Innovation Zen

There is an interesting – let alone funny – article over the Wise Camel blog titled “10 Sales and Marketing Tips I learned from Strippers.” Check out the first point:
1. Give them something for nothing
“One of the first things a stripper will do is come up to you and flirt with you. She will […]

Apple’s iPhone has been at the center of the stage for the last couple of months. One of the most discussed aspects of the overall strategy around the device is the branding.
Some experts argue that Apple did an outstanding job with the branding factor. A recent article over Forbes, however, challenges that argument.
According to […]

When Arnold first arrived in the United States he tried to make a living from bricklaying, but things were not going well despite the fact that he was charging low prices. The main problem was the fact that he was a foreigner.

Many people predict that blogs will invade the corporate world over the next years, and Forrester Research seems to embrace the idea. They recently released, in fact, a market research titled “The ROI of Blogging” where they outline the benefits, costs and risks of corporate blogs.

Considering all the buzz that the iPhone generated we can assume that it will disrupt the mobile phone industry and make Apple hit the jackpot again, can’t we? Well, I would not be so secure about that. While I admire Steve Jobs’ initiative to invade a challenging business such as the mobile phone one, I think that Apple’s strategy has some flaws, and below I will outline each of them…

When Howard Schultz became the President and CEO of the Starbucks Corporation in 1987 the company was selling basically whole-bean coffees, and it counted dozens of stores across the United States. Less than 20 years later Starbucks is one of the most popular brands in America. It has more than 12,000 stores around the world, […]

There is a growing trend towards free products or services that are based on advertising revenue. Just think about all the Internet portals, Web 2.0 companies and the like. Some time ago Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) said that mobile phones should also be free, and instead of charging mobile operators should place targeted advertising.

Understanding what the customer care about is a good starting point to innovate. The Logic+Emotion blog has a nice article outlining 12 consumer values to drive technology-related products and service innovations.

Marketing is changing a lot lately. Just think about blogs, social networks and the like. What should we expect for 2007 though? The Marketing and Strategy Innovation blog has a nice article covering the top 10 marketing trends for the coming years, here they are:

Lets start with the last one. Someone who in 1986 invested $10,000 on Harley Davidson would find himself with almost $2 billion as of today. Quite astonishing for a motorcycle manufacturer right? Well, but are we really talking about a motorcycle manufacturer?

There are many similarities between managing marketing and managing innovation in our fast paced, information based society. Marketers will need to revise their assumptions regarding how people interact with advertising just like managers will need to revise their assumptions regarding how customers adopt innovations.

Male, 22 years old, dark haired. If I turn on the television or the radio, which combined account for the vast majority of ad spending, sooner or later I will come across the advertising of a disposable tampon, a denture adhesive and a shampoo for curly red hair.

Have you ever been annoyed by the subscription cards that fall out of magazines? I guess most people have, they not only interrupt the reading experience but also force you to make an extra run to the trash bin. Incredibly, though, such cards still generate around 12% of magazine’s new subscriptions, no wonder editors stick them wherever they can.

I do agree with the author to a certain extent, mainly with the idea that under some circumstances only companies are able to develop radical innovations. But that has to do with the fact that consumers often times are not able to articulate their needs, and they are not necessarily aware of what one could possibly do with current technologies.