Creative Inspiration

Too often people believe creativity requires locking themselves in a room (or even worse a conference room) and randomly brainstorming with others. Truth be told, that doesn’t accomplish much of anything. You end up relying on others for an original idea or you rely on your own past experiences too much.

Do me a favor. Try a new technique this week. I’m sure you need to think of something new and exciting. Here are a few things that may kick-start the creative juices. I’m not saying it’s the be-all and end-all in your creativity journey, but it could help inspire you to greater ideas.

1) Walk away from your desk. Discover a new place or environment. It’s important to place yourself in an area that is conducive to relaxation and stress-free thinking. This also takes you away from the norm.

2) Go to the movies, visit a museum or an art gallery. Take mental note of new, different and out of the ordinary. Most creativity starts with a visual spark. You can always go back to your rational self … I promise. But, you need to tap into your visual — and somewhat irrational — side.

3) Spend a few hours with a child. Put the smartphone away and pay attention. Watch how they interact with the rest of the world. Enjoy their curiosity and then mimic it!

4) Ignore your country for a week. For one week, stop being a U.S citizen or a French citizen or an Argentinian. Learn about trends in another country. Design trends —music, art, architectural, behavioral trends. Now use that information to create.

These are just a few techniques to kick-start creativity. The point is to rebel against the norm when you create., To do this, you must stop living in the norm.

What Recession?

Well, it's interesting to see how companies are reacting to our current economic condition. It's not hard to tell which companies will increase market share and brand health and which companies will fade away. Great companies push their creativity to the limit. They understand that NOW is the time to attack. They understand this environment is perfect for beating the competition. It's amazing that more companies don't understand this philosophy.

Innovation is key to growth under these conditions and in order to take advantage of this opportunity, gaining real and actionable insight is paramount. Now is the time to tap into consumers. Why? Let's see:

1) They want to be heard

2) They are just as creative as marketers

3) There expectations from companies is higher than ever

4) If you watch them and listen to them, you will understand

5) They are the critical element to growth as it relates to new products and services, advertising, branding initiatives and everything sacred in the Brand World.

Let's be real. Great companies understand the above already and sometimes need a reminder. The others. Well, they may not be here long enough to read my next blog posting.

See a great article on winning companies in a recession:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7439356/Innovating-Through-Recession-by-Andrew-Razeghi-of-Kellog-School-of-Management

Death To Focus Groups

Death To Focus Groups

Consumers lie. Scratch that. Consumers rarely provide honest insight into what they are thinking and feeling when in a focus group environment. Why is that? The process is flawed. Let's review the process for a minute:

1) Consumers are called by "professional screeners" also known as telemarketers and asked if they would be interested in participating in a focus group for a certain amount of money. In this current economic environment, who is going to say "No".

2) Consumers are asked to give answers to questions or respond to stimuli. The problem here is if I am going to get paid and want to be asked to come back for another group, I will provide safe answers. Hey, I want to keep this gravy-train going!

3) We provide stimuli so the consumer can provide their opinion. If I ask you to choose from A,B,C, or D, you are forced to choose from that set of answers. There is no room for another answer. Can you say, "leading the witness!"

4) We typically only allow for 1-2 hours of probing. Are you telling me that your brand is so important that you believe 1-2 hours is enough time to understand a consumers behavior, delve into their emotional psyche and learn how to interpret that information?

5) You are typically in a conference room setting. This is the most unnatural setting for a consumer to be in.

I'm not saying do away with 100% of focus groups. They are useful under very specific circumstances. However, it's time to find new ways to get at information. Remember the first focus groups were developed by sociologists in the 1950's. Unfortunately, not much has changed in half a century.

It's time look for new and more meaningful ways to understand consumer behavior. It's time to put "Sexy Back" into consumer insight!

When Business as Usual is Not Good Enough

General Electric 1890, IBM 1896, General Motors 1908, Disney 1923, Tollhouse Cookies 1933, Burger King 1953, Microsoft 1975, CNN 1980, MTV 1981, Apple 1975 & 2001.

What do all of these companies and others have in common? Someone thought to be disruptive at a time when most hunkered down and played it safe.

Frank Whittle dismissed the scientific community’s scoffs about his small company’s jet engine ideas. His boldness not only altered modern aviation but World War II.

All of these companies exist today because they were creative disruptors who dared to believe that their ideas were relevant, new and potentially revenue-building. They ignored naysayers and the conservative bunch. They took a lot of heat for being dreamers. They were called crazy. Many stayed up at night wondering if they were doing the right thing. Others questioned if they should take risks in such an economic environment.

Fast forward to 2011. We are supposedly just coming out of a recession, but it doesn’t feel that way. The housing market remains extremely weak. Oil prices have skyrocketed. The unemployment rate remains high. Financial markets are volatile, and companies are not replacing people but making do with less staff.

Look at the list again.

Now is not the time to bury our heads in the sand. IT IS THE TIME TO REBEL AND CREATE.

If you are a CEO, it’s time to empower your teams to think big, think different and take chances.

If you are a future entrepreneur, understand your idea is not crazy but waiting to be fulfilled.

If you are unemployed, you are now a potential business owner who can turn dreams into reality.

If you are a student, get ready for a wonderful world that thrives on disruption and creativity.

The list above only proves you’re in good company.

Go forth and CREATE!

The Power of Small

It important to remember the importance of growth while understanding the power of small.

The "power of small" means not taking too long to make decisions. Small means keeping the fire burning. Small means setting aggressive goals. It means everyone in the organization is a creative thinking, rebellious, chaos-loving individual. You are all entrepreneurs. You are a start-up and you behave that way every day. Great companies understand the "power of small" and continue to embrace that thought even as they turn into multi-nationals. Apple, Google, Facebook, LVMH, Vizio and the list goes on. They all remember and execute on this mantra everyday.

You CAN NOT create acting big and slow. You can only create and innovate by embracing the "power of small" because that means you are reaching for the impossible.

Go forth and create!

New Year. Time To Innovate!

OK, it's a new year and it time to create and innovate!

It's interesting to see how companies are reacting to our current economic condition. It's not hard to tell which companies will increase market share and brand health and which companies will fade away. Great companies push their creativity to the limit. They understand that NOW is the time to attack. They understand this environment is perfect for beating the competition. It's amazing that more companies don't understand this philosophy.

Innovation is key to growth under these conditions and in order to take advantage of this opportunity, gaining real and actionable insight is paramount. Now is the time to tap into consumers. Why? Let's see:

1) They want to be heard

2) They are just as creative as marketers

3) There expectations from companies is higher than ever

4) If you watch them and listen to them, you will understand

5) They are the critical element to growth as it relates to new products and services, advertising, branding initiatives and everything sacred in the Brand World.

Let's be real. Great companies understand the above already and sometimes need a reminder. The others. Well, they may not be here long enough to read my next blog posting.

See a great article on winning companies in a recession:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/7439356/Innovating-Through-Recession-by-Andrew-Razeghi-of-Kellog-School-of-Management