From Recession To Recovery, Re-Invention

MediaPost Publications, November 19, 2009 — By all standard economic indicators, it appears that the U.S. is finally emerging from the worst recession in several decades. Even consumers have begun, albeit timidly, to venture out, shopping for non-essential items. So, it was fitting that the theme of this year's Idea Conference, presented by Creativity and <I>Advertising Age</i>, last Thursday focused on reinvention across a number of industries, e.g., automotive, technology, financial services, art, design, food, music.

Pyrex Leverages Its Usefulness In The Kitchen

MediaPost Publications, November 17, 2009 — Chicago-based World Kitchen brand Pyrex has launched its largest campaign in a decade to highlight the brand's new line of kitchenware. The new campaign, via the Milwaukee office of Cramer-Krasselt, carries the brand's first tag-line, "Cooking Solved." The effort includes TV, print, Internet, a new Web site and PR elements timed for the holiday cooking season.

Economic Recovery Inspires Innovation and Frustration

As innovation revives, companies struggle to make it boost profitable growth. GE, Tata Motors, Marvel, and Virgin Galactic offer diverse models

BusinessWeek, November 16, 2009 — While they continue to slog through the longest economic downturn in decades, companies are no longer making cost-cutting their primary focus. Innovation is now front and center on the corporate agenda, according to a global survey we recently conducted with 65 senior executives from diverse industries. Executives are adding more breakthrough innovations and business model changes to their portfolio to fuel the growth engine for the recovery.

Yet our survey reveals that companies by and large are having trouble making innovation efforts work

Facing Disaster, Trustmark Launched a Renaissance

Setting tradition aside, the 95-year-old insurance company looked to Apple and American Girl as a guide to its future

BusinessWeek, November 4, 2009 — On a sunny day in June 2006, David McDonough, chief executive of Trustmark Insurance, was roaming Chicago's Navy Pier, talking to strangers. "We needed to understand what made people tick," says McDonough of the exercise, which was part of a two-day workshop designed to get his executive team to look beyond actuarial tables and stimulate thinking about the company's future.

Strategy of New Chief at Motorola Appears Poised to Pay Off

New York Times, October 29, 2009 — Sanjay Jha’s honeymoon as co-chief executive at Motorola lasted just a few minutes into his first meeting with employees in 2008.

Why should we trust you?” one employee blurted. The frustration was understandable. Motorola, which pioneered cellphones and built such consumer favorites as the StarTac and the Razr, had not had a hit phone in years, and a succession of leaders could not find one.

Mr. Jha, 46, an engineer who worked his way up at Qualcomm from a chip designer to the No. 3 executive, answered the challenge, saying employees should not take him on faith but watch what he did.

The Case for 'Reverse Innovation' Now

A sophisticated emerging-market strategy is not optional for companies that want to survive and thrive in the 21st century

BusinessWeek, October 26, 2009 — Is it possible that the most important innovations of the future will be adopted first in the developing world? In a recent Harvard Business Review article General Electric (GE) CEO Jeff Immelt and I argued that this phenomenon, "reverse innovation," will be increasingly common. Since then, the most common question we've been asked is "why now?"

We can answer this question by analyzing how American companies became global and why a new approach is needed going forward.

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers

New York Times, October 26, 2009 — Companies big and small monitor Twitter to find out what their customers like and what they want changed. Twitter does the same.

It started two years ago as a bare-bones service, offering little more than the ability to post 140-character messages. Then, it outsourced its idea generation to its users. The company watches how people use the service and which ideas catch on. Then its engineers turn the ideas into new features.

A Problem-Solver's Guide to Copycatting

Fast Company, October 21, 2009 — Your business has a big problem. You've thought about it, but you can't seem to crack it. So you consult your colleagues — to no avail. Then you turn to the big guns — your industry's top experts. They've got nothing. (Well, to be precise, they've got 40 PowerPoint slides worth of nothing, and you've got $225,000 less of something.) Now what?

Indian Firms Shift Focus to the Poor†

Wall Street Journal, October 20, 2009 — Indian companies, long dependent on hand-me-down technology from developed nations, are becoming cutting-edge innovators as they target one of the world's last untapped markets: the poor.

P&G Exec: Innovation Needs To Be Purpose-Driven

MediaPost Publications, October 19, 2009 — Procter & Gamble's mantra, "The consumer is boss," has become a part of the fabric of marketing. But there's another related concept that is also critical to the company's successful record of innovation, according to P&G group president, North America Melanie L. Healey.