-

ing unmet customer needs or events then

responding to them with appropriate solu-tions. This approach succeeded in between

50% and 90% o the new products originat-

ed in this way.

I you can identiy and cut out those

projects destined or ailure those that

dont meet customers important unmet

needs you can easily trim the wasteul

parts o your innovation budget. Put simply,

understanding unmet customers needs is

undamental to innovation success.

if were going to fail thenat least lets fail fast.

Here are some questions any

innovation manager should

ask of their current project

portfolio:

1Do you know exactly who will be the likely target cus-

tomer or target segment o your concept / product?

2Do you know the market size o the target buyer /

segment?

3

How will this market size change at the time o

launch?

4Will the concept / project address known, quanti-

fed important unmet customer needs?

5Do you know what these unmet needs are without

ambiguity?

6

What improvement in satisaction in needs will the

project / concept achieve?

7Do you have the optimum number o eatures andunctions on the platorm matched to unmet needs?

8Have you defned a clear value proposition or the

concept based on unmet needs?

FUTURELAB


23/30

October issue 23

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Using the jobs-to-be-done

and outcomes approach de-

vised by Strategyn, here are

some specifc activities thoseresponsible or innovation can

perorm to address the ollow-

ing questions:

Getting started - today

2Reassess how customers buy your prod-

ucts and the channels they use. Make it

easier or them to buy and discover a

new point o market dierentiation.

3

Determine i you are truly messaging to

your product strengths. Reassess current

value propositions, inormed by a solid

understanding o customer needs.

104

Focus your innovation eorts on your

most proftable customers. Protect them

by adding related jobs to existing plat-

orms or by satisying their outcomes

better. Innovate along their new priorities.

5Reocus your concept gen-

eration eorts by adding dis-

cipline to the inputs used.

Go outside the frm in a

more systematic way.

6Bring in top customers and

lead users at the concept

generation stage once op-

portunities are known, not

beore.

7

Pull previously cancelled

concepts back rom the

pipeline bin and reassess

them again using unmet

customer need inputs.

8Add adjacent jobs to cur-

rent platorms to quickly

and cheaply extend market

oerings.

9Undertake a competitive disruptive assessment against core jobs and top out-

comes addressed by existing platorms in the market or new concepts. De-

termine the ability o new entrants to address core jobs and outcomes aster,

cheaper, more conveniently or at a non-central location.

10Understand how current jobs-to-be-done served by existing products will

evolve post-recession. Start preparing future scenarios and inform them

with expert opinion and new customer inputs.

1Reassess customer needs to discover

changing priorities (e.g., cost versus conve-

nience, simplicity versus complexity). Ad-

just pricing and positioning according to

new customer priorities.

FUTURELAB


24/30

October issue 24

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

I am currently building a practice around social

business design with Dachis Corp. I have 14 years expe-

rience in the creative eld with the majority o my time

spent in digital marketing and experience design. An ac-

tive participant in the industry, I write Logic + Emotion

which is ranked in the top 10 media + marketing blogs ac-

cording to Advertising Age. My writing and visual think-

ing has been cited by Forrester, The Boston Globe and

has landed me in BusinessWeek on several occasions

including their Best o 2006.

Prior to Dachis, I spent time as a creative/strategic lead at

notable rms such as Critical Mass, Digitas and Agency.

computting in a combined tenure o 8 years in the large

digital agency environment. I led multiple initiatives or

clients such as HP, Allstate, Fifh Third Bank, Miller Brew-

ing, Grainger, and Bally Total Fitness. Previously, I earned

my interactive stripes working with The Chicago Tri-

bune on their site initiatives.

Today, I blend strategy with design and look or new op-

portunities around the evolving Web (otherwise known

as Web 2.0) to enhance the customer experience and

bring brands and people closer together.

http://darmano.typepad.com/

Arecent survey conducted by Proopoint ound that 8% o companies had ter-

minated employees due to social media usage (common causes including

sharing sensitive inormation on a network).

And while the statistic seems signicant, it only underscores one o several

upcoming challenges nearly every organization will ace as changes in people, process

and technology ueled by the collective movement we call social media begin to trans-

orm business. Here are a ew challenges that every organization should be planning or

right now. I you arent you will be.

1. Integration

Becoming a social business can impact nearly every unction o a business. Mar-

keting, PR, communicationseven supply chain and any unction that deals with em-

ployees. So where does it live? Is it a department? Do organizations hire a Chie Social

Ofcer much like they would a Chie Technology Ofcer? All organizations will eventu-

ally grapple with integrating social somehow into their entire ecosystem adopting either

centralized, distributed or hybrid approaches.

8%of companies had terminatedemployees due to social mediausage

FUTURELAB
http://darmano.typepad.com/http://darmano.typepad.com/


25/30

October issue 25

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

2. Governance

Many organizations now understand that anything that can and will

be said about them on the internet will be. The good, the bad, the ugly.

And this includes content produced not only rom the general

public, but also rom internal constituents such as employ-

ees. Organizations will not only need to begin activelylistening so that they are in the know, but they will

need rules o engagement or how they deal with

multiple types o scenarios rom responding to

a compliment to dealing with a detractor to ol-

lowing up with an employee who just posted

something inappropriate or sensitive.

5. Measurement & ROI

Every organization will continue to struggle with

how results get measured and how ROI is report-

ed. Philosophically, this question can be answered

with another question: whats the ROI o e-mail? But

its a question that wont go away. New social constructs

will be needed to measure social initiatives such as attention

(the size or number o participants actively engaged) or authority

(the amount o inuence a participant has in the ecosystem). Because so-

cial business is enabled by technology, it is by defnition measurable. How-

ever, tying it to revenue made or saved becomes more o a challenge.

3. Culture

All organizations all somewhere on a spectrum o being open or closed

meaning that they are either more transparent with how they operate and

collaborative or they hoard knowledge internally. Consider that its

probable that the Zappos purchase by Amazon had a good

deal to do with their notoriously open culture. Likewise,even Apple which can be notoriously secretive is ben-

efting by leveraging a strategy that opened up their

iPhone application ecosystem. Sure Apple has a

great deal o control over it, but or the frst time in

historythey have legions o people developing

applications which run on their hardware. Orga-

nizations have the potential to beneft rom em-

bracing customers, employees etc. but will have

to manage it intelligently and with purpose.4. Human Resources

In order to transorm rom a business to a so-

cial business, (meaning true participation asopposed to leveraging social media as a new

orm o marketing), businesses are going to

have to upgrade their HR protocols, as well as le-

gal. And its likely to be a never-ending process as

new technologies continually hit the scene. Beore

there was Twitter, companies scrambled to publish

blogging guidelines or employees, now the wrong tweet

or Facebook status can get you fred. Organizations will not only

need to update guidelines but actually train their people who may

be leveraging social technologies or work. Customer service in par-

ticular comes to mind.

Theres more, but I think these represent some big ones.What are your thoughts?

FUTURELAB


26/30

October issue 26

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

John Caddell has nally realized that his le

and right brains are the property o the same person.

For more than twenty years, he worked or

companies in the telecom industry, developing,

marketing and implementing IT solutions, including

end-user and interconnect billing, CRM, and media-

tion. He has worked both or telecom operators and

their suppliers.John has specialized in wireless telecom-

munications since 1992, working with companies

such as EDS and LHS Group to provide solutions to

some o the global mobile industrys pioneers, such

as AirTouch Communications, Hong Kong Telecom

and Sprint Cellular, and upstarts such as KDDI Mo-

bile (USA) and Working Assets Wireless.

Prior to starting his own consulting practice,

he spent six years as a corporate ofcer, ullling

executive roles in sales, P&L management, accountmanagement, product development and strategic

marketing.

http://www.caddellinsightgroup.com/

Sylvia Ann Hewlett blogged at Harvard Business Review that leaders need to inspire

lower-level employees. She writes:

No one succeeds alone, which is why all leaders must fnd a way to pollinate the

workorce with their values, ideas and enthusiasm. This is what keeps businesses humming,

especially during a downturn.

Some leaders inspire the masses via the grand motivational speech. Others via one-

on-one conversations. At Time Warner, CEO Jerey L. Bewkes held a series o skip-level

lunches with ten to twelve high perormers that typically had little or no access to him. He

spent two unscripted hours talking about his vision and answering their questions. Employ-

ees who attended Bewkes lunches reported eeling more confident in the company and

developed a new afnity or their chie.

Whatever vehicle leaders choose to use to reach out and inspire employees at local

levels, their talk must have teeth. Dont spout hyperbole Great job or we can do it! Instead,

serve up concrete, achievable goals. Listen to peoples problems and oer real solutions.

Mentor by sharing your own lessons learned, celebrate teams eorts and reward tangible

achievements. Even a simple thanks goes a long way when delivered rom on high.

Dont spout hyperbole Great jobor we can do it! Instead, serve up

concrete, achievable goals

FUTURELAB
http://www.caddellinsightgroup.com/http://www.caddellinsightgroup.com/


27/30

October issue 27

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Each week at urniture designer

Knoll, president and COO Lynn Utter emails

our senior managers and asks them or the

name o one person on their team who has

been exemplary. Utter then calls each per-

son to thank and congratulate him or her or

a specic accomplishment. Utter is as time-constrained as the rest o us but says that i

she cannot make our phone calls a week to

acknowledge peoples good work, then she is

not doing her job.

Hewlett is rightinspiring the troops

is an important leadership task, especially in

tough times. But my reaction on reading this

prescription was, Ugh, more top-down think-

ing. In other words, everythings up to the

leaderthat anity or the chie and thank-

ing employees makes a company better.

How about this idea instead? Lets

orget about CEO Bewkes or a moment, and

ocus on making the work more un and re-

warding or the 87,000 people who work or

Time Warner.

Gary Hamel discussed this idea in his

recent book The Future o Management. In it

he pointed out how Toyota is able to leverage

the creative thinking o all its 300,000 em-

ployees through means like theToyota Pro-

duction System. This benets the company

by ensuring a constant stream o innovation,

and the employees by making the workplace

a more rewarding place to spend time.

I am ocused on one particular group

o employeesthose who interact directly

with customers. This includes customer-service reps, retail clerks, bank tellers and ac-

count support staf. It is a group with tremen-

dous insight, and a group thats held in low

esteem in companies Im amiliar with.

To borrow a phrase rom my riend

Matthew Achak, Nobody listens to the reps.

They sometimes are not even allowed inter-

net access.

This is just wrong. These groups oc-

cupy a unique position in the company. They

hear the unvarnished truth rom custom-

ers. Their stories, rather than being ignored,

should be nurtured and collected. Everyone

else in the company should read them and

absorb the lessons (especially the leader-

ship). They should be primary inputs to strat-

egy, marketing and product development.

The best stories and best storytellers should

be acknowledged and promoted.

Companies should focus on something like

this, instead of sending their CEOs around on moti-

vational tours or making four calls per week to ex-

emplary employees. Increasing employees sense of

meaning and personal value in their work.

Now thats leadership.

Lets forgetabout

CEO Bewkes

for a moment,and focus on

making the workmore fun

and rewarding

for the87,000 peoplewho work

forTime Warner

FUTURELAB


28/30

October issue 28

SHIFT PERSPECTIVES

Tom H. C. Anderson

provides handson personal

ized consultation, highlevel

advanced statistical and quali

tative analysis, and actionable

advice to Anderson Analyt

ics clients. Mr. Anderson has

over a decade o experience

at the largest global marketing

research companies such as

TNS, NFO Worldwide, and AC

Nielsen BASES. He has worked

on product and market devel

opment projects across several

countries and industries in

cluding fnancial services, tele

communications, packaged

goods, and travel & entertainment. Prior to ounding Ander

son Analytics, Tom managed

the Starwood Hotels & Resorts

Worldwide account or TNS,

where he managed market

research studies in over 80

countries and consulted to executive

and brand management o Westin, W

Hotels, Sheraton, Four Points, St Regis,

Luxury Collection, and Starwood Va

cation Ownership.

Beore TNS-NFO, Tom helped

ound IQuestics.com, a GenI consum

er insights consultancy or Snowball.

com, now IGN.com. While at IQuestics

he perected the online quantitative

and qualitative skills required to under

stand and market to the technological

ly savvy 13-30 year old GenX & GenY

demographic.

Tom has unusually deep and

wide knowledge in all aspects o mar

ket research including advanced mul

tivariate statistical analysis, data andtext mining. Through his career he has

consulted to dozens o ortune 500

companies and major marketing re

search suppliers and ad agencies.

www.tomhcanderson.com

Should your company have an app for that?

Iwas asked to comment on MasterCards new iPhone application

Priceless in this weeks Adage. Since publishing o the article Ive

received some questions on whether or not certain companies

should be involved in social networks, specifcally do they have

any business building apps?

Based on our recent research as well as our personal experience

in building SNS Apps is that, yes in many cases apps can be a good toolor companies in providing something o value to their customers on

social networks. However, companies do need to be careul in deciding

what kind o applications to build and how they execute these.

Why should companies be active on social networks?

In a recent survey on social networks Anderson Analytics asked

whether or not social network users would like to see the brands/com-

panies they normally purchase products rom become more involved

in communicating with them on social networks. As expected when

asking about advertising, which at some level commercial involvement

entails, a third o SNS users were negative (35%).

However the real story is that most were neutral (45%), and there

were nearly as many that were or it as against it (20% wanted more in-

volvement). Put in other words, the majority (65%) are open to greater

commercial communication on social networks!

FUTURELAB
http://www.tomhcanderson.com/http://www.tomhcanderson.com/

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