Tag Archives: Innovation

Embracing “Constructive Disruption” in Marketing and Beyond

Pioneered by startups and tech companies seeking innovation by reshaping systemic processes and industry landscapes, the goal of creating disruptive change has trickled down through nearly every aspect of today’s business environment. In fact, the term is so ever-present that its value risks becoming diluted.

However, recent remarks from the Association of National Advertisers Masters of Marketing conference might prompt us to see disruption in a new light. Speaking to a crowd of attendees, Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Mark Pritchard praised what he calls “constructive disruption” in marketing practices. What does that look like in practice? Pritchard’s answer provides a road map for the ways in which brands can best reach consumers in the future.
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Sustainability in Fashion: Where Do We Start?

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The fast fashion model is built on trendy, cheaply made pieces that are only meant to last through a few seasons before being retired or forgotten. As a result, unprecedented amounts of clothing are ending up in landfills (or on bonfires) after being worn once or twice. We recently examined fast fashion brand Zara’s new sustainability goals, noting that while it’s encouraging to see a major brand step forward to start a conversation about sustainability and environmental impact, these goals will require enormous change within the fashion industry as a whole.

Faced with the need to make monumental changes, where do consumers and the fashion industry begin?

Augmented Reality: The Future is Ready to Download

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In our previous exploration of augmented reality technology, Inside the Innovative Mind: Virtual & Augmented Reality, we took a look at the origins of AR and how it might evolve in ways that connect people to their surroundings in new and innovative ways. Today, less than a year later, the explosion of AR apps is already offering a broad range of new experiences to users. From enhanced gameplay in real-world environments to consumer/product interactions and even clinical applications in medicine and pharmacology, AR is making incredible strides.

Let’s take a look at some of the products of this new technology that are reshaping how we interact with the world around us.
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Is Blockchain the Building Block of the Future?

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I recently stumbled across a quote that captured my imagination by speaking to today’s entrepreneurial mindset and unleashing the future possibilities of innovation and hard work. Tapscott Group CEO Don Tapscott, during an interview with a tech writer for McKinsey & Company, said, “I’m not a futurist. I think the future’s not something to be predicted – it’s something to be achieved.”

Tapscott’s words should resonate with any successful innovator. We learn through experience that while ideas are important, the execution of the idea builds the true foundation for success. Too many good ideas have been compromised by faulty execution or overshadowed by others who got there first. Tapscott reminds us that prediction is not as powerful as action – that the future is built by those who take the first leap forward.

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Talking Points: The Power of Outsiders

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Who is your spokesperson? Why does it matter? What makes a spokesperson great?

In my recent post, Who Is Your Brand’s Spokesperson?, I examined the various types of brand spokespeople. While we’ve all encountered “Charismatic Leader” types such as Steve Jobs, who serve as both c-suite executives and the public face of their brand, there’s an underrecognized and underutilized voice that we don’t often hear – that of the “Outsider.”
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How Successful Brands Evolve Over Time

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A brand is a promise you make to your customers. It’s a hallmark of the consistency, quality, and efficacy of a company’s products or services. A brand is also an aspirational statement – we’ve encouraged brand-makers to ask themselves “Who do our customers want to be?”. A brand at its best both answers and fulfills this question.

But what happens as a brand ages and evolves? As a brand weathers multiple decades of innovation and market variation, change isn’t just an inevitability, it’s a mandate: evolve or risk being left behind. Here’s a look at three brands that have transitioned successfully over multiple decades of existence, with an eye towards what today’s brand-makers can learn from their example.
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Inside The Innovative Mind: Virtual & Augmented Reality

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2016 has been a banner year for consumer Virtual Reality technology. The Oculus Rift (arguably the first successful VR platform) was released earlier this year and the well-reviewed Oculus Touch controller arrived this month just in time for the holiday season. Microsoft, Playstation, Google, and other big names have also released VR products. While VR technology has largely captured the public imagination in the context of gaming, there are many innovative possibilities for its use and development in the near future.

What can innovative minds learn from the long history of efforts to develop effective virtual reality technology, and what new possibilities does it create?
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Innovation Includes a Challenge to Do Good

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I write often about the seeds of innovation – where ideas come from and how those ideas are developed into revolutionary products and services. I am drawn to these examinations because I believe that true innovation has a measurable impact. It solves an existing problem in the marketplace or opens up new possibilities for growth and success.

However, innovation doesn’t always mean creating new technology from the ground up. Often, innovative minds match existing technology with real-world problems to create an unexpected outcome and an impact that positively affects real people.

In this holiday season, I want to explore how technology can meet needs that allow us to flourish.
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Inside the Innovative Mind: Elon Musk & SpaceX

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Two years ago, Elon Musk’s SpaceX received a $2.6 billion contract from NASA to develop commercial spaceflight and manned launch capabilities. After the 2011 conclusion of its Shuttle program, NASA looked to SpaceX and Boeing, two private companies, to return manned launches to American soil. This public-private partnership signaled the beginning of an exciting new time in space innovation and exploration.

After several years of decline, it seems that private companies like SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origins are now successfully reinvigorating the American space industry. As an aerospace enthusiast and industry consultant, these developments are tremendously exciting. As an entrepreneur and startup coach, they prompt me to consider the lessons that innovators can learn and apply from an examination of SpaceX’s success.
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Artificial Intelligence for the Rest of Us: Machine Learning

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A few weeks ago I received an email that really excited me. I’ve worked on a lot of cutting edge technologies as a marketing and development strategist and advisor to many startup companies, but this particular message felt like a bold glimpse into the future. It was a compelling look at how small businesses can leverage new technology to compete and succeed at a higher level.

The message came from a company called Clarifai, which is developing machine learning APIs with the belief that “the same AI technology that gives big tech companies a competitive edge should be available to developers or businesses of any size or budget.” Their image and video recognition API leads the industry, with the ability to quickly and efficiently process and identify mass quantities of images. With the addition of Custom Training, which allows companies to “teach” AI to understand concepts relevant to their business, Clarifai is ushering in a future in which Artificial Intelligence can be deployed to assist businesses of all sizes.
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