SadlerK
From Innovationclass
Contents |
Hulu
I was watching CNN this morning and they were talking about the "new YouTube", called Hulu. It's a site where you can watch new and old tv episodes, movies, clips, etc. for free. Apparently Hulu got licensing agreements with every single company to release the videos for free. The catch is that they pay for the website through advertising. But, the cool thing is that you get to choose the ads you get to watch, so you can choose whatever interests you...I think that's the coolest part. They claim they are committed to the continued development of new, innovative advertising experiences. It sounds interesting. The website is www.hulu.com
BMW. Defining Innovation?
Apparently BMW is defining innovation, that is, according to their commercials. This commercial is incredible though, so everyone should check it out. This man builds sculptures and they move only by wind. He is being called a modern day DaVinci. BMW also has commercials out right now talking about their new hydrogen car and defining it as innovative, which I think it definitely is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Ny5BYc-Fs
My Top 3 Innovative Agencies-
1) Anomaly (Anomalynyc.com)- They do really different work, work I would characterize as innovative. They do not consider themselves an advertising agency at all, and in their "About Us" they go to great lengths to convince you that they are not a typical agency. Anomaly is the only advertising agency on Fast Company's 50 most innovative companies list, other than AKQA.
2) Weiden and Kennedy- Weiden is incredibly innovative not only in their advertising but also in the way they're run. Weiden is independently owned and has global offices in Portland, New York, London, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Shenghai, and Delhi. I think they are innovative because they have remained privately owned and that gives them the freedom to do things the way they want. They can be global with Nike, AE but still considered a relatively small, creative boutique.
3) For my 3rd innovative agency I wanted to find an interactive agency because they are finding new and interesting ways to advertise. I think Goodby & Silverstein is one of the best innovative agencies. Their gettheglass.com website is very cool. They claim that more than 50% of their work is dedicated to interactive currently. AKQA and Cutwater are smaller shops that are very good at interactive and AKQA is also one of the only agencies listed on the 50 most innovative companies list done by Fast Company. Cutwater did the Ray Ban movie that got 4 million hits on youtube. That was one of the most impressive shows of interactive work so far. Two sights to check out the Ray Ban movie done by Cutwater: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-prfAENSh2k http://daviddoctorrose.wordpress.com/2007/05/13/ray-ban-never-hide-cutwater-viral-16-million-views-in-a-week/
Interesting Blog-
http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2008/02/where-are-all-t.html This blog asks the question, "where are all the innovative ad agencies?" Fast company only listed 2 on their 50 most innovative companies list. When agencies are supposed to be all about innovation and constantly coming up with new ideas it's interesting that almost none of them made it. Check it out.
Innovative Company/Blogs
I chose to research #25 on the list, Southwest Airlines. My dad has been a pilot at Southwest for 25 years and I have always loved the company. They have been innovative from the beginning with their unique business plan and Herb Kelleher, the CEO had a great vision for the company. He invisioned a different way to run an airline business. Southwest treats its employees phenomenally, even doing out of the box things for every birthday and anniversary. I love their down-to-earth attitude about everything, from seating to snacks to pilots telling jokes. They really are a "think-out-the-box" company and I admire that quality in an industry that is hard to differentiate in.
Ten Blogs on Innovation
1. http://www.hlb.com/inovlog/ This blog offers guidelines to follow in order to be an innovative company. If your company is not innovative maybe you should look at these ten things and see if you're doing them. From not giving employees enough freedom to not listening to your customers you can be sabotaging your own company. 2. http://www.permanentinnovation.com/blog/ I like this blog because it talks about how businesses often just go out of business instead of finding a new and innovative way to re-do their tired strategies. It's so true and sad that instead of figuring out a new way they just fire people or quit altogether. 3.http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/cat_innovation_creativity.html This blog is about the new CEO at Ebay and the changes he is making at the company. Coming right after my last like about businesses failing instead of changing I thought it was interesting. Ebay needs to "innovate off their core platform" according to the article. They started the industry but now they have to innovate to stay competitive. 4.http://venture2.typepad.com/ This blog discusses a book written on innovation and what the author had to say. It says that innovation does not just happen in a moment of brilliance but it takes hard work and a lot of time to cultivate. I agree with this statement. 5. http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2004/nf20041012_4018_db083.htm This blog talks about Apple's CEO Steve Jobs and his triumphs at the company. He talks about how innovation happened at Apple and why. And also, why it didn't happen for awhile and isn't happening with some other companies. It's interesting to hear such a successful and innovative person talk about his experiences. 6. http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/2007/06/no_economist_ap.html Apple is an innovative company because.... This blog disagrees with an article written by the Economist saying that Apple gets all it's technology from outside itself. The blog says, yes and no. Apple is innovative because they take ideas that have been invented but innovate them and improve them into things that people want and need. 7. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/07/05/0503_innovative_co/index_01.htm? chan=innovation_special+report+-- +2007+most+innovative+companies_2007+most+innovative+companies This blog lists the 50 most innovative companies according to some senior execs. It is interesting that Apple ranked #1 on this list as well as our Top 100 Innovative Companies List. It was just a good blog to compare to the list we've already seen and each company has a paragraph or two talking about them. 8. http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/marissa_mayer/index_01.htm This blog is called 9 Notions of Innovation. It is about 9 things that Google does as a company to promote innovation. For instance, Google expects innovation from everywhere, including their finance team. I like that notion because you would get a completely different creativity type from a finance guy that a computer whiz. 9. http://ideaflow.corante.com/ This blog is about a Christmas tree competition held every year to find the best decorated Christmas tree. It was just funny to see how innovative people get when they have free reign of an already available "thing". Everyone has seen and/or decorated a Christmas tree but if you turn it upside down what do you get? It was interesting. 10. http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/pseybold/2005/12/wikipedia_examp.html This talks about how customers are going to play an increasing role in companies decisions in the future. Focuses on wikipedia and how customers are collaborators with the website.
My Innovative Organization
In order for an organization to be innovative, ideas have to be constantly streaming through it. My organization of 25 people will be in an old building that has a lot of character. There will be a lot of skylights so natural light can come in, and an atrium in the middle with tropical flowers and colorful birds in it. Half the office will be actual office space and the other half will be recreational space. I think Google has some of the most innovative people working for them and that's because it's probably one of the best places in the world to work. So, we will have all sorts of games the employees can play to boost creativity and get thinking outside the box. Dogs are definitely allowed here. I think dogs bring out a playful side in humans-it's kind of like being around kids and seeing the world in a new way. There will be an awesome "concepting" room for people to sit and develop ideas in. It will be basically inside an aquarium. So, the walls are glass and filled with tropical fish and other creatures. There will be structure in the hierarchy of the office though, because at times I believe people make better creative with limits. So, it's important to have something giving people guidelines and always pushing them to make better work. But, that being said it's also going to be like one huge family. Some people will love each other and some won't get along but the best thing to cultivate innovation is just talking to the people around you. There will also be a full bar in my office, that will definitely help people relax and have fun with their ideas. Mondays and Fridays we will have full-organization lunch meetings that everyone has to attend. We'll order from a different restaurant each time to continually try new things. Innovation should come from employees that feel inspired, so I want mine working in a very creative atmosphere where they will have the opportunity to do that.
