Some Innovation We Don't Need

Quite often when I'm speaking to audiences I am asked "How do you judge a good idea?" Alex Osborn and Sid Parnes, the guys who invented brainstorming and wrote about it in Alex Osborn's book, Applied Imagination, had a step process for creating and innovating through the use of brainstorms. One of the steps in their process outlined how to judge which ideas are the most valuable to you, which is a vital part of the process as sometimes your sexiest ideas are not the ones that will work out the best.  There is a link below to a podcast in which I explain how to specifically run a creative session to extract great ideas and then how to judge which ones will be the most valuable to you. 

The photo above of the guy checking his emails and searching the web from his bath was recently sent in to us at The Espresso and is surely an example of innovation that you just don't need! Surely bath time is still an opportunity to relax, drop your shoulders and disconnect from the real world. Be wary of innovation just for the sake of it, and learn how to judge great ideas for yourself and your company.

Check out the free podcast below on how to run a true creative brainstorming session in order to unlock your best ideas, and leave the innovation in the photo above to the people who don't believe in the creative spirit. 

Click here for free podcasts

Chanel In Supermarkets

This year has seen Australia welcome the first Costco warehouse supermarket to our shores. Costco Wholesale Australia's first warehouse, is now open to the public in Melbourne’s Harbour Town Docklands, selling a huge range of all sorts of products from hard goods to food items. The company has certainly created a new option in warehouse supermarket shopping in Australia and has generated a great deal of interest both in the media and business world to date.

In a twist, Costco in the USA has recently opened the first Costco warehouse shopping club on East 116th Street in New York. What makes the news even more interesting is that this Costco warehouse shopping club gives people access to Chanel and Louis Vuitton handbags at discounted prices. It is reported that the new location currently has Chanel classic flap handbags available for $1999 and Louis Vuitton speedy bags for $589. These Chanel bags would normally sell up to $2495 and the speedy bags range from $665 - $3000. There are also cheaper Burberry satchels along with Ferragamo handbags all heavily discounted. With brands of all shapes and sizes looking to innovate in order to grow new revenues and attract new shoppers, it will be interesting to watch Costco attempt to sell luxury through a shopping club!

The Toyota Flower

There is no doubt that there has been a big push from corporate brands to position themselves as being sustainable or environmentally friendly in the marketplace. In keeping with this trend Toyota has created its own plant species specifically designed to offset the CO2 produced by the Prius assembly operations in Japan. Apparently the Toyota flowers, which are derivatives of the cherry sage plant and the gardenia, absorb nitrogen oxides and take heat out of the atmosphere, and were specifically developed for the grounds in Toyota City, Japan. The flower's leaves have unique characteristics that absorb harmful gases, whilst the gardenia leaves create water vapour in the air reducing the surface temperature of the factory surrounds, thus producing energy for cooling, which in return provides less carbon dioxide. It is reported that the growing of the flowers was in response to criticism of Toyota by it's rivals, claiming that the companies petrol/electric Prius is not as green as other conventional vehicles, once the cars manufacturing process is taken into account. 

This is another step by one of the giant corporates to make us feel better about their giving back to the planet. We question though, whether people will care about it, and also ask whether drivers will see this as a credible step for the Toyota Prius to make us feel good about our purchase, or will they see Toyota's actions as just a PR stunt?

Clooney And Coffee

The Espresso has always been a big fan of Nespresso. We were recently sent a link (see below) to the new Nespresso George Clooney TV commercial. Not only do we love the characters of George Clooney and John Malkovich, but we love the fact that Nespresso (reflecting recent trends in brand) lets you, the viewer, decide how the commercial will end. You may also notice a link through to facebook to share the site and become a fan - very clever.

Nespresso are certainly leading the way taking hold of brand trends and turning them into action. This commercial has a lot of great things going for it, the least of which is George Clooney looking as cool and Clooney-like as ever. So take 5 minutes out of your day, grab yourself a Nespresso coffee, watch the commercial and enjoy.....

Click here to watch