Monthly Archives: May 2010
I get a lot of interesting things sent to me about Lovemarks, and here is one out of left field. A Masters student in Australia, Bibi Deena Syed sent me over a hardbound thesis … that’s a psychoanalytic study of Lovemarks. Crazy? Psychoanalyzing love? I’ve traveled the world sharing and discussing Lovemarks with thousands of people, and every time I think there’s no other way of looking at it, someone comes along with a fresh and insightful take. The researcher breaks down people’s motivations into the “TUM” theory, concluding that we’re all motivated by – Them Drives: created by the cultural and social things around us (connected with commodities) Us Drives: based on our desire for belongingness, company and affection (connected with brands) Me Drives: our desire for self satisfaction and self fulfillment. (connected with Lovemarks) The study found that the key difference between a commodity, a brand and a … Continue reading
April 26, 2010 was a big day for Apple. That was the day it surpassed Microsoft as the most valuable technology company. Kids who have grown up with the iMac, iPod and iPad may greet the news with a yawn. But those of us who remember the early days are somewhat stunned. Who would have thought ten years ago (let alone twenty or thirty) that Apple, which proudly refused to compromise its way to market share, would ever overtake big, bad Microsoft? Nobody knows what’s going to happen from here, whether this is a temporary blip or a permanent changing of the guard. But as I look at the future prospects of both companies I can’t help drawing a parallel to similar organizations in another rapidly-changing, highly-competitive sector. Microsoft is GM. Apple is BMW. Microsoft, like GM, is big, covers just about everything, and makes products that work well most … Continue reading
In our innovation circles, we like to celebrate the pioneers. They are the folks that establish the trail and go where no one has gone before. We highlight their advancements and hold up their accomplishments. But what often goes unsaid or unnoticed is that many pioneers die right on the cusp of success. Who are the ultimate winners? The Fastest Followers ™. Does this mean we as innovators should abandon the concept of “Blue Oceans” and wait for others to move? Absolutely not – but it should inform our strategies. Let’s think about one exemplar of innovation – Google, and one pioneer that made the search space possible – Yahoo. I can remember when Yahoo was the big news. Yahoo was going to take over the internet and Google was an interesting sideshow. What Yahoo did was establish that there were OPPORTUNITIES …
A recent post highlighted strategies for creating an informal social media team within your organization to help carry out social media strategy. Debra Feldman was nice enough to tweet a link but gave it the frown emoticon for not being applicable to solopreneurs. I promised to create a comparable list for individuals in business for themselves. Hopefully, these twenty strategies, based on experience with Brainzooming, will help those building their small businesses (or personal brands) more effectively manage social media. Managing Your Presence Select several social media platforms supporting your business strategy and objectives; concentrate your presence on these alone. You might have one location for content (i.e., a blog or micro-blog), a second for networking (maybe Twitter or LinkedIn), and a third for community interaction (Facebook or LinkedIn). Divide social media time into 3 roughly equal parts – reading and monitoring social media in your topic area, commenting and … Continue reading
This is the eighth of several ‘Innovation Perspectives’ articles we will publish this week from multiple authors to get different perspectives on ‘How should firms collaborate with customers and/or value chain partners to co-create new products and services?’. Here is the next perspective in the series: by Matt Heinz Find mutual priorities and desired outcomes, quantify its value and potential to ensure prioritization and focus, then assign a project owner with specific deadlines to get the project off the ground, keep it on schedule, and get it done. Co-creation can be a powerful means of creating innovation on a variety of levels, but partnerships too often fail to get off the ground (let alone launched with results realized) because the two (or more) parties don’t agree on priorities, expected outcomes, or urgency. Without a basis that has all parties on common footing from square one, things won’t get done. That … Continue reading
This is the seventh of several ‘Innovation Perspectives’ articles we will publish this week from multiple authors to get different perspectives on ‘How should firms collaborate with customers and/or value chain partners to co-create new products and services?’. Here is the next perspective in the series: by Debbie Goldgaber Defining Co-Creation As a general rule, when you embark on a project it’s important to take a moment to define your terms. This is particularly important with the term co-creation, because it’s easy to conflate it with the more general concept of open innovation or open product development. Co-creation sounds like you might be asking your client and value-chain partners to help you create new products and services, by intervening in several or all steps of the traditional product development cycle. In fact, experts tend to see product co-creation a little bit differently, insofar as the focus is not on a … Continue reading
