The Good and Bad of Restaurant Marketing

For fun, wanted to share two examples, one bad and one great, of restaurant marketing.

Bad Restaurant Marketing

This shot of the local KFC is from a recent trip back home in Hays, KS. It has a variety of problems:

• A steak dinner for $2.49 stretches the bounds of credibility. A price that's TOO low, doesn't say value; it says WATCH OUT!
  
• Extending KFC into steak doesn't work either. Who is looking for beef when they see the Colonel's white goatee and suit?
  
• It's misleading. When I showed it to my mom, she said it's actually a CHICKEN FRIED steak special. But that's not what the sign says. Maybe everybody in Hays knows that, but just driving by, you figure it's an overly ambitious franchisee run amok.

Great Restaurant Marketing

In contrast, this February special from Houlihan's is creative and on-target for several reasons:

• It's tied into current events - It builds off of people's attention to the stock market. Any day in February when the Dow was up, everyone got free Italian donuts. On days when the Dow closed down, customers received a coupon for a free appetizer on the next visit.
  
• It drives business when people are watching dollars - The Italian donuts are a higher-priced desert relative to Houlihan's other small portion deserts. Inducing trial is likely to spur future sales since they're incredibly good (trust me - I've tried them more than once). In the alternative, on down days, getting benefit from the coupon requires another visit to Houlihan's.
  
• There's some built-in sizzle - The promotion includes an opportunity to win a $5000 savings bond. Strong because it gets attention, has a high perceived valued, and costs Houlihan's much less than that figure.
  
• It has built-in free advertising support - Once getting over the hurdle of people knowing about the promotion, think about how many media outlets provide 5x per week prompts on the Dow's performance. It's all free advertising.

Great marketing doesn't have to be complicated, but it surely benefits from strategic thinking and implementation. Great job Houlihan's!

Let Other People Talk Week - Quotes and Links from Twitter

Wrap up for "Let Other People Talk" week features a few more quotes and links on various Brainzooming-oriented topics, nearly all from Twitter.

Quotes
@CynthiaY29: "Creativity takes courage." Henri Matisse

@artrox: Charles Handy "The modern economies will not be constrained by lack of resources but only by lack of creativity & ideas.”

RT @boxofcrayons: RT @joevans: From Sir Ken Robinson: “If you are not prepared to be wrong — you will not come up with anything original....

RT @CreativityBoost: Action is the best way to give doubt the middle finger. via @johnhaydon
Best quote heard so far this week: "Slow down and think so you can go fast."

RT @Orrin_Woodward: "The successful leader gets superior performance from ordinary people". ~Al Kaltman

RT @sallyhogshead: We were born w/ the ability to do 1 thing better than anyone else on earth. Trick is to find out exactly what YOURS is.

@AdamTheHutt: Some interviewee on NPR just declared that "motherhood is the necessity of innovation"...funny idea if you think about

@Zindella: Aristotle once said: Today I am short of time, so I am going to write you a long letter.

Links

Free Ideas Ready for You to Implement! Wacha Waitin' For? RT @plish: Hamster Burial Kits & 998 Other Business Ideas http://post.ly/1Yb

50% of companies look for strategic thinking RT @davidharkleroad: Best Companies for Ldrs, Chief Exec Magazine: http://tinyurl.com/bhuc5p

The importance of group dynamics RT @stef: The qualities that make a successful innovator are actually ones a group shares http://is.gd/juOB

Also from Heart of Innovation - 100 Lamest Reasons Not to Innovate in 2009 http://tinyurl.com/79t3t3

Heart of Innovation on "56 Reasons Business Innovation Fails" http://tinyurl.com/5df2mm
RT @mindfulmimi: Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity - Bo Bennett http://ff.im/13vPD

Comment: New way of presenting food groups RT @plish: Mindmap of foods to boost productivity (and creativity!) http://tinyurl.com/cz5h4c

Cool cust exp mktg! RT @gabysslave:..sometimes wish i had clients prepared 2b challenged w/ really great ideas like this http://bit.ly/Po7Fp

Read the Great Springboard Blog! RT @kevinfullerton: Follow Your Connections to the End http://tinyurl.com/cxad3u

Hope you've enjoyed the variety this week. See you back here next week!

Let Other People Talk Week - Innovation Ideas

Here are innovation thought starters harvested from Twitter. You can follow me on Twitter in two places now: @mikebrown and @brainzooming. There's slightly different content at each - at least for now!

@ireckon marc andreessen: innovation happens - create, destroys, recreate. Failures free up intellectual capital for next innovation

@DanKok Innovation is now the principal competitive weapon - G. Beaver. And innovation only happens with innovative people.

@pinnovation innovation demands highly motivated and engaged employees...create cultures in which people can bring their passion to the work

@roymap Innovation comes from asking great questions. Not from always having the answers.

@ransomtech Chew on this: "We tend to overestimate the short-term effects and underestimate the long-term effects of innovation" ~Chip Bruce

@Adambow #Novate Innovation is being able to combine frames of reference and draw connections between ostensibly unrelated points of view

@retailsprout "Difficult economic times, often spur great periods of creativity and invention." - Carisa Bianchi President of TBWA\Chiat\Day

@FullerJohn RT @JeffAbel: The world leaders in innovation and creativity will also be world leaders in everything else. ~ Harold R. McAlindonm

Let Other People Talk Week - A Creativity Prayer

Today is Ash Wednesday; this marks the beginning of Lent, a time for, among other things, more intense prayer and listening. In light of that, here's a creativity prayer I wrote last year for our Creative Instigation presentation. Invest a few moments today to ask for a potentially new source of help for your creativity to enliven and inspire others.

Lord,

Thank you for creation itself and the incredible gifts and talents you so generously entrust to me. May I appreciate and develop these talents, always recognizing that they come from you and remain yours.

Guide me in using them for the benefit of everyone that I touch, so that they may be more aware of your creative presence and develop the creativity entrusted to them for the good of others.

Help me also to use your talents to bring a creative spark and new possibilities to your world, living out my call to be an integral part of your creative force. Amen.

Copyright 2008, Mike Brown

Two Brainzooming Lessons for FISH in Sydney

Here's a video recorded for Janine Cahill and the "Foresight Innovation and Sustainability Hothouse" in Sydney, Australia. This opportunity is thanks to connecting with Janine on Twitter.

Let Other People Talk Week - Go Read This Great Article!

This article on reactionary marketing appeared one day when I was ranting on this topic several times. Maybe that's why it struck such a nerve.

It is on Karlyn Morisette's blog, and although her focus is higher education, most business people should be able to relate to her perspectives on the topic.

If you follow up on none of the other links the rest of the week, go read this one; it's that good.

Let Other People Talk Week - Creative Quickie Quotes

For variety, I'm going to primarily shut up and listen this week, sharing links, quotes, and ideas on innovation, creativity, and strategic thinking. I'll offer my thoughts in the comments section at Brainzooming. I hope to find yours there too! Let's get started!

Creative Quickie - Creativity Quotes

Here are some quick quotes on creativity right from Twitter, so they may or may not be accurate. Enjoy them and add your cool quotes in the comments!

@ShaunConnell Rationality begets creativity. Until you understand the box, you can't think outside the box.
@healthyincome4u Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. ~Edward De Bono
@PopWuping "If limitation spawns creativity, is the limitless resource of the Internet a good thing?” — Alec Soth
@earthXplorer "Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected." ~ Anonymous
@pixelati "Creativity is the ability to see relationships where none exist." - Thomas Disch
@hottomali Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams
@boxofcrayons RT @joevans: From Sir Ken Robinson: “If you are not prepared to be wrong — you will not come up with anything original.
@boxofcrayons RT @joevans: More Sir Ken: People are being educated out of their creative capacity. We do not grow into creativity, we grow out of it.
@JackieAustinBNC Creativity is generated by humor combined with conflict. WOW
@lildrummergie routinely doin somethin u enjoy over & over again, without variation or creativity, can diminish even that enjoyment. swimmin for instance
@pseudoliterat "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." – Charles Mingus
@gregnyc Fast Company Editor: "[Only creativity and aggressive innovation...will fuel a turnaround.]"

Sports Strategy Lessons Week - Yes, I’m Bluffing . . .Don’t You Think?

Although I’ve been accused by co-workers of having a poker face, I’m not a poker player. As a result, this follow-up to yesterday’s post on bluffing is based on secondary research, not real-life poker experience. These rules, adapted from poker bluffing maxims, are helpful in deciding when and how to use a bluffing strategy in business situations:

• Be attuned to details in others’ behaviors. Study good bluffers and identify why they’re effective.


• Don’t make it a general practice to bluff. Use the strategy only when necessary and avoid pure bluffs (i.e., you have limited means to deal with the downside of losing) at nearly all costs.


• It’s dangerous to bluff against careless or inexperienced parties. They’ll tend to miss or incorrectly perceive situations and react unpredictably.


• Fully understand your position in any situation where you’re considering a bluffing strategy.


• Make sure the risks aren’t too high when you elect to bluff.


• When bluffing, do so in a way that’s consistent with what the other person suspects is accurate and true about the situation (i.e., they think you have all the necessary information in a situation, so you act as if you do).


• Don't bluff someone you suspect has a stronger position (i.e., more information, flexibility, risk tolerance, etc.).

When to bluff? Here are a few situations where it may be appropriate:

• A situation is familiar and you need to appear strong and in command even when you don’t have all the information you’d like or a full grasp of this particular situation.


• You have some negative near-term information that can be corrected more readily if you don’t have to disclose it to the other party.


• You’re bargaining with someone in a low-importance situation and are indifferent to winning or losing.

Consider incorporating bluffing into your strategy repertoire if you haven’t before.

And given how good interviewees are about Googling interviewers, these last two posts might be enough of a nudge to pave the way for reintroducing my bluffing question with the possibility of getting some decent answers.

Thanks for playing along during Sports Strategy Lesson week. Did you enjoy these strategy lessons? Let me know!

Brainzooming Listed on Idea Connection Blog

Brainzooming was just listed on the Idea Connection blog roll; it orders blogs on its site based upon being voted up or down by visitors. If you get a chance, visit the Idea Connection website, check out the various blogs, and support Brainzooming!

Sports Strategy Lessons Week - Are You Bluffing?

I’ve finally quit asking an interview question about situations in which prospective job candidates would make a conscious strategic decision to bluff. While based on a real-life situation where I had to bluff during a senior executive presentation, hardly anyone would identify when they’d do the same.

That’s too bad, because bluffing can be an effective strategy - just refer back to yesterday's post about Joe DiMaggio. The key is to not overdo it and to be able to sustain the implications of having your bluff called.

I’ve bluffed several times recently with outside parties looking for assistance where there was little downside if they said no – which the first one did. In every other case though, the strategy resulted in a positive gain for both of us, interestingly enough.

So how about you?

What’s a situation where you’ve had to bluff either in business or personally? Have you seen someone else bluff and get called on it? Or someone bluffing and winning big as a result?

Share your stories in the comments section, and tomorrow we’ll cover successful bluffing tips from the world of poker (hey, ESPN thinks it's a sport).

Sports Strategy Lessons Week - Use What You Don't Have Wisely

The start of baseball spring training reminds me of a favorite baseball story. It’s been so long since I heard it, who knows if it’s true, but it’s so rich with strategy lessons, it almost doesn’t matter!

The Story

During a Yankee World Series appearance, Joe DiMaggio’s arm was reportedly injured. Scouting reports said opponents could run on anything hit to center since supposedly DiMaggio couldn’t throw.

How did DiMaggio deal with this blatant weakness?

Even though hurt, he could make one throw a day. Most people would save that one throw for an important play late in the game. Not DiMaggio. Before the game, with the opposing team on-field, he’d uncork a bullet from center to home plate. Seeing this for themselves, the other team wouldn’t dare try to take advantage of DiMaggio’s arm by attempting to grab an extra base when things really counted.

Lesson One

Lesson one focuses on the fundamental strategic question, “What matters?” In this case, preventing runners from advancing on balls hit to center was paramount. And since DiMaggio’s physical prowess was failing him, he used an alternative - his mental skill – to accomplish this important objective. His adeptness demonstrates a true strategic perspective. Applying this lesson is relatively clear: understand your desired objective and be open to unconventional ways to accomplish it.

Lesson Two

The second strategic lesson is you don’t have to display all your capabilities all the time for them to be effective. DiMaggio relied on his "brand" reputation, with only slight real evidence, to create a larger-than-reality perception.

Using this lesson is more subtle. Suppose you have a brand capability that’s temporarily weakened or under attack. While it’s fine to not rely on the capability, you may still need to let others know it’s in your repertoire. If that's the case, determine in what ways you can compensate, perhaps by taking advantage of an opportunity to mass resources temporarily and deliver better than typical performance or ward off a competitor.

Both lessons can help prevent others from taking advantage of you or your brand when it really counts!

Sports Strategy Lessons Week - Strategy Gone Wild

One of this football season's most intriguing strategy stories was the Miami Dolphins’ use of the Wildcat Offense – a variation of a 1907 Pop Warner (the coach, not the youth league) offensive formation designed around multi-dimensional, Hall of Fame great Jim Thorpe. It had last been used in the NFL during the 1951 season.

This very different offensive setup features the running back taking the snap from center and an unbalanced offensive line that causes confusion in defensive assignments. The first six times Miami used the Wildcat, it scored four times. In the first 76 Wildcat plays, they scored eight touchdowns and gained 453 yards (or nearly 6 yards per play).

And no surprise, other teams, seeing Miami’s early success, introduced their own version of the single wing offense with varying degrees of success. Even the lowly Kansas City Chiefs incorporated some razzle dazzle in their offense, with their quarterback catching a 37-yard touchdown pass in one game.

Three strategy applications of the Dolphins’ story come quickly to mind:

1. Those who know history are able to repeat it!

This example turns the maxim, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it” inside out. Knowing history allowed Dolphins coach Tony Sparano to repeat and introduce a play that had long ago fallen out of favor. Even though considered ancient history, the Wildcat offense was ideally suited to take advantage of his team’s skill set.

Question – Do you know relevant history in your business so you can broaden your strategic options in ways that less-studious competitors can’t?

2. Competitively, surprise can work better than rehashing today’s best practices when looking for dramatically improved results.

Surprise can have a far bigger positive impact in competitive situations than mining today's best practices. If Sparano had simply looked for the best examples of current offenses, he might have gained some incremental improvements. It’s unlikely though that the Dolphins would have scored four times in the first six plays using a current offensive best practice. The dramatic success was fueled by something not only unexpected but unseen previously by its competitors.

Question – How are you actively cultivating opportunities to use surprise to beat competitors by intriguing prospects and capturing them as customers?

3. Surprise wears off and smart competitors respond.

If you choose surprise as a strategy, it’s only good for so long. The Dolphins' early success rate moderated with the Wildcat offense’s more frequent use. Competitors catch up and change approaches. You have to be prepared to stay another few steps ahead and move to other surprise tactics.

Question – Before you implement a surprise-oriented strategy, ask yourself, “What are our next three or four variations or additional surprises to sustain our advantage?”

The Dolphins’ surprise-based strategy was a strong factor in their significant change of fortunes, going from a 1-15 record in 2007 to 11-5 in 2008 with their first playoff appearance in 7 seasons.

How can you use the lessons from the Dolphins’ turnaround to dramatically improve your business results in 2009?

Business Week Exchange Reminder

Remember to check out the Business Exchange website Tuesday, February 17, where I'm scheduled to be the featured user of the day. Business Exchange is the new social media site from Business Week that provides networking and opportunities to upload and review content on a variety topics.

Sports Strategy Lessons Week - Jimmy Spencer - "Mr. Strategic"

We're in an annual transitional time in sports. Football just wrapped up, baseball spring training has started, and Matt Kenseth won the rain-shortened Daytona 500 in NASCAR yesterday. There was even a big poker tournament on ESPN Sunday. While there's not a lot on sports here, this week's articles will each touch on sports-related strategy lessons.

"One of Them Racing Lessons"

For several years, I ran a NASCAR sponsorship. It was a wonderful testing ground for guerrilla marketing approaches, and surprisingly, yielded a great strategy story from an unlikely source - our driver, Jimmy Spencer, "Mr. Excitement."

At a 2002 Dover, DE race, our team had a good but not great car. The weather was iffy all day as storm clouds rolled over, and rain drops weren’t far behind. As the rain started, most cars stayed on the track to keep their positions, figuring the race would be rained out.
Instead of following, our car left its position among the leaders, heading for a pit stop to get gas and tires just as the race was halted. As a result, we went to the back of the pack, ruining our chances for a strong finish - if the rain washed out the race.

Why did the team make the decision?

Our team checked all available radar information and saw the rain should stop after too long. Knowing our car's mileage and tire wear, coupled with how much of the race would remain if it resumed, the team used a strategy based on its insight (and expectation) the race would go the distance.

So what happened?

Unlike yesterday's Daytona 500, the clouds moved on and the race resumed. While nearly every other car headed for the pits, Jimmy Spencer moved up to third. As racing heated up near the end, the first and second place cars made contact, slowing down just enough for Jimmy to drive underneath them and take the lead. "Mr. Excitement" won the race.

Even though we’d try to script what Jimmy would say, we'd always hold our breath when they gave Jimmy the microphone. In the winner’s circle that day, Jimmy made an unexpected great strategic statement: “We didn’t have the best car today, but we had the best strategy.”

Think about it. In business you may not have the best product or service, but that doesn't mean you give up. You have to assess your position with a view to the future, apply the best information available about your strengths and weaknesses, work through potential scenarios, then devise and implement the best strategy to improve your likelihood of success.

I'm not sure if Jimmy meant all that in his comment, but I've used this story many times since because it's truly a great strategic insight with value to all business strategists!

Updates - Business Week Exchange Featured User and Design Pepper Bailout Contest

Business Week Exchange

On Tuesday, February 17, I'm scheduled to be the featured user of the day on Business Week Exchange, a new social media site from Business Week I found because of Twitter. The site provides networking and opportunities to upload and review content on a variety topics.

In just weeks, the Brainzooming links posted on Business Week Exchange have made it the number one referral source for the blog! Starting Tuesday at approximately 9:15 a.m. EST, there will be a box on the lower right of the home page with links to my profile and posted links. I'll include a reminder Tuesday, but if you have a chance to check the site out beforehand that's great.

Design Pepper Blog Bailout

Here's an update on the Design Pepper blog bailout contest. Based on final voting, Brainzooming finished second (thanks for the votes), and a volunteer fire fighting department from California won. The contest (which also surfaced through Twitter activity) created many new blog visitors and the opportunity to form a Twitter relationship with several of the great Design Pepper people.

Once again, thanks to everyone for your support!

Saturday Special - More Benjamin Zander from TED

As follow-up to a Saturday Special from a couple of weeks ago, here's a Benjamin Zander video from last year's TED Conference (thanks VJ for the suggestion). In it, he shares a Chopin prelude (Op. 28: Prelude No. 4 in E Minor) as a way to open ourselves to an appreciation of classical music and its emotional possibilities.

A quick personal note about this portion of his presentation: at the 2001 Transformation Conference I produced, my wife was sitting in the front row for Zander's performance since she'd heard me talk so much about him. As he came down off stage at the prelude's conclusion, he went right toward Cyndi and kissed her on the head. With the emotion of the moment and the conference near its completion, I started crying, figuring Cyndi must have been doing the same to prompt Zander to approach her.

Asking her about it later, she told me, "No, I wasn't crying. I shouted, 'Bravo!'" Zander IS, after all, a showman. I just teared up thinking back on the story, so here's an important safety tip: have a Kleenex handy before you start watching!

The I’s Have It

Past articles have extolled the benefits of using a PMIR (Plus – Minus – Interesting – Recommendation) evaluation, a variation on the PMI technique from Edward de Bono.

Here’s another variation to consider when using a PMIR – change the “I” to something other than “interesting.” Here are 10 possibilities for tweaking your evaluation approach. Ask, “What was most _______________?”

• Impactful
• Intriguing
• Inspiring
• Incomplete
• Ill conceived
• Inspired
• Illogical
• Impressive
• Implementable
• Informative

Changing the "I" around will freshen up your evaluation and provide some new "Insights" - yet another I you can use!

Brainzooming - 1 Great Way to Get Lots of Expert Help

Need a quick injection of diverse perspectives?

Take advantage of the Q&A feature in LinkedIn. You can post questions under a myriad of topics for other members of LinkedIn to comment on, usually from their personal expertise.

Additionally, take advantage of discussion areas within LinkedIn Groups to solicit perspectives as well.

The only caveat is you still have to apply your own filters and experience to assess the input. But having used both features recently to request speaker ideas for a conference I’m helping organize, LinkedIn was a great source of quick, free input to expand our thinking!

Brainzooming - Have You Tried a ‘Not’ Definition?

It can be a challenge defining what your business brand is. This is particularly true if you’re trying to work through possible definitions in a group setting. In these situations, there’s often a tendency to suppose a brand can stand for everything a company desires which is generally impractical and a recipe for failure.

Here’s an alternative.

Start by asking, “What doesn’t our brand stand for or represent?” By beginning with a “not” definition, you may subsequently be able to more readily express a succinct, targeted definition.

The approach works beyond business branding. Try it when having trouble narrowing the number of concepts you’re trying to fit into something you’re articulating or defining.

Why Serve Up Your Treasure Like Trash?

In a Cosby Show episode, one of Bill’s daughters brought her new fiancé home; the fact they were engaged (and had been for months) was a complete surprise. Bill compared it to serving an expensive piece of steak on a trashcan lid, i.e. taking something wonderful and desirable and completely ruining it through how it was presented.

The same thing happens to great ideas all the time.

We’ve become so dependent on email as a means of communication that no one thinks anything of taking a new idea, burying it in an email with a non-descript subject line (or worse, an unrelated forwarded subject line), and sending it off to rest among potentially scores of unread emails in someone’s inbox.

Even if the recipient does eventually read the email, an accurate understanding, interpretation, and any excitement about the idea depends solely on the recipient, not on your presentation of the idea.

Instead of taking this easy (and typically fruitless) way out, here’s an alternative – actually present your ideas as you would pitch any creative concept:

• Identify who can approve your idea
• Frame your pitch as simply as possible with the audience’s motivations and expectations in mind
• Practice and refine the pitch, augmenting it with any necessary support & identifying how you’ll counter challenges
• Pitch the idea with enthusiasm and be there to answer questions and clarify

Try this when you have an idea to share instead of passively emailing it. The process needn’t be overly complicated, and you’ll find yourself with a stake in so many more successfully implemented ideas.

Creative Quickie - Doodle Night

Help Brainzooming Win a Free Blog Redesign

We're in the last days to vote for Brainzooming to get a free redesign in the Blog Bailout Contest. Here are the 3 quick easy steps:

1. Click on this link to go to the design company's website: http://tinyurl.com/bfrors
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the voting area. Click the button for "Mike - 'BrainZooming'" - it's the second one on the list. Then select VOTE.
3. Let anyone else know who might help out and vote for Brainzooming by February 10, 2009. Thanks for the help!

Saturday Special - 4 Real Life Innovation Lessons for the Week

Looking back over the past few days, here are several stories (some national, one personal), each with innovation lessons tied to "newness."

A New Skydiver

This week's story about Daniel Pharr, the first-time skydiver whose tandem skydiving instructor died during a jump, is quite incredible. Daniel, realizing that there was a problem with the instructor during the dive, manipulated the toggles on the chute to land safely even though he'd never skydived before. He tried to administer CPR once on the ground, but the instructor had suffered a heart attack during the 13,500 foot dive and died.

A New President

Amid major roadblocks on several people he's nominated to high level positions, President Barack Obama said plainly that he had "screwed up."

A New Taste Treat

Heading out to watch Sally Hogshead on The Today Show last Sunday morning, we went to Eggtc., a breakfast and lunch restaurant southeast of the Plaza in Kansas City. One of the specials was "Oreo Pancakes." It consisted of two chocolate pancakes with a vanilla glaze in the middle, plus whipped cream and crumbled Oreo cookies on top.


What Are the Innovation Lessons?

1. Innovation isn't always about "creative" pursuits; it can depend heavily on composure and the ability to improvise in real-life situations. Daniel Pharr demonstrated the importance of these skills in a remarkable fashion during a life and death situation.


2. Spend your life pursuing your distinctive talents - those that are most exciting for you. From Daniel Pharr's account of the skydiving instructor's last statements in the plane, it was clear he was doing what he most loved. If you have to go, that's probably a pretty good way, pursuing your passion.


3. Mistakes are part of innovation, and admitting them is part of making them. The key is learning and improving from the mistakes so you don't make the same ones again.


4. You can "borrow" ideas and apply them in new ways to great success. There wasn't anything "new" in the Oreo pancakes, but I haven't been so filled with excitement and anticipation about food in a long time. They were very sweet and very wonderful!

That was last week in innovation. I can't wait to see what happens this week!

"Taking the NO Out of InNOvation"- 10 NO's Blocking Business Innovation - Part 5

Here's the final part of the series on 10 NO's blocking business innovation. Please share your thoughts on dealing with these implementation and measurement challenges.

9. NO Success at Implementation

Intriguing ideas and concepts are cool, but only have value ultimately if they lead to successful implementation and deliver benefits for the intended audience. There are various roadblocks to successful implementation, including flaws in how ideas are recommended, prioritized, developed, and marketed to target audiences. With all those potential challenges, it's a wonder anything new actually takes place! What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• "Rehearse" the process you'll use to quickly prototype, justify, recommend, develop, test, roll out and troubleshoot ideas to increase your likelihood of implementation success.

10. No Measures

It's difficult to sustain formal innovation efforts without metrics in place to show ROI or even general positive improvement. Even earlier in the process, the absence of metrics makes identifying and prioritizing innovation opportunities a shot in the dark. Simply put: no metrics = no hope of long term innovation. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Determine an overall framework to measure innovation with a variety of metric types.
• Develop whole-brain metrics, i.e. both quantitative and qualitative metrics to track performance.
• Establish a way to revisit unsuccessful implementations to learn from them and apply the lessons to subsequent efforts.

That's the wrap up for 10 NO's blocking business innovation. I found out today that THe Conference on Marketing where this presentation was originally scheduled has been moved to November.

In the meantime, I'll be sharing this material at the Charlotte, NC Business Marketing Association Meeting, March 18. If you're in the Carolinas, hope to see you there!

In the interim, you can download an ebook version of "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" from Slideshare.

"Taking the NO Out of InNOvation"- 10 NO's Blocking Business Innovation - Part 4

Beyond challenges to direction and resources, innovation efforts can really start to fail as ideas have to be turned into actions. InNOvation NO's 7 and 8 are related to issues with people and processes.

7. NO Motivation to Innovate

Something's lacking that dampens an internal drive to innovate. It could be an environment that doesn't promote cooperation, no opportunity to receive credit for your effort, or a lack of other meaningful incentives to bring ideas forward and develop them. The net result is that innovation isn't happening as naturally as it might. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Understand the political fray inside the business and how you can use it to your advantage in securing cooperation and active participation from vital parties.
• Cultivate an informal team, if necessary, of like-minded individuals to help trigger innovation.
• Share ALL the credit. In fact, give away ALL the credit so you can make stars of those whose help you've enlisted.
• Be attuned to subtle forms of censorship and protect your innovation team from both internal and external threats.

8. NO Process

There are instances where innovation appears to emanate naturally from within an organization. Chances are though that it's been cultivated and developed through a process, even if it's a relatively small scale and informal one. Without some type of planning and organized means to realize innovation, barriers and bureaucracy can easily block new ideas from coming to fruition.
What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Employ some type of structured process to collect or generate ideas. Make sure your approach and effort tie back to fundamental business objectives.
• Work toward a bigger pool of ideas from which to narrow, prioritize and pursue certain ones for implementation.
• Use structure liberally to provide people a means to contribute to ideation, a way to share their perspectives, and a path for implementation.

Friday's wrap-up on NO's blocking InNOvation focuses on actually implementing and measuring the results of your innovation work.

Help Brainzooming Win a Free Blog Redesign

Quick reminder - please vote for Brainzooming to get a free redesign in the Blog Bailout Contest. Here are the 3 quick easy steps:

1. Click on this link to go to the design company's website: http://tinyurl.com/bfrors
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the voting area. Click the button for "Mike - 'BrainZooming'" - it's the second one on the list. Then select VOTE. If you're really into it, you can vote multiple times if you use different computers!
3. Let anyone else know who might help out and vote for Brainzooming.

Voting ends February 10, 2009. Thanks for the help!

"Taking the NO Out of InNOvation"- 10 NO's Blocking Business Innovation - Part 3

Today's two NO's blocking innovation tie back to something lacking - time, dollars, attention, support, etc.

5. There's NO Tomorrow

This NO springs from the conviction things will be won or lost in the short term, so there's little need for long term development. Or it may be there's no patience for protracted realization of opportunities. If it's going to be pursued, it needs to be developed and start paying out by the next quarter. With the current economic environment, this sentiment could be more prevalent than ever. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Use a solid process for how you think through challenging situations, addressing short term pressures while being mindful of the future.
• Try to manage around strategic whims within the business; sometimes, that's best done by letting them pass.
• Go to school on the best thinking regarding how to manage innovation during challenging business conditions.

6. NO Resources

As with a "no tomorrow" view, lowered interest in applying resources to innovation may be more acutely felt right now. The absence of specific resources can be broad, including management attention, available time, and investment dollars. Without these vital inputs, innovation stalls or never takes off in the first place. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Take a hard look at what adds value and what doesn't for areas to prune from the business.
• Narrow your activities and free up potential innovation resources by developing a "stop doing" list of low value or off strategy activities to halt.
• Demonstrate a willingness to be innovative in your approach - how can you introduce and implement new, high-impact ideas with no resources?

On Thursday, attention turns to NO's 7 and 8 along with challenges in catalyzing innovation.

Want a New Look for Brainzooming? Vote for Brainzooming in the Design Pepper "Blog Bailout"

Here's another opportunity emerging from Twitter. DesignPepper.com announced a Blog Bailout Contest recently offering a free design bailout for a deserving blogger able to briefly share their:

• Blogging plan
• A clear 2009 blog improvement objective
• Favorite cookie (the baked kind - not the ones that reside on your computer)

Out of 40 applicants, my Brainzooming blog was selected as a Top 10 finalist.

What You Can Do to Help!

Voting is now open until February 10 to select the final winner of the redesign. That's where you come in.

Please click here to go to the Design Pepper blog and VOTE by going to the bottom of the page and clicking on "Mike - 'Brainzooming'" to help the blog win the design bailout.

If WE win, it means we'll be able to shift the blog URL to brainzooming.com and freshen the blog's look and feel. So Vote Today and Share the Contest Link with your friends as well!

You all helped me win the IDEF140 contest which benefited the Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta. Now let's win this contest to benefit all Brainzooming readers! Thanks!

"Taking the NO Out of InNOvation"- 10 NO's Blocking Business Innovation - Part 2

We pick up the 10 NO's Blocking InNOvation series with numbers 3 and 4 on avoiding rocking the boat and struggling with finding the right innovative talent in your business.

3. NO Rocking the Boat

There's an unmistakable signal from management (whether it's uttered directly or not): "If it isn't broken, don't mess with it. We're not interested in risk taking; let's just maintain the status quo." These messages make it clear that good things don't await those interested in exploring new approaches or trying to do things in different ways. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Focus on progress within the current model; it won't even feel like the boat is moving, let along rocking.
• Determine how you can influence the business direction without anybody even realizing it.
• Look for problems or mini-crises (or maybe even big crises) that will force considering changes in how things are done.
• Look for competitors on the horizon that may seem distant, yet can be formidable threats.
• Challenge the business to take on "uncomfortable" ideas.

4. NO Talent Pool

The company may have convinced itself the right people aren't in place to make innovation happen. It could be a perceived lack of "creatives" or "outside the box" thinkers. More likely though, it's a failure to get people with diverse perspectives together and let them work. It's more about diverse talent not working together than not having the right talent in the first place. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Begin to cultivate strategic thinking skills among your team and anyone else you can influence within your company.
• Actively work to broaden and diversify who is brought into strategic thinking and innovation work.
• Look for experts (even unlikely ones) inside and outside the company available to help.

On Wednesday, it's NO's 5 and 6 standing in the way of innovation.

"Taking the NO Out of InNOvation"- 10 NO's Blocking Business Innovation

With Steve and Sally covering the Super Bowl XLIII commercials (below), that frees up Brainzooming to tackle another subject this week.

In late March, I'll be in Miami at THe Conference on Marketing delivering a presentation on "Taking the NO Out of InNOvation" in the business-to-business track. Previously, this presentation has been more of an exploration of the personal perspectives needed to be more innovative. In contrast, this version will focus on 10 common NO's blocking business innovation, along with some approaches to circumvent them.

As the presentation takes final shape, we'll run through the preliminary list of NO's this week. I'd love to get your ideas:

• Have you run into these?
• How have you successfully addressed them?
• Are there other types of challenges you've come across in successful innovation?

Leave your comments or email me at mike@mikebrownspeaks.com. Each day this week, there will be two NO's discussed. Let's get started with the first two: no knack for innovation and no direction to pursue it.

1. NO Knack for Innovation

There simply isn't an orientation toward innovation. It may be a mature industry, a company that's had success with an intense focus, one that's grown through M&A, or has been burned on previous formal innovation efforts. Whatever the reason, innovation doesn't appear to be in the company's DNA. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Challenge conventional wisdom that says innovation isn't vital to the company.
• Target introducing small doses of unconventional strategy to begin.
• Introduce ways to look at the business differently.
• Try to borrow and adapt proven ideas from other industries or markets.

2. NO Direction

Without a top-level mandate, it's tough for an innovation-oriented culture to flourish. Could be that innovation is outside the company's vision, there's no upper management champion, or a lack of alignment stands in the way of innovation efforts. What Are Some Things You Can Try?

• Create focus on the fundamental question - "What is the company trying to achieve?" - to figure out what matters and how innovation might fit.
• Simply articulate (or at least help do so) what the vision is for innovation.
• Consider starting small - don't worry about big ideas; focus on enough ideas to sort through and find winners.
• Or consider starting big - even if you don't get there, you'll do more than you would have otherwise.
• Make sure to have someone challenge your grand plan.

We'll cover numbers 3 and 4 tomorrow.

Super Bowl Ad Recap

It's Super Bowl Monday. Despite minimal interest in the game, I watched much of it, primarily to see the commercials and Bruce Springsteen.

Since the commercials will be a hot topic of conversation at work today (although probably not as hot as the game), let me point you toward two experts (Steve Yastrow and good friend Sally Hogshead) who Tweeted about the ads live during the game last night. Their conversation is online at Tom Peters' website, so be sure to check it out.

While you're at it, check out Sally on the Sunday morning Today Show talking about the best Super Bowl ads of all time.

As for me, my favorites were:

• Bridgestone - "Taters" (Think I know Mrs. Potato Head.)
• Careerbuilder - "Tips" (Seemed to have more emotional connection than Monster.com)
• Doritos - "Crystal Ball" (Who doesn't love a Magic 8 Ball bit?)
• ETrade - "Baby Golfer" ("Shankapotamus" alone put it on my list.)
• Pepsi - "Refresh" (Great Dylan song gets refreshed, but I'll still drink Diet Dr. Pepper.)
• Pixar - "Up" (Not sure it's a great commercial, but the movie looks fun!)

Not a great year for commercials, but the football game (and Bruce telling us to get away from the guacamole dip & chicken fingers) more than made up for it!