Big Idea: Fast Company
Can you really create an internal brand culture in your organization?
“Everybody needs to own this, from the CFO to the mail clerk; we have invested too much for this to go wrong.” This is the kind of statement that strikes fear in the hearts of CMOs and marketing directors if you have ever worked to jumpstart or revitalize a brand for your company. When my CEO made a similar statement to me, I asked myself, how in the heck do I motivate engineers and scientists to own our brand? Why is it so important anyway? “Employees have the power to either reinforce or break a brand’s promise every time they[.....]
You’re Creative, I’m Creative, Now Let’s Get To Work.
I think everyone is getting sick of the us vs them argument. The fact is, ideas can come from anywhere. Creative isn’t the sole domain of the creative department. An idea is an idea whether it comes from ones and zeros or it comes on a scrap of a paper napkin. Rein Inamoto’s definition is, Idea= Emotion x Function. And his article in Fast Company is causing all kinds of fuss. But that’s always been the formula for great advertising. Here’s what I think is a little better definition: An idea is taking two previously unrelated things and creating something[.....]
Is Design Thinking Really Dead?
Impatient companies trying to incorporate design thinking into their organizations have become frustrated with the whole process and like children who’ve played with a toy so much they’ve worn down the batteries, they’re pouting and saying, “It doesn’t work.” Here’s the issue, people who don’t fully understand design thinking have made it a “codified process,” effectively pulling the wings off of it. The people I’m speaking of are the corporations looking to capture some of the magic of design thinking. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be able to do anything without making it a Stage-gate process, attempting to apply straight-line[.....]
