February 4, 2014

Shoppers want seamless online -instore shopping experiences

A new study by management consultancy firm Accenture finds more US shoppers ‘webrooming’ than ‘showrooming’ in their hunt for products to buy.

But it’s not all bad news for traditional retailers, the report also highlights shoppers responding to ‘seamless’ customer experiences – using ‘click and collect’ services, buying in store and using direct home delivery services. Offering ‘real time’ product availability is cited as one example where the on and offline worlds merge.

Showing customers your stock online means a journey to your store is not wasted. The report also suggests traditional retailers need to work harder on innovation to keep shoppers in store interested, and to focus on successfully differentiating their offer from competitors ( on and off line).

We consumers are a demanding bunch, expecting offers and promotions to be channel agnostic, and the most budget conscious remain convinced the best deals are online not in store. Interesting stuff and good news for m-commerce too as users report buying from smartphones getting easier and easier.

Read the full report here.

Customers are buying online and collecting at store

Customers are buying online and collecting at store

February 1, 2014

How Betabrand gets amazing customer engagement

Love this!  US online clothing retailer Betabrand offers instant discounts to customers in return for their pictures  in Betabrand clothes and accessories, simple enough – This example gets it right on every level – lovely tone of voice and personality -collections of great pictures  in their Wall of Fame Model Citizen section- this is the best example of brand fans I have seen in a while. It is also a clear example of how important and ‘sticky’ user generated content can be, and how to make your customers work for you in the online space.

Betabrand have really got the  language right too. I  love their ‘Model Citizen’ concept to house all the pictures!

They ask for weird and whacky and they get it!

22671632-betabrand_modelcitizen

Innovation wise, this is an example of a brand really thinking about how to engage in conversation with it’s fans online. They have spent time understanding how customers can be advocates and are generous enough to allow their fans space to share their own stuff on  site too…they mean it, and that all adds to the love-in.

Calling the section Model Citizen, tongue in cheek and playful and celebrating the Wall of Fame works.

Celebrating those who celebrate you is a top tip when it comes to customer experience innovation.

How good are you at recognising the people who love your brand /product ? How easy is it for them to engage and publicise their enthusiasm  on your site ?  How many clothing brands do you know who’d have  a picture of a kid in a green onesie sporting a pair of their up market sun glasses  ?

Check the images out on Betabrand’s Model Citizen section. See what happens when you relax the brand control uptightness a bit, relinquishing a bit of that ‘control’ can pay back in spades.

Betabrand Customers in their clothing -

Betabrand Customers in their clothing –

January 27, 2014

Fear of saying something stupid is a barrier to innovation

albert-einstein-intuition-page2397We love this blog piece, especially the analysis of framing innovation as ‘problem’ vs opportunity – and how people’s fears of ‘saying something stupid’ are a barrier to innovation. Obvious, but very, very true and often overlooked.

Personal take-aways from: Chapter 4: Of Innovation, Intuition and Imposters: Intangible Vulnerabilities in the Brains of Great Leaders (Pages 91-101)

Making “problems” part of innovation appears to be a substantial mindset change to discover new solutions. Knowing that a problem is something “normal” will relax people to take their time to find the similarities across great semantic differences. The saying “just give it time” makes even more sense now. This goes hand in hand with other topics discussed in other parts of the book; a focus change away from the perception that a problem is something negative towards something positive: that a problem is one way of innovation calling to be discovered. 

It also seems to be important to have created a context for innovation in terms of the company culture. Although the book doesn’t specifically state it that way, but the fact that there may be tensions between madness and creativity, might explain the following thought process: “I don’t want to sound like a fool in front of my employees/the others.” Leaders might fall short of their own creative potential because they are afraid to say something “stupid” because they think that if the people they work with don’t understand it, they will have lose the leadership status they have had in the past. The same might be the reason why sometimes innovation is so hard to come by: because people are afraid to say something “stupid” that cannot be understood by the mindsets and paradigms of the people they work with. Changing this context by creating an “idea-free zone” might help people and leaders to truly open up without feeling the pressure of having to sound “intelligent” or to be understood. To challenge the status-quo might call for “stupid ideas.” Let´s think about the great inventors such as Bell, Tesla, the Wright Brothers and Babbage. 

View original

January 26, 2014

How to Innovate with Pubic Hair: American Apparel

It would be churlish not to comment on US clothing retailer American Apparel ‘s decision to ‘shock’ using mannequins with full pubic hair. Seen here sporting a rather large ‘bush’ showing through flimsy undergarments, this plastic lady and her plastic friends have been seen across select AA US store window displays.

Personally, I love it.  Interesting that something so, shall we say, ubiquitous can be used to such great PR effect. Simple, cheap to do, massive PR, what’s not to like ?

From an innovation perspective, this example teaches there is value in revisiting taboos. It encourages us not to feel like we have to beat the marketing teams of our competitors by playing according to category or advertising rules and mores.

I am not saying massive ‘bush in-ya-face’ is the best tactic for a fashion brand, nor that shock tactics are always a great plan, but this American Apparel stunt certainly got buzz  and  let’s face it, the story adds a degree of interest to what is otherwise a black and white box selling sweat tops and casual gear.

imgres

January 26, 2014

Why celebrating failure is important for innovation

So the blogosphere is all over GoogleX, the skunkworks ‘hub’ where only the most intractable and real problems make the cut for an ambitions group of moon-seekers – and a place where they celebrate and relish failure.

The idea that failure is good for innovation is of course nothing new; we have been banging on about celebrating failure for years. Those of us who know what it feels like to have messed up big time, or seen a dream project slip sulkily down the drain of lost hope know it is easier said than done. It is only a properly innovative, grown up company ( note: not necessarily a large one) that actually manages to deal with this stuff, never mind celebrating it. I applaude Google for making their failures as much a story as their new ( and utterly incredible) intelligent contact lenses!

Fast Company way back in 2005, cited some excellent examples of failure and its importance to innovation: from Brit James Dyson, to Italian design icon Alberto Alessi , I love their list of those who manage and flourish in the face of failure.

I particularly rate the quote from legendary sculptor Henry Moore  who said: ‘The secret of life is to have a task, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is: It must be something you cannot possibly do.’ Now there’s a challenge to innovate if ever I saw one!

CC www.theguardian.com

CC www.theguardian.com

November 20, 2013

What is a database of millions of human feelings ?

We Feel Fine is a wonderful project scraping millions of human feelings from the web, curated in what started as an art project and has blossomed into a book, TED talks, APIs and an inspirational journey. I love this innovative take on the implications of new technology and the lens it provides on some of life’s fundamentals. This is innovation meets internet art.

I love the audacity of their mission and the output is intriguing and creative. Emotions are ‘curated’ into 6 ‘Movements’ – madness, murmurs, montage, mobs, metrics and mounds – not a bad taxonomy.

As they say, the We Feel Fine project is emergent and it changes as we all change, ‘an artwork authored by everyone’ . Big up to founders Jonathan Harris and Sep Kanvar.

Check them out at We Feel Fine 

wff

August 24, 2013

The Amazings – a wonderful example of innovation for the ageing population

 

I love these people and their idea. Let’s face it, most of the stuff out there makes getting old sound pretty rough. The team at ‘The Amazings’ is changing all that. Based on a simple notion that we can learn from our elders, executed in an upbeat, friendly, collaborative way – it’ll have you wanting to learn Tango in no time. They have a section on their website outlining their story, I applaud their candour and wish them every success. Really interesting to note the step changes in their journey and what happened when they brought the idea to life using videos of their Amazings – the elders who have a lot to teach us all.  This is exactly what UK innovation hub NESTA should be funding too. Well done guys! Check out their story and follow @TheAmazings

The Amazings

July 31, 2013

Happy People Sell

One guy and his simple mantra, ‘Happy people sell’ creates a call centre like no other. One of the best examples of business and the blindingly obvious I have seen recently. Nev, the boss of a Welsh call centre keeps his troops happy with what many might call ‘unorthodox’ management tools. If you haven’t watched him in action, switch on and check out The Call Centre aired on BBC Three, available on BBC iplayer. 

 

July 31, 2013

Innovate or else…

Great piece from Business Week on what happens to brands which fail to innovate. Simply put, if the world keeps moving on and your brand stands still, don’t be surprised when it all goes horribly wrong. The article cites great examples of brands putting innovation at the heart of what they do vs. those who pay the price of complacency.  It’s the reason the once popular Twinkies are no longer a lunch box staple.

Hostess-Twinkies-box

 

 

Related articles
July 8, 2013

When not to Innovate

Great article in Forbes on when Innovation is not the answer. I love their piece on Icons- if you are lucky enough to have a brand icon, don’t be tempted to relaunch it and mess it up. Whatever happened to the Man from del Monte a UK advertising icon destroyed by an agency keen to do something new for the sake of being new. How many icons are there in the ambient juice category – really?  In this case the ad agency brand planners  decided that the Man from DM was a little retro, a bit too ‘colonial’ and his ‘saying yes’ was an unfair judgement on the low paid fruit pickers. There is a difference between creating a little more love around your brand and losing one of the most memorable, recognisable, in fact one might even say unique icons in the category.  Mistake. A classic example of When not to Innovate.

The Man From del Monte Says 'Yes'- brand icon

The Man From del Monte Says ‘Yes’- brand icon

2018 © The Ideas Machine. All rights reserved. For our privacy policy and how we use your data click here