The Anti-Establishment Innovator: Branding and innovation

Showing posts with label Branding and innovation. Show all posts

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Bordeaux citizens design bike for city-wide rental scheme

The City of Bordeaux has crowdsourced the design of its Bike of the Future for its public bike rental system.

3rd April 2012 in Government, Transportation.

We’ve seen the crowds chipping in to design everything from credit cards to new fashion collections, and we’ve seen a number of city-based bike rental schemes. Combing elements from all of these, The City of Bordeauxrecently asked its citizens to design the Bike of the Future for its public bike rental system.

The City asked residents to submit their ideas for a new bike design through the official City of Bordeaux je participe micro-site, with more than 300 respondents taking part. Designer Philippe Starck was then brought in to translate the numerous suggestions into a single concept. The final design, unveiled at the second Cyclab event in Bordeaux in February, is a silver and yellow bike-scooter, with a foot panel placed in front of the pedals to enable users to safely push start the machine. Peugeot has now been contracted to put the bikes into production before they become part of a city-wide rental scheme.

The aim of the project was to give citizens an input into a service they will be using themselves, with the final bike reflecting their concerns over ease-of-use and safety. Government departments elsewhere: could crowdsourcing ideas from local residents improve your services?

Speaking

As the CEO and founder of InnoThink Group, Jim can help your organization enhance the strategic innovation and competitiveness of your business policy and strategy, with an emphasis on increasing top line growth.

If you’re interested in having Jim speak at your next event, simply use this form to send us your details and speaking requirements, and we’ll be in touch shortly. Or you may call us at 719-649-4118.

via springwise.com

Friday, April 13, 2012

Five Tips To Brand Your Business Online

Here are some ideas for branding your business online:

1. Protect Your Name. As an entrepreneur, your name is vital to your brand and the identity of your business. Be sure to secure a domain name in your name. It’s usually a good idea to register multiple domains in case someone types the wrong extension, so that you can be found despite the mistake. Network Solutions and GoDaddy are two places you can use to register a domain name.

2. Create a Founder Profile Page. Brand yourself on your Web site. Create a profile to build trust with potential clients. Make it easy for visitors to find info about you. Clients and prospects want to know who you are in terms of industry, experience, and personality. Personalize your Web site and share info to build a relationship with visitors to your site.

3. Prepare for the Future. Millions of people use mobile devices to connect to their business when they are out of the office. Make sure your Web site is accessible via these devices and will load quickly and easily. Even if your site is not yet formatted for .mobi, get the name. By registering a domain with a .mobi extension, you secure the name for your company.

4. Protect Yourself from Spam. Search bots troll the Web looking for e-mail addresses. This can lead to spam e-mails to your in-box. Protect your business e-mail box. Use e-mail addresses on your Web site like: contactus@domainname.com, media@mybusiness.com, or moreinfo@mybusiness.com.

5. Consider Joining LinkedIn or ZoomInfo. These popular social networking sites give you a free way to post a biographical profile. Be aware: Everything you post is public information. You give up some privacy when you post info. The sites can provide connections between people with similar interests and they add to search engine results for your name and your company name. via businessweek.com

Want to increase the sustainability of your nnovation initiatives or need a speaker? Contact us.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

66 Great Movie Taglines From the Past 30 Years | Adweek

We've combed through the last 30 years of movie marketing and selected our 66 favorite film taglines from that period. The cut-off of 1980 means we've left out what many consider the greatest movie tagline ever—"In space, no one can hear you scream," Alien, 1979—but there's plenty here to chew on. Berate us in comments for everything we left out.... See more via adweek.com

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Who Cares Wins: Why caring is now the key to your brand’s success

Thanks and welcome to our blog. I look forward to sharing ideas with you. Paula

No book could be more important or timely than Who Cares Wins by David Jones of Havas. There is a growing awareness that the business revolution brought about by social media is bringing with it an equally transformation in the way brands deal with their customers. And while the currency that marketers trade is still emotion, the relationship dynamics between brands and their customers has dramatically changed.

Who Cares Wins explains in detail the drivers and best practices of this new dynamic. Jones does a masterful job of explaining in very clear terms, why business success in the future will be driven by the authenticity, transparency, and accountability of brands and their ability to react quickly and consistently with these three qualities. In fact, he makes a compelling case for why the successful brands of the future will be those that are most meaningful in the lives of their media-savvy and socially connected customers.

On the flipside, Jones explains why those brands that ignore the impact of social media and these new customer expectations do so at their peril. In only the last few months we’ve seen the consumer push-back against Netflix and Qwikster, against the Bank of America Debit Card Fee, on Bank Transfer Day, against the Verizon Online 2$ payment charge, and most recently the backdown of Congress over SOPA in the face of online activism.

So what Jones is talking about in this book is not conjuncture, wishful thinking, or projection, but rather a business reality that is already here. As such, he rightly positions social responsibility as an invaluable opportunity for brands to build their bottom lines while also becoming a force for good in the world. In order for this shift to gain traction and pace, large brands and entrepreneurs need case studies and proof points to justify their shift in priorities and practices. Who Cares Wins provides this in spades, and rightly positions this shift in the marketplace as one of great opportunity, rather than cause for concern. No doubt this is an educated risk that every business leader must take, and that spirit is captured in the title “Who Cares (rather than ‘Dares’) Wins.” But the risk of not engaging with this shift in business practices is far greater. Who Cares Wins is your guidebook on how to negotiate the social business marketplace in a way that builds your business and a better world for all.

To order your copy of Who Cares Wins click here, and you can follow David Jones on Twitter at @davidjoneshavas.

via simonmainwaring.com

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Jim Woods is president and founder of InnoThink Group. A leading consulting firm specialized solely in enabling organizations of all sizes in all industries develop top line growth through strategic innovation and hypercompetition. Jim has over 25 years consulting experience in working with small, mid size and Fortune 1000 companies. He is a former U.S. Navy Seabee and grandfather of five. For availability email or call us at 719-649-4118. Subscribe to our innovation and hypercompetition newsletter.

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