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I was once asked in a job interview "how much of your day do you typically use thinking out of the box?" Needless to say, I wasn't much interested in that company after that sort of question.It's ridiculous to think that we would divide up a thought process into "in the box thinking" and "outside the box thinking" as if our brains could suddenly be unshackled at the flip of a switch. However, as innovators we're constantly trying to find the space in our brains to create new stuff in an unconstrained way. Some of the ways we do that are by getting people outside their normal habitat, changing routine, providing disruptive stimulus or having external influencers in the room to shake things up. It isn't about thinking inside or outside a box, it's about changing patterned thinking...and unfortunately our brains aren't very good at avoiding patterns. A couple of articles recently have provoked a bit of thought for me on this subject. The first in the Guardian by Oliver Burkeman - all about “vuja-de” or the sense of seeing something for the first time, even if you have actually witnessed it many times before. It’s a dreadful turn of phrase, but a really compelling thought. The other piece linked off the Burkeman article, taking me to a blog called “Less Wrong” and an article by Anna Salamon about preserving curiosity by continuing to ask questions. Both pieces reinforce the importance of approaching a creative problem with what I’m calling a “primed mind” – one that is empty of preconceptions, but full of questions.
I've been flipping through David McCandless' "Information is Beautiful" book. It's not new but remains a timeless reminder of how great design can make information come to life -- engaging not only our intellects but our emotions as well. At Egg, we believe the way we convey information is as important as the information itself... both the content and the delivery are like different instruments playing the same song. When we weave the two together and create harmony, the result can persuade and touch us in powerful and beautiful ways.
If you're here, you'll already have noticed that we've completely revamped our site and as part of that we have a shiny new blog too!Stay tuned for a fresh perspective about the world of marketing, innovation, reasearch and any general randomness that catches our interest.
Two great examples of big companies doing excellent things with their packaging. They aren't the most recent innovations, but it feel good to hear about more of this gathering momentum.
The first example is Sun Chips' 100% compostable bag. Frito Lay took 4 years to develop this and it's a perfect fit with the Sun Chips brand. Hopefully more of Frito-Lay's brands can be packaged with bags made from polylactic acid...which frankly doesn't sound bio-degradeable, but breaks down in 14 weeks as captured by this time-lapse little ad/movie.
The second piece is Coke's Naked Can - designed by Harc Lee - no toxic paints required in production, no paint-stripping required in recycling. Too bad "red" is such a significant part of the brand iconography.
In honor of one of the simplest, yet best innovations of all time, let's celebrate July 7th as "Sliced Bread Day". 82 years ago today, Otto Rohwedder sold the first loaf of pre-sliced bread made by his innovative new machine. Rohwedder had been working on the machine for 16 years, and it was a secondary problem that he needed to solve before it became a success. Slicing the bread was not the issue, but keeping the bread fresh was the more important factor. He was only successful once he developed a part of the machine that wrapped the sliced bread in wax paper immediately, thereby packaging it fresh for sale. Two years later, Wonder Bread commercialized the idea and the rest is history. Good innovations don't become great until all the angles are covered. Rohwedder stuck at it for 16 years. Perseverance pays.
We have a lot of runners at Egg. A couple of us have experimented with the "freerunning" movement. In short, minimalist footwear to produce close-to-natural footstrike. While still within the minority, this freerunning movement is gaining traction (sorry, had to do it) and is proving to be a cost-of-entry innovation for most mainstream footwear companies. New Balance, Adidas and Nike have joined the race (there we go again).
These races against similar products inevitably produce a battle of differentiation (messaging, colorways, sponsors). Ultimately, the winner will harness an element of distinction its competition can't match. I'll propose Nike's getting there with the below video. Always attentive to its ownership of the convergence between athletics and pop culture, Nike produced a video with the help of a couple Japanese DJ's (not going to pretend I have the street cred to elaborate) that while absurd, highlighted the core attribute of its Nike Free shoe (next-to-natural flexibility) in a way that resonates with runners and peaks the interest of those profitable fashion-forward sneakerfreaks.
This is a challenge to rethink the way we communicate our most important attributes. Re-imagine how our targets experience the benefits we shout from the rooftops. Turn a simple function into art and in one down-beat, beat down the competition.
At the beginning of any kind of ideation, we always say to participants "it's OK to be uncomfortable". In fact, if you're not a little bit scared by your new ideas, maybe they aren't so innovative, so really you should "embrace the discomfort".
While I stand behind this thought when brainstorming, we rarely ask consumers to be uncomfortable do we? The best innovations are nearly always those that might seem revolutionary, but really require very little change in behavior.
So maybe we should be looking at discomfort in a couple of ways. First - as ideators, if we experience discomfort, why is that? Can we figure out a way to make consumers feel more reassured? I think of this kind of discomfort as a challenge to work around...it's a good thing. Second, any good new product idea needs to provoke a reaction, otherwise how is it going to break the status quo and sustain itself? So maybe we should harness some of that discomfort and use it to our advantage. All this said, a good bit of healthy fear keeps us on our toes, as this brilliant clip shows, but it's respecting and using that fear that matters. Thanks to Toph for the clip.
Ok this is really cool.
I always thought Dyson would be one of those one-hit-wonder kind of guys who had a great revolutionary idea that changed a category that no one had thought about in a long time. I figured he would have this splash and retreat to count his millions on the tropical island of his choice. But he has done it again folks, this time re-inventing the humble fan.
So for the twist on this one…no blades…sublime. He now goes on the list of people I want to have a drink with before I die. To be able to re-think the mundane and turn it into inspired innovation (which sells at a premium, mind you) is truly a gift.
I am totally inspired by the groundbreaking force-to-be-reckoned-with of social media it what is proving to be pivotal in the historic events in Iran this week.
It has catapulted a technology that I was previously entirely cynical about into the realms of the truly revolutionary with average Iranian citizens able to get their personal experiences out to the world despite media blackouts and internet censorship with simple micro-blogging.
Hooray for a media coming of age and finding it’s worth. I am brimming with ideas to incorporate Twitter methodologies into our work!
My friend Vaughan (The Real Gent) visited an Alcoholic Architecture installation recently - what's that?.. I hear all 6 of our loyal readers yell in unison. Essentially a bar designed and set up to feel like you are inside your actual drink...in this case a delicious Gin and Tonic. The air in the bar is infused with booze, so you are literally inhaling your drink. Patrons have to don protective CSI style crime scene suits to prevent the alcohol seeping into their hair and clothes, but apparently it does go through the pores of the skin and in through your eyeballs. You can buy real Gin and Tonics to drink in the regular fashion, if required. £5 buys you 45 minutes of breathable cocktails - equivalent to drinking one G&T or if you hid in the bathroom for a few hours , I suppose you could get quite hammered.
If "inhalable brands" are the way of the future, at least this seems more satisfying than Le Whif.
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