Spotting Those Hidden Opportunities: Part 1

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  • Blogs
    • http://blog.marketo.com/ Marketo is not a company we’ve worked with but we receive their blog filled with tips on modern B2B marketing. It’s worth checking out.
    • http://www.funnelholic.com/ A blog for those of us who live and work at the top end of the b2b funnel: Demand Generation, Lead Generation, Online Media, B2B Sales and Marketing, Marketing Automation, DRIP, Lead Nurturing, and Fun.
  • Books

posted by Brenton on August 5th, 2010

This past weekend I was looking for chicken broth with reduced salt at my local grocery store. I found the aisle and noticed a fully stocked shelf with a big hole in the middle.

The empty section on the shelf contained a new product that was clearly very popular. A few cans of the product remained at the back of the shelf. It was ‘no salt added’ chicken broth (see pic below).

My wife is a nurse and she’s been on a mission to banish salt from our diets. Obviously, we’re not the only people looking for lower sodium options.

My cynical side asks, “Why did it take so long?”. Food producers have been killing us slowly with salt  for  years, and now they tell us that too much salt is bad for us.

It got me thinking, “What other new products would  fly off the shelves because they address a need that others are not seeing or serving?” Of course, this is the ten million dollar question (and I promise to answer it in more detail in tomorrow’s post).

For now, I’m going to leave you with a little design thinking exercise, ask yourself:

What could you remove from your product or service that’s not needed/wanted?

What is the ‘no salt added’ opportunity in your category that you’re missing out on?

Maybe it would make your product or service fly off the shelf like the no sodium chicken broth…

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Design Thinking—Caveman Style

posted by Anna Fleet on August 4th, 2010

Lately, we’ve been exploring a different way of thinking and solving the world’s problems. With design thinking, the practical and creative are blended in a beautiful way that drives success. But there is a process to any problem-solving method and the design thinking process has 7 stages:

1. Define

2. Research

3. Ideate

4. Prototype

5. Choose

6. Implement

7. Learn

Part of what I love about the design thinking process is that there are no stupid ideas. And criticism and judgement are left out of the early stages of the process as they tend to create an environment of fear and lack of participation by everyone involved. Wouldn’t you agree that when the fear of failure is taken out of the equation, ideas flourish and solutions are often found much faster?

As we use design thinking to solve any problem, it’s expected that some of the stages in the process will be repeated if a viable solution isn’t found. For a little added fun, watch this animated short, created by six Ontario College of Art and Design 2010 industrial design thesis students, that depicts how a cave man might have used design thinking to carry out the first ever design project.

Enjoy!

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Skype Inspires Artistic Communication

posted by Anna Fleet on August 3rd, 2010

What would you think if a typographic designer approached you to hand draw his next famous font?

Well that’s exactly what Oded Ezer, a well-renowned typographic artist, lecturer and designer from Israel, did to inspire his latest work, the Oded Ezer’s Face Type.

The artist says he was inspired to create this new project after he was exposed to the visual possibilities of Skype’s video conferencing and social networks. Ezer says that each letter of the new type was designed by an individual from a different country—making it “the embodiment of communal creativity facilitated by social media and social media networks.”

Check out how each letter was photographed with its creator, using Skype’s application’s print screen function. This spread was showcased in the prestigious Print Magazine’s August 2010 issue, spelling out the message, “Every improvement in communication makes the truth less visible”. The work was also made into a poster that was unveiled this past July at the famous Krakow Jewish Festival in Poland.

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Putting Global Costs in Graphic Perspective

posted by Anna Fleet on July 30th, 2010

Have you ever wondered how the world’s costs would stand on a graphic scale?

Well do I have a Friday treat in store for you!

I came across this short YouTube video this morning and, I don’t have to tell you, it really puts global cost in perspective. This one-minute video showcase, and in some cases contrasts, impacting global costs—including the Iraq War, Google’s market value, how much is spent on video games and illegal drugs annually, how much it would cost to save the Amazon Rainforest, eradicate AIDS and national debt in the UK, and even lists revenues of corporate giants like Bill Gates, Tesco and OPEC even comparing OPEC’s revenue in 2009 compared their miniscule climate change fund. And all of this is done on a stunning graphic level set to music.

So check out ‘Information is Beautiful’ and yes I know it’s promoting a book (by the same name) from David McCandless, but I think its bigger impact is the beautiful visualization of such a profound message. It really does put things into perspective before a long weekend. Enjoy!

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Design Thinking Insight from Captain James T. Kirk

posted by Anna Fleet on July 28th, 2010

Last week we took a look at how design thinking was used by a group of USU design students to solve a structural problem at the famed Great St. Bernard Hospice in the Swiss Alps. Well, I’m still thinking about it …

So I’ve decided to geek-up today’s blog post with a little Captain James T. Kirk insight into the situation. Why? Because, one, I like Star Trek. And because, two, this new way of thinking challenges each and every one of us to find alternative ways to solve problems—thus giving us more options to play with … and this girl loves options!

So how does one get in the habit of creating more options?

James T. Kirk coined this the practice of creating a “third option”, which means innovating and creating new ideas and new technology, not just out of self-interest, but also for the common good—as opposed to being stuck with just two undesirable choices. You see, I’m on to something here …

In my humble opinion, there are three steps involved in solving any problem:

1. First step back from the immediate issue and take a look at the big picture. After all, finding a solution to any problem is best approached by first understanding the larger whole (the problem itself is usually an ingrained part of the larger system after all). Am I right?

2. Next, come to understand the whole situation by bringing folks with different expertise on board—designers, artists, MBAs, technologists, sociologists, communicators, etc.—all add value just because they approach the problem from a different angle, with a different background, and with different skill sets.

3. Lastly, get a fresh perspective on the situation. You have to admit, breakthroughs in any field—medicine, technology, art—would never occur if people didn’t approach them with fresh points of view. It’s this lack of fresh insight that often keeps companies stuck in a rut, unable to break out of old patterns and politics. Anyone, no matter how clever, working at the same job and in the same position for many years, comes to accept certain patterns—never questioning, always accepting. Newbies, on the other hand, question everything—especially things that seem obvious to everyone else. You’ve heard the old adage “there are no stupid questions”? Well, outsiders have permission to question the standard way of doing things. And that’s often when results start to happen.

All Star Trek analogies aside … what do you think? Am I onto something?

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Design Students Put Creative Problem Solving into Practice

posted by Anna Fleet on July 21st, 2010

I recently finished Warren Berger’s book, Glimmer, about how design thinking can transform the world. If you haven’t read it, you should.

And it explains why my interest was peaked this morning when my colleague, James, Tweeted about a group of Utah State University students who went to Switzerland to study creative thinking. This cultivation of right brain (or creative thinking) to solve problems and further innovation is exactly what many, like Berger, call “design thinking”.

And more and more students are calling on the right sides of their brains to not only solve problems, but to get a job. “There’s a new field emerging,” says Bob Winward, the graphic design professor who led the student trip, “…today’s successful businesses are driven by innovation and creativity.” Berger would agree that the world is undergoing a huge shift—our largely informational economy is transforming into a conceptual one where intuitive thought will replace logic.

And before you exclaim, “Well this might be all well and good in theory, but what about in real life?” Let me tell you, the students soon put “design thinking” to practice when they found themselves snowshoeing the Swiss Alps to the famed Great St. Bernard Hospice where monks tasked them with reconstructing gigantic kennels for the St. Bernard dogs—traditionally bred to rescue travelers caught in avalanches. The harsh conditions, risk of snow slides and 60-pound steel beams used to construct the kennels were all figured into the bona fide design thinking process.

But that’s not all…the students learned the most important lesson of all from the monks (clients) themselves, according to graphic design student Rich Wills, “You have to learn how to understand other people if you’re going to design things for people.”

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