December 18, 2006
Another unique way of delivering a message to market – Pixmen. They coin it, “nomadic media”. It’s a backpack with an overhead extension that holds an LCD screen with streaming video above the wearer’s head. Perhaps another good tool for standing out at a trade show or PR event.
See videos of the device here.
December 18, 2006
An interesting CBS interview talking about “Citizen Marketers” taking it upon themselves to either promote or alter brand perceptions of certain companies. This is another 2.0 example of how control over the market is shifting from ”the Marketing Director” to the consumer even further than before. Democracy rules. Respect thy market!
December 18, 2006
Here is what I’m sure is one of many of the “2006 in Review” articles we’ll see in the coming weeks:
December 18, 2006
As a follow up to my last post, Scott Lawrence of Maverik Interaction (www.maverikinteraction.com) brought to my attention, this amazing interactive experience by Saturn and The Barbarian Group.
Here is the link to take a peek. http://portfolio.barbariangroup.com/nextfest/index.html
Be sure to watch the video.
December 18, 2006
At Karo (www.karo.com) we are working on a very exciting and innovative project with Alberta Economic Development. Alberta Economic Development runs the 10 visitor information centres around the province of Alberta and we have been asked to reinvent the experience at the centres. The project involves a new exciting site plan, a new brand, new value added amenities for travellers, and innovative technology including interactive digital screens and kiosks.
In my research, I have come across some very interesting applications for this technology.
One is from GestureTek out of Sunnyvale, CA. The product is called GroundFX which features an overhead projector, mirror and a tracking camera to emulate such things as walking on water or even playing soccer. This could be a surefire attractor to trade show attendees or retail store shoppers. Here is a link: http://www.gesturetek.com/groundfx/introduction.php Be sure to click “play intro video” to see the technology in action.
December 7, 2006
Here a great basic explanation of RSS and blogging from Oprah’s point of view:
http://cravingideas.blogs.com/backinskinnyjeans/2006/09/how_to_explain_.html
To Oprah, RSS stands for “Ready for Some Stories”. Makes much more intuitive sense to non-techies then the real version – “Really Simple Syndication”.
December 6, 2006
An interesting site went live today – www.swivel.com . It’s potentially for data what Napster did for music, and YouTube did for video. The world can post and compare data, graphs and charts. It will be interesting to see if this takes off outside of a small group of data lovers. The big question is will the uneducated user take what is posted as fact as opposed to questioning the methodology? Will users start to use this as a real source of research worth data. Only time will tell. Stay tuned.
November 6, 2006
Stefan Lindegaard and David Maister have just posted nine key points to drive innovation in an organization.
• The key difference between innovative and non-innovative firms is the level of accountability. This relates directly to the characteristics of the leaders and managers. Can they make people deliver when things have been agreed to be delivered? Can they enforce proper consequences when it does not happen? On this learning I really like David Maister’s quote: “Do or Do Not. There is No Try”.
• The billable system is the main reason for the low level of innovation among professional service firms. You need to find ways to compensate innovation projects that often have longer term perspectives than rewarded through the billable system.
• You need to pull, not push. At professional service firms, people tend to look out for themselves; not for the glory of the company. You need to get the organisation to help people succeed; not the other way around. David Maister also pointed out that the more important the decision is, the more people will not look at facts. It becomes emotional and about what it means to me.
• Messy, self-selected teams or networks are better at driving change and innovation than teams hand-picked by top management. On teams and networks, I can add that there is a tendency to keep them going forever. You need to dissolve when a mission is accomplished and then form new teams or networks for new missions.
• Innovation wins through its portfolio of experiments so you need to stimulate a large number of experiments. You also need to remember that innovation is about products, services and processes. Many professional service firms miss out on opportunities by focusing only on business development or sales activities.
• There are two types of innovation that really matters. Innovation that creates decisive advantages or innovation that neutralizes decisive advantages held by competitors.
• Innovation is situational. You need to address the specific needs of your company by gathering the proper insights and take action on these insights.
• Start out with small innovation projects and get the early wins. They will help change the culture and over time create a larger and longer-lasting impact.
• The long hanging fruits are related to improving the current business. There is no need to radically transform services and markets if you are not able to optimize your current business.
October 18, 2006
Forget the old, “Wash Me” check out Scott Wades Dirty Car Art Gallery.
October 18, 2006
An interesting use of Flash to tell a very complicated story. 5,000 years of middle east political history in 90 seconds with easily digestible animated maps Maps of War
