Fresh Takes on Innovation

Design by Hwang Jin wook, Jeon You ho, Han Kuk il & Kim Ji myung

At BrainStore we were pretty excited a few years ago when a defense contractor asked us to create some ideas on how their existing technologies could be used to make the world a better place.

They wanted to know what the scenarios of future threats to mankind were and how to respond to them. We came up with many ieas to tackle themes like modern piracy, desertification, world hunger, water poisoning, terrorism in cities, deluge and many more.

One concept took into consideration to build a kind of “seed bomb” that you could drop over territories that cannot be reached easily. The bomb would carry seedy to grow vegetables and could be used by the local farmers to grow produce.

I found a similar concept on Yanko Design Magazine. The seedbomb consists of a biodegradable capsule that contains soil and seeds. Once the capsule reaches the ground, the plant first grows in the capsule and produces moisture, which then melts the biodegradable capsule. I like the design and the way the concept is thought throug. Bravo, Yanko Design.

While researching this topic, a friend pointed out that using seed capsules is not such a new idea after all. The technology exists since the 70ies in some way and was used by Guerilla Gardeners, wo try to claim back a piece of nature within urban space. I am truly amazed at the idea of Guerilla Gardening. It opens a whole new world to me! And here is one very nice example of a Guerilla Gardening blog worth reading!

Have a look at this wonderful idea from Saatchi & Saatchi for T-Mobile. It has perfectly captured the “social media” mood of 2009. Want to know more? go to Saatchi & Saatchis web site and read the whole story.

Thank you, Hazel Swayne (@hazeliz) and Inaki Escudero (@inakiescudero) for the tweet!

This map by reporters without borders shows the countries without free internet activity. It is an impressive image that made me look. The map is part of an advertising campaign for reporters without borders done by the famous “fabrica” ad agency. This map is a great example on how an idea can be visualized in a simple and capturing way.

If you have no clue what twitter is, don’t worry. It is quite a recent habit. To tweet or to use twitter is to send a very short message (a maximum of 140 signs, actually) to other people, giving some valuable information. Other people can follow you on twitter and see what information you have to share.

It is that shortness of the message that makes twitter so intreaguing to me. You have to be very precise and short to sum up your thoughts in a nice, round and attractive message. It’s like creating the perfect headline for a newspaper: A fun challenge. The better you do it, the more people will crave your tweets!

A good post on twitter is considered to contain some valuable bit of information with a link or an image. Some people say that twitter is “micro-blogging”, others just want to share their thoughts and feelings, and most professionals who have knowledge about a certain topic use it to get the word out about their skills. Go to www.twitter.com if you want to try it out, it is free and easy.

As twitter is becoming one of the most interesting “social media” tools and a great way to share information quickly with others, companies start looking for people who know how to use twitter. Pizza Hut, for instance, is hiring a “Twintern” (twitter intern) to bring the Pizza chain up to scratch with the new social media age. Great idea!

(Pizza Hut story via Braden Kelley)

Twitter related, check out these two useful tools: Tweetdeck, Friend or Follow.

In our daily work with clients, we are often asked what the difference between creativity and innovation is, or when a creative invention or idea actually deserves to be called an innovation.

There are many ways to explain, but I have never found a better collection of explanations than on the blog Lateral Action by Mark McGuinness, a creativity and innovation consultant. He actually took a short article by cartoonist Hugh McLeods blog gapingvoid and has peppered it with his own thoughts.

It makes for great reading and really helped me with the very important distinction between our inner force (Creativity) and the (hopefully) successful result of this creativity (Innovation).

If indeed we can harness creativity and ideas and develop them in a way so they can become truly great ideas with additional value, then, and only then, the result is innovation. And then it is more than just the buzzword many use today without really knowing what it is all about.

By the way, Hugh McLeod also has coined the expression “Create or Die” which I find to be very appropriate for our current economical times.

For the start of 2009, here is an organisation that is truly inspiring and important: All Day Buffet is an incubator for social innovation. They connect, develop and launch purpose-driven ventures. Last October they organised “The Feast”, a conference for social innovators. They also do a lot of work in New Orleans, which will become the Capital for Social Innovation thanks to the fact that after Hurricane Katrina everything had to be built there from scratch, and a lot of people took this as a wake-up-call to reinvent how things can be done. The next Feast conference, is, infact, taking place in New Orleans on February 6, 2009, so hurry there if you are a purpose driven entrepreneur or just interested in seeing exciting projects that deal with social innovation.

The current economic situation is probably bringing a completely new approach concerning innovation in the future. As a historian, you may postulate that systems normally innovate when facing crisis. Times, when a fast development into a certain direction is seen as the only possibility to survive, normally bring fast and ground-breaking ideas – which in fact are highly depending on luck and the right decision under pressure.

It is said that one should never change a working system. Using the very same working system for a longer time brings additional fear of failure and a conservative ethos. Closing eyes, ears and mind to anything new and risky may, speaking of the worst possible case, cause complete “idea-blindness”. Because a system never works ceteris paribus, a complete blockade of the system in a constantly changing environment is unavoidable – unless the change is not forced from in- or outside (looking at Europe: this mechanism, indeed, made the triumph of concepts like democracy and liberalism possible!).

Speaking of economics, the free market normally makes innovation happen. Enterprises survive by adapting fast to market situations, which makes them way more flexible. If the framework stays the same or develops in a predictable way, innovation may be looked at as a relatively slow but constant process.

The current unbillable situation of the world economy has to be looked at as a chance as well. An emphasis on new ways and possibilities in innovation will give companies and hopefully even nations the possibility to establish procedures, which allow fast reactions but also long-term innovations. In times of globally linked economies, innovation culture and capacity has to be looked at on a bigger scale – the output of companies and societies on global markets is not only defined by the production of goods and services, but also by the production of – yes – ideas.

All here at BrainStore would just like to express their elation, happiness and satisfaction with the outcome of the election in the United States. We wish the new President a good transition and first term. Sure, there is a lot of work coming, but for someone who showed so much perseverance and patience during a long and tiring election, nothing is impossible!

And if he or his administration ever are in need of fresh ideas: We can help!

Did you know that there is actually an official phobia of ideas, called ideaophobia? There are severals sites that list all fears known to mandkind, mind1st blog is just one example that lists the most unusual fears that can possibly haunt a human, from allodaxaphobia (fear of the opinions of other people) to Uranophobia (fear of heaven).

So, if you encounter these typical nay-sayers using all the killer phrases you have heard so often, just tell them they have ideaophobia. It’s the official term.

The Swiss retailer Coop just launched a brand with 50 convenience food products for swiss teens. The brand and products were created together with BrainStore. We involved the target audience, convenience food specialists, packaging experts and the people from Coop in several workshops.

We learned a great deal about the habits and needs of swiss teenagers when it comes to food. Food needs to be uncomplicated and fun, can be healthy but should not shout about it, low priced without being completely cheap and have a design you want to show around without being too trendy (it’s only food, ok?).

The 50 products include all-time favourites like the giant brownie, energy drink, toast, pizza and donuts, but also new inventions like “planet salad”, a milkshake called “do me a flavour”, “maccaroni & cheese” (very well known in the US but quite new for the young crowd in Switzerland), sweets, smoothies and yoghurt like the “latte macchiato” mix.

Most meals come with an attached cinnamon chewing gum to chew after eating, and the design is very fashionable indeed. “Plan B” is the food that you eat on the go, when you just want to grab a bite and when you want to have some fun with your friends. read more (in German, French or Italian) on the official web site of Coop.