Going GAGA

A lot has been written about Lady Gaga and The Egg. Recently on US talk show The Late Show with David Letterman, David asked about The Egg. Gaga explained that it's the place where she can go to be re-born. Naturally Letterman jumped on this and asked 'What do you mean, is this a spiritual thing'? Gaga then went on to explain 'I just really believe that you can be re-born over and over again until you find that part of you that is the best you that you can be and I encourage everyone to do the same'. Gaga goes to The Egg to meditate and (I suspect) to work out how can she be the best 'self' that she can be. Some people do it on holidays, some people do it through meditation, some people do it by spending time with a mentor, yet others do it after they lose their job or go through health difficulties. The Espresso recently came across the attached clip that Lady Gaga did for Google Chrome. We like it because it encourages people to be themselves, to be the best they can be and to not imitate others. This surely has to be the basis of all innovation and creativity. Every innovator thinks that the next idea will be their great idea, they are never satisfied with the status quo or how things are currently being done, they just know that the next one is The One . You have to hand it to Lady Gaga for continuously re-inventing herself and regardless of what anybody thinks she is without question her own person. She is inspiring a lot of people to be comfortable with themselves and lets hope that the next innovation monster watches this clip, looks at her stuff and takes the advice. Brands can learn a lot from looking at Lady Gaga. 

Google Chrome -  Lady Gaga

That's Some Bike Shop!

Undoubtably you would have noticed how many bike shops are popping up around the city. Seemingly there is one on every corner as entrepreneurs  cash in on the overwhelming growth of the cycling industry. We came across this amazing bike store from Barcelona designed by architect Joan Sandoval. It's called Pave . The store includes a library where shoppers can drink coffee and read magazines on cycling, a lounge where they can watch important races on the TV, and showers where they can refresh if they have been on a training ride. There is even a paved road through the store reminiscent of Paris-Roubaix. This truly is a remarkably designed store and so far all the Australian cyclists and bike shop owners to whom we have shown the pics think its pretty cool. This unique setup and cycling offerings are great way to separate yourself from the pack and give your customers something to talk about.

What a Jag

Category creation is certainly one of the easiest ways to separate yourself from the pack in todays over-cluttered war of brands. It is exactly what Jag have done by designing The Jag of the Future. Jaguar takes a bold step into the future by announcing the production of project CX75, a state of the art super car that will be one of the fastest, low emission vehicles in the world. It looks cool, it looks fast and it looks like it is good for the environment in comparison to a lot of other gas guzzlers. Jaguar have created their own category by developing a fast, high premium hybrid car that should tick a lot of the boxes for those with more money than they know what to do with. Its got the design, the performance, sustainability and the innovation. We wouldn't mind test driving one just to see! Developed in partnership with the Williams Formula One team, it claims to go from 0- 60mph in less than 3 seconds...that's some sort of car.

Innovation By Necessity 

Although most people need time, quiet and calm in order to develop their best ideas, its also true that necessity is the mother of invention. Sometimes when put under the extreme pressure we need to go to extreme measures to solve our problem. The residents in the Mississippi Delta have done just that. They have undertaken some incredibly innovative home improvements in flood stricken Mississippi to ensure that their homes are protected should the floods ever happen again. Some have essentially built their home in the middle of a homemade dam. The only difference is that the water is on the outside and they are on the inside. Obviously these farmers took no chances that the levies that have been built by the government would work. They took innovation into their own hands and surrounded themselves with tonnes of earth and sand with walls sometimes as high as the roofs of the houses themselves.