The Espresso: Edition 123
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Wednesday December 7 2011

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Letter From the Editor- Edition 123

Non Conforming

During a speech recently a member of the audience used the term non-conforming. They talked about their business and how they often looked to find ideas that were non-conforming. They had great success with this. This note about the notion of non-conforming and how it fits into a brainstorming session. A lot of the times our brainstorming sessions are slight adjustments on what conforms. There is nothing wrong with this but it never takes you to the extremes of disruption, category creation or truly enter new territory. When having your brainstorms or creative sessions spend the first hour allowing your team to create. No matter what the topic is, set them loose using the specific tools  if you need but just let them dump down the logical, some of the illogical and some of the things that  are probably tinkering or spins on what you are currently doing. After an hour I would probably stop there and start for half an hour on ONLY non-conforming ideas. Things that do not conform to your industry, your category, the law, your brand strategy, your governance, politics and ideally things that your senior managements would cringe at. Non-conforming ideas are the new territory. A lot of people talk about Blue Ocean but they don't really swim there. If you are truly going to move into blue ocean you have to disrupt, find brand new territories and this is best done when you think like a non-conformist. 

Automotive

True Klout

Klout is an online social media type community that measures influence based on you ability to drive action. Every time you create content or engage you influence others. Your Klout score uses data from social networks in order to measure how many people you get to, how much influence you have on them and whether they do anything with your messaging. Now American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet are using Klout to launch their 2012 Sonic . If you rate high enough on the Klout scoreboard (i.e you influence people) then Chevrolet will give you the new Sonic for 3 days to test drive for free. You then have to share your thoughts online with your friends and followers and hence passing on your clout to promote your views on the new Sonic. I guess the only downside for the Sonic is that if you think it suck's you may be inclined to spread the news. But if your a raving fan of the car and you receive a freebie for 3 days you more then likely are going to rave and use your Klout to promote it. There is no doubt that social media used well can promote people and brands and certainly there are a lot of celebrities that can (and do) use their Klout to change behaviours.

Transport

Shine a Light

Californian start up Revo Lights are planning to revolutionise the lighting systems on our bikes. Kent Frankovich was riding his bike in the dark and wondered why the headlight on his bike was so far away from the ground. Funny how we have all thought it and no one did anything about it except Kent. Through research and prototypes he has now developed a two hoop design containing LED's that clip onto your bicycle rims. The lights blink on and off at a rate controlled by the speed of the cyclist and are powered by a lithium Ion battery? pack mounted to the hub. Essentially half the front wheel and half the back wheel are illuminated giving you light on both sides of the bike and making you more visible to vehicles both oncoming and passing. Revo Lights are hoping their product we be available by the end of the year.

Community

Have a Need 

We have all been out shopping when we have a need. The need to find a toilet 'right now'. Cloo is a new smartphone app that will soon connect you if you are in urgent need of a restroom with urban dwellers who are willing to share one. Sounds a bit weird but I guess if your need is desperate enough then any loo will do. Sometimes its hard to find a loo let alone one that is clean and available when out which is where Cloo (the Community + loo ) comes into its own. You download the app and by opening the app it will be able to tell you who is nearby with a loo that is available. Using connection through Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, Cloo will also tell you whether the loo that you have got your eye on has any connections to any other people you know. If the loo looks good you send a request and the host loo owner can accept or deny your request (wouldn't it be cruel if you declined it). If you are a host you accumulate points for doing the right thing which you can then exchange for products like toilet paper, soap and so on. If you are a user you can also go online and rate your experience. 

Fashion

The Naked Truth 

We have written a lot about great technology thats creating true interaction, conversation with customers and clients and making our lives easier. But this one we are not sure about. Moosejaw a retailer who focuses on outdoor recreation apparel have designed an app that allows you to run your iPad over their winter catalogue and by doing so by using augmented reality allows you to the models in their underwear. Essentially you wave your iPad over the catalogue and the outdoor winter clothing the models are wearing disappears and you can see them in their underwear. Not really sure how this builds the brand and to me its just a corny play on sex to get more people to view their catalogue. Things must be tough in the retail industry when we have to resort to this sort of interactivity to try and flog our stuff.

Environment

Its Raining Seeds!

The Espresso has written about house mats that you can plant and grow, we have even written about hotel security keys that once you have left the hotel you can plant and grow and now we introduce the spud raincoat. We have all paid a couple of bucks for a cheap plastic raincoat when in need at a concert or an event only to have the thing thrown on the bin or taking up a corner in our cupboards at home never to be seen again. Well now there is a better option. The Equilicua Spud Raincoat is made from a PVC alternative out of potato starch that is compostable and suitable for planting. It comes in different colours and prints and you can use them a number of times. However when you are done, the raincoat is impregnated with the seeds of a various number of Mediterranean plants and shrubs to stick in the ground, add water and hopefully you will have your own garden.
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The Espresso is a weekly free newspaper designed specifically for those who want to look at things differently.

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Gary scours the world to find interesting tips, tools and news to give you a new or different perspective on the world around you.