Posted in Marketing
The other day I posted an article outlining ten trends transforming the future of marketing. Hidden within these trends is an important new insight: The future of marketing will be a battle over gratification. More specifically, marketers will use new technologies (Big Data, mobile, social and location-based technologies, etc.) to get consumers to instantly gratify…
Wearable Technology. Apple’s iWatch, FitBit, Oculus Rift have already arrived but society is just at the beginning of the “wearables” The question marketers need to ask themselves today is this: What will iWatch 2.0, FitBit 2.0 and Oculus 2.0 look like? My prediction is that the Internet will soon come directly to people in…
Posted in Behavior, Business Models, Creativity, Future, Marketing, Opposite May Also be True, Problems into Opportunities, Retail, See What Isn't There
Yesterday, on my other website, I shared how Google’s new “Project Glass” might soon allow users to receive real-time voice translations of foreign conversations and, thus, render the need to learn a second language unnecessary. Many people–especially pessimists–immediately grasp how the technology might cause some foreign language instructors to lose their jobs. This is overly…
Posted in Agriculture, Assumptions, Business, Creativity, Food, Innovation, Marketing, Opposite May Also be True, Perspective, Problems into Opportunities, Questions, The Way We See the Problem
What do you do if you want to sell more carrots? One thing, apparently, is to begin viewing the world from a different perspective. Recently, Fast Company, published this insightful article describing how the creative team at Crispin (an advertising firm) helped BoltHouse Farms increase sales of its pre-cut baby carrots. How did they do…
Posted in Business, Health Care, Marketing, Newspaper
I don't regularly read the USA Today but whenever I'm traveling I usually pick up a copy in the hotel lobby. Today was just such a day and there were two articles of note on the front page of today's paper. The first highlighted how Baby-boomers are changing the rules for marketing. Surprisingly, in spite…
Posted in Apps, Business, Insurance, Marketing, Pharmaceutical
Here is a novel idea many employers might want to begin implementing: start treating your employees like customers. Why? Because it can save money. I recently came across this article explaining how Genentech has begun developing apps to help make its sales force more productive. One problem area identified by the company was that sales…
Posted in Advertising, Assumptions, Drugs, Education, Health Care, Marketing, Mental Health, See What Isn't There, Way We See the Problem
Like many people, I consumed my fair share of alcohol in college. Now that I'm a parent and my own kids are approaching high school age, I have a decidedly more conservative perspective on the consumption of "adult beverages." The one thing I am convinced won't work is relentless lecturing about the many risks associated…
Posted in Architecture, Design, Marketing
Compare and contrast the two pictures. The picture to the right is a real version of an Apple iPod box and below it is a spoof of the same box if Microsoft were to package the iPod. Apple has mastered the idea of dropping things. If you and your organization haven't, I invite to watch…
Posted in Business, Creativity, Innovation, Marketing, Unlearn Strategy
General Motors is, perhaps, not the most likely candidate for a company seeking to unlearn but I would like to applaud one area where the company is employing the right unlearning strategy. In 2007, amidst skyrocketing fuel prices and a shaky economy, the company realized a smaller, eco-friendly cars designed for urban females might be…
Posted in Business, Consulting, Creativity, Culture, Innovation, Manufacturing, Marketing, Politics, Publishing, Unlearn Strategy, Unlearning Curve, Unlearning Network
As a leader you must nurture an organization that can rapidly adapt. Unlearning can help. Unlearning can also help you innovate. In fact, unlearning can even assure you and your organization survive. After years of work, I am pleased to report that I have now developed both a half and a full-day seminar designed to help organizations…
