I’ve been mulling over the transition from ‘brain for hire’ to ‘products for purchase’. In my innovative world, the goal for me is always to help people re-discover their creative talents and passions and apply them at work. And, given I’m an Ideas guy, I end up using Ideas as the touchstone to help them rediscover their talents to innovate…ideas. Its a circular conumdrum that makes sense in the verbal telling but doesn’t translate so well to type.

That said, for the past lets say 5 years I’ve been working up different Ideas about ways to truly help people have Better Ideas. The curiosity is that I’m on the verge of collecting all of these ‘ways’ into a ‘product’ that others can use to help have Better Ideas, because these products will help them become aware of their own creativity, do more with it and collaborate around theirs and others to innovate Better Ideas. I believe in this product, I’ve walked my own talk and created it based on real audience need (and unknown wants), it’s been tested, piloted and developed. I’ve had some of the UK’s finest help me think, craft and execute. And we’re on the verge of signing a real client who see’s the smarts, has the conscious need and strategic foresight to make bold steps into this space - and is passionate about making it work.

Thats taken a long paragraph to describe and you still may not know what the hell I’m talking about - which brings me to my point. I’ve funded this venture to date and will keep funding it because it’s such a big opportunity, it’s an innovate solution and it could blow up big whilst truly delivering value - a project worth doing on all accounts. However, I need to connect and collaborate ongoing with smart people and organistions around the project to realise it’s potential.

And so to Innovate UK - otherwise known as Technology Strategy Board. Here’s the rub. They have currently got a competition to ‘give-away’ £18milion to start ups that are working in the digital innovation space to help drive innovation capabilities across Britain.

My project fits the bill - no question. I’ve run it by a few authoritative persons and they 100% agree.

Like lotto tho - you gotta be in to win. What that requires is for me to down tools, spend a quantity of quality time to fill in pages of documentation - not my best of skills lets be honest - and post it in blind i.e. no other supporting materials, no presentation, no mockups, pilots, links, images, testimonials etc etc ec bloody cetera.

I don’t have the time to stop. doing. so that I can apply for ‘free’ govt cash to help with this project that will help others get innovating. Maybe I should look at my priorities - but innovation in business is my business, I gotta keep innovating to stay in the innovating business - so who has the time to stop doing that to fill in a load of forms when a ‘dragons style’ 5 mins would explain all.

This competition opportunity will go begging because I’m furiously working to stay smart and keep doing. Needs must.

Maybe it’s meant to be this way. I don’t mind - I really don’t. I’m excited as all hell and am going the extra miles because I’m so pumped.

Maybe in a bit I’ll pitch the TSB to see if I can’t help tart up how they facilitate their competition offers - and use Wayne to show them how…

Epic timing today no matter the market fuss about iPhone 4 supplies - jumped on the old dutchy and cycled a sweaty lovely sunny ride down the High Street in hunt of the O2 store. I thought I’d have to put my name down for the jump from 3G to 4.0 (didn’t bother with the 3GS, trying to do my bit for skinny living). But no - lined up, was greeted by an amazingly efficient calm O2 service guy (team) who said they had stock.

Upgrading or even just signing up to a new mobile contract is no speedy matter - so I was fully prep’d for a long wait.

And the line grew longer.

So let me paint the scenario - they’ve got 3-4 stations to actually serve customers 1:1 to do the sign up and talk thru the tariffs - and lets face it, there’s hundreds of them so for most people it does take someone in store walking through what they actually mean (cannot someone invent consumer friendly language to translate tariff booklets!!! we’ll do it!). As I sat there waiting, and then being served, and then waiting again because of some issues (always issues), the line grew longer and the wait longer obviously.

Anyway - to the reason for this post. The service staff of 4 were doing an amazing job - people slightly irate waiting, or asking for the translation - which the team must be repeating to EVERY person (insight?) - the phone is going off non.bloody.stop. People are coming in HOT, queuing, waiting, standing, complaining - and still the phone rings. I asked the guy why the phone didn’t divert to the customer service centre - he said the rule was that the instore phone was supposed to be answered within 6 rings!! yeah right O2 instore ‘in-the-HQ’ bossperson. I have nothing but praise for their service and handling a stressful day of which I only played a small customer part. And to think it’s still going on for them now some 5 hours later. Apparently I get sent a text once this phone is activated asking what I thought of the service - trust me, that team gets gold medals from me.

The O2 brand line is ‘we’re better, connected’ - which I have to say is cool, I’ve been with O2 for years and they’re brilliant. However, if we think of the branded service delivery, the cultural representation of O2 by their people instore, they’re doing amazing things in the face of huge demand completely under staffed.

02, your people would be even better, better resourced.

And forgive me fro being so bold, you should ask the front of line staff for their Ideas on improving things - you’d be pleasantly surprised.

O2 we’re better, connected

This in from the Guardian this morning:

When we talk about newspapers, we talk about them being critical for informing the public; we never say they’re critical for informing their customers. We assume that the value of the news ramifies outwards from the readership to society as a whole. OK, I buy that. But what Murdoch is signing up to do is to prevent that value from escaping. He wants to only inform his customers, he doesn’t want his stories to be shared and circulated widely. In fact, his ability to charge for the paywall is going to come down to his ability to lock the public out of the conversation convened by the Times.”

It’s the social ‘guru’ Mr Clay Shirky speaking about all things web and the latest Timely moves by Mr Murdoch. What’s really interesting re his observations about news ramifying out wider to society is that it’s similar to some difficult thoughts we’ve been having around the ‘value’ of music and it’s ability to sound track our cultural events.

Think back thru every major cultural event, either in the wider society or in our own ‘cultural’ lives - there’s always a soundtrack that helps anchor the event, adding the sensorial, emotional resonance to our memories of them. Music matters, and in profoundly important ways.

This leads to all kinds of esoteric chat about how those soundtracks ‘get’ created, chosen, selected and embedded in the DNA of these collective moments. More interesting, what would happen if we didn’t have them? Who would be the less for it - we the target audiences? Or would it be the industry who helped shape and create the music in the 1st place, and is now using our innovative smarts to help connect it with the right target audiences - would it be them who suffered?

If you think deeply around this - and we have and might now start speaking a bit more given our work with our Sony client has come to an end - there is a relationship between music producers and music audiences that goes unrecognised by both. We the punters want great music, we want to know when it’s out, who it’s by and how can we get it - and why we should! But we don’t want to pay over the odds for what we could get at any time, with a bit of effort - for free.

Yes the music industry will be watching closely to see how Mr Murdoch goes with his pay walls - but there’s a bigger conversation to be had between the Industry and it’s audiences about the value of music beyond the cover price.

After all, would all our great moments have been so great without the music? Or more worrying for those who argue for the demise of the Labels and the rise of the crowds,  imagine those moments with shite music!!!

More to come on this for sure..

When Fast Company start reporting IBM studies that say ‘For CEOs, creativity is now the most important leadership quality for success in business’ then it just might be that our IndustryApproved time has come!! Which means we have to put our ‘coding procrastination’ aside and unofficially launch our resident expert W. to the world (ok, maybe not the world - lets say our ‘habitat’ which is pretty much West London!!). Standby people…the name Wayne will soon be up in the bright lights

I am absolutely convinced tha tall this green guilting does absolutely nothing to help the urgent need for us to get changing our carbon consuming ways. Business need to innovate new ideas to help us, in fact more than just help they need to make it easy, and they need to make sense - exactly the kind of ideas that the crew at Kenwood are getting their heads around. Check out there new energy sense kettle we had delivered. We’d been using a gas hob kettle for ages, cos we like the old worldyness of it. But having read about gas supplies over the winter etc it became clear that using gas to boil the kettle must be v v inefficient use of resources. And so to John Lewis and Kenwood’s new energy sense kettle. My rationale goes like this - we want to be able to make lovely cuppas at home, and that takes energy. And that energy is delivered via a plug. So the main control we have over power use, and trying to be more efficient, is what we plug into. So here’s to you Mr Kenwood, a kettle that helps us use up to 35% less energy. Brilliant. Others makers of plugged in things take note - this. is. the. way. forward.

Who’d have thought London would go all alpine this winter!! The soup companies must be doing a roaring trade, as nothing warms the cockles so well as a steaming bowl of soup for lunch. To wit, I was dashing thru the snow on route to an early afternoon meeting down Holborn way and I thought of hunting down a quick lunch. I passed an Itsu and thought no, sushi is a summer thing. However, they had news of new menus on the windows so I dived in - and very pleased I did. They’re doing this hearty new range of noodle soups (well new to me!) which sounded great - but what really attracted me was the ’slurp’ thing - eat it with chopsticks, a fork or simply slurp. Now, who could say no to boldly slurp your soup with such stated permission. Tremendous Itsu, brilliant copy writing that made me smile and made me purchase. I’ll be back very soon (or here’s an idea, maybe you guys could open in W10? or deliver? )

Those old enough might recall a tv show years back called ‘Northern Exposure’ - set in Cicely Alaska, about a town full of quirky charachters, 1 of whom was Chris the DJ with his show ‘Chris in the Morning’ - he was so philosophically cool men wanted to be him and women wanted to date him (he was last seen as the husband on that big greek wedding film). Anyway I loved the show and clearly I too wanted to be Chris. To my delight in San Fransisco earlier this year I found the boxset - and am now deep into series 4 out of 6.

Thing is, our latest gifting tracker project has us in-store twice a week in HMV observing and interviewing the customers in the run up to xmas - what are they buying, who for and why, and how did they know to get it! What is amazing in these credit curnched times is the confirmation that nites in front of the telly save money - it seems the only decent primetime viewing is Strictly, X Factor and I’m a Dickhead Celebrity - after that comes the new DVD or Box Set…or just Mamma Mia!

In much the same way as Wii took gaming to a new audience, so Mamma Mia has introduced DVD’s to a new DVD viewing audience - or will soon do given the amount of people buying it. It seems to be 1 of those rare entertainment products that people purchase not only for themselves but also a few more copies to give to friends in a ‘I LOVED this and I thought you would LOVE this too’ kinda fashion.

It just shows how entertainment marketers and companies ignore this female market to their detriment in commercial terms but also in a profound lack of understanding their needs, wants and desires!! I’d love to hear what Chris in the morning would say about that

says what it does on the tin really! nokia have launched their mid range phone that indeed does come with music - as much as you want. the idea is you go online, download unlimited tracks and transfer to your phone. think about it - unlimited music yours to keep on your computer for ever. it raises a million questions doesnt it? look close and it says £129.95 (albeit with a couple of ** that says you gotta preload £10 of airtime on payasyougo) - so if the offer was all the music you ever wanted to your laptop for £139.95 one off payment and you had a year to get it would you do it? gotta watch this one with interest…

last weekend it was the new westfield shopping centre that was all the news - this week its obama albeit for ridiculously better reasons. however, not wanting a pretty cool idea to get lost in the historic nature of obama’s presidency electness, the (my) new local waitrose in westfields has made a bold statement about committing to be part of the shebu community thru making a monthly donation of £1000 to 1 of 3 possible charities. Thing is, they’ve embraced a bit of 2.0 user generated choosing - the cashier hands your receipt with a small green token, then on the way out you pass this stand and get to choose which slot to bank your token against the 3 possible chairites - at the end of the month, the bin with the most green tokens wins. brilliant waitrose - and more, waitrose (being part of john lewis) is in fact ‘owned’ by all the staff - so its actually the staff choosing to donate some of their ‘earnings’…a double brilliant brilliant to you all

how often is it that you’re innovating away on 1 project and the output stimulates ideas for completely different categories. take men - and face creams (as you do) - its not something we’ve been working on but we have unwittingly discovered that ‘we’ have thankfully moved beyond all that metrosexual bollocks to a place where blokes are back being blokes, but with soft skin - and thats all ok. and rather than believe its ‘cos we’re worth it’ - it seems that its all driven by our caring partners…whats good for them has become good for us. seems timely for a proper skin care offering for a man’s man dont you think? I might run it by my daily provider…