Category: creativity

The Elusive Smartwatch (Why Every Manufacturer Wants One)

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Once again, rumors are rampant that a big manufacturer is just weeks away from introducing a smartwatch.  This talk has been around for years but this time it looks like Samsung will be delivering.

So why have so many manufacturers been linked to the smartwatch or wearable device trend? The article linked above states that it’s about creating a new niche in a market that has not seen much innovation. While this is certainly true, it’s also attractive because it’s linked to a more basic marketing principle – social proof.

Social proof essentially states that when faced with an ambiguous situation, people will do what they see their peers doing (BTW if you haven’t read, “Influence” by Robert Cialdini, stop reading this and get it now).

Smartphones recently outsold feature phones for the first time. And it would be hard to argue against their visibility. It’s impossible to sit in a busy public place and not see someone using one. But there’s a big problem with phones. They are in your pocket a large percentage of the time. Not the best trait when trying to spur mass adoption of a device.

In the early days of the MP3 player, you could identify an iPod user by the white earbuds. They stood out and gave consumers a way to show off their purchase. By increasing visibility and identification, Apple was utilizing social proof. People who weren’t sure if they wanted or needed an MP3 player saw these white earbuds everywhere, and (consciously or unconsciously) registered a vote for the iPod each time they were noticed. When they explored purchasing an MP3 player, guess which one they looked at first?

The smartwatch increases the visibility exponentially. Where a smartphone (or MP3 player) is in a pocket, a wristwatch is always visible. If Samsung, or Apple can get early adopters to begin wearing these devices, it’s easy to see them being conversation starters. There are people who use cell phones as status symbols, whipping them out at every opportunity. Just imagine how easy this gets when it’s always visible.

I’m not sure what these devices will look like but I’m betting on one thing; Look for these devices to be quickly identifiable as an Apple or Samsung product. Look for this generation’s white earbuds. In this way, companies can start racking up those social votes, even with people who never considered a smartwatch. The race is on to capture this market and the high-octane fuel is social proof.

Think about how you can leverage this principle with your product or service. Can you give your fans a way to identify as a fan and to show it off even when they aren’t saying a word?

“sent from my iPad” 😉

If It Ain’t Broke – Break It!

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“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

But what happens when the going gets good? Rita McGrath via HBR reminds us that past success is not a guarantee of future profit. She’s right. It’s important (though all too common) for companies that experience success to be lulled by it as well. The once ubiquitous Nokia is scratching and clawing to remain relevant in the brave new iWorld (and as Rita states – RIM may not be far behind).

These two industry giants had once enjoyed immense popularity. But throughout the years, they started losing focus on delivering innovative products. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Wrong. While it can be quite alluring to sit back and watch the profits roll in, that success won’t last. The only way to remain relevant is to augment existing products while innovating new ones. Innovation is tough, really tough, especially the market-disrupting, status-quo destroying kind. It’s important though to pay attention to your product and to continuously look for ways to improve or make it obsolete. If you don’t, someone else will.

One way to brainstorm ideas is to list the attributes of your product/service. List the materials, the pros, and the cons of each. By separating the material from the whole, you are able to critically analyze the product (hopefully without too much bias). It’s important here to listen to consumers but also to remain aware that they may not know what they really want. As consumers I think we tend to think in terms of incremental innovation. How can we make this specific product better? While that type of thinking leads to some advantages, it won’t bring market dominance. To create a game-changer, we as marketers, need to strive for the discontinuous, disruptive type.

Find the unmet needs and meet them. And just when we have that need met – you guessed it – time to start over. Head back to the top of this post for help with that!

Share. Share. Share.

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One of the keys to long term growth is innovation. One of the keys to innovation is sharing. When all sorts of different ideas are floating around and bumping into each other, chaos (and creativity) ensues. Let it happen and encourage it to happen in your absence through creative seating, facilities design, and social media. Working in groups is often more challenging but the product is often a more complete offering.

Though Lennon and McCartney are legendary for their creativity, perhaps there is a reason neither’s solo work did as well as when they worked together.

Gift Wrap

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Preparing for the upcoming holiday, I realized how poor my wrapping skills are. For a moment I thought that maybe I should take my gifts to the mall and have them wrapped by a pro. Then I thought about how my friends and family would react to me telling them that. I think they would have been disappointed.

Here’s why: Giving a gift isn’t just about the material transaction. It’s about the emotional transaction.

A gift says that you took the time out of your day to focus on that one person. The gift wrap shows that not only did you spend money, but you spent more time and more effort (to at least try) to make the present look nice.Taking the easy way out and having someone else wrap the present, shows an unwillingness to spend that extra time and effort.

In a competitive market where the product life cycle is shortening by the minute, the only thing you have to offer is gift wrap.

What can you do to let your customers know that you’re focused on them?

Do Something (Stupid)

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I recently caught an interesting piece on NBC News about the Muppets and their humble beginnings. Working on the Jack Paar show, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Don Sahlin and Jerry Juhl) had a lot of downtime. Decades before the Blackberry and iPhone, the crew couldn’t check email or while away time on Facebook.

Instead, they did something that some would have considered a waste or just plain stupid. They found a closet full of pipes and drew faces on them. Those faces later became The Muppets. Is your organization open minded enough to let people do something ‘stupid’? Are you open minded enough to try something ‘stupid”? The next time you’re waiting for a meeting, put the smart phone away and see what crazy things you can dream up!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/37581189#37581189

Lose What You Know (or at least give it a long leash)

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As we progress through our lives and careers it’s easy to get stuck in the same thought patterns and procedures. I encourage you to stop every once in a while. The next time you find yourself in a meeting and someone brings up a weird idea, give it a chance. It may not work on the whole but there may be pieces in there that can help you improve some aspect of your game. At the very least, you’re showing your co-workers that you appreciate and respect their contributions.

The bottom line is that things change. Ideas become outdated. And with technology driving change every day, process can quickly become obsolete. Take the time to examine new ideas or your competition will.

 

Just Be Better

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Just got done reading Adobe’s clever new ad re: Apple. How much energy does your company spend trying to keep others from copying you? How much time do you spend trying to let good leads in while keeping the bad (competitors) from peaking in?

My advice is to take that time and invest in making your product better. Talk to your existing customers. Talk to potential customers. Talk to people who’ve never heard of you. Explore promising solutions in other industries and find new ideas. Don’t engage in a feature war. Features can be copied. That’s how the game is played. The trick is to change the game with innovation.

in an open market, the best products will win in the end – and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

Chuck Geschke and John Warnock Adobe Founders

Don’t worry about what your competition might do. Just be better than it.

All’s Well That Ends Awesome

MattLeave a Comment on All’s Well That Ends Awesome

The point here is to always end with something unique and  relevant (or uniquely relevant) to your audience. Whether it’s a presentation, interview, webinar, or even an email. This part of the message gives your audience a sticking point, a bookmark to reference in the future.

“Hey, she was the girl that remembered that we had a big company 5-k coming up and ended her presentation with a slide of web sites for beginning runners.”

This serves as a great tool to show you know more about the company than its potential purchasing power and provides an excuse for you to check in from time to time.

Know your audience. End awesome.

A Shortcut to Creativity

MattLeave a Comment on A Shortcut to Creativity

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of the time people say they need to have alone time in order to create. For those with infinite time it may be true, but in business today time is the most valued asset. How do we foster creativity and do so without disrupting timelines for expected deliverables?

The answer is not to lock yourself away in a room to ‘ideate’.

It’s the exact opposite, get out there and talk with people who have differing points of view. If you spend all your time in marketing, spend some time in development or customer service or accounting. I once saw an interview with BB King where somebody asked him how he spurs the creative process. His answer? Look to other work and make it your own.

This can also be applied to the business world. Look outside your industry or even business as a whole. Expose yourself to new hobbies and this will uncover new ways of thinking and getting things done.