DUO:Design and Marketing

Creativity is disruptive

I thought that I would share this as it made me think and maybe it will make you think too. The message was posted on a blog by Dave Trott and mentions a speech by Sir Ken Robinson called 'Is Education Killing Creativity'. The most touching part comes at the end.

He talks about a little girl who was very disruptive at school. In class she was always chattering, moving about, fidgeting. She’d had to move school several times because of this problem. One day her mother was at her wit’s end when the headmaster called her in.

She sat with her daughter in his office waiting for the inevitable litany of reasons why he couldn’t have his daughter at his school. Waiting for him to suggest medical treatment: drugs that would calm her down and make her behave. But this headmaster didn’t do any of that.

He said to the girl, “Your mother and I are just popping outside for a chat. We won’t be long.”

Then he got up to leave, but he turned the radio on before he did. Outside the room he said to the mother, “Just watch this for a moment.” And they looked through a little window at the girl. At first she sat there, listening to the music on the radio.
Then she started tapping her feet, Then she stood up and began moving, swaying to and fro. Then she began moving rhythmically all around the room.

The headmaster turned to her mother and said, “Look, you haven’t got an unruly child, you’ve got a dancer. She needs a school that caters for her talent.” And that’s what happened. The mother put the little girl in dance school. For the first time in her life, she was with children like her, and she fitted in. First she became a ballet dancer, then eventually a famous choreographer.

And now she is worth millions, and arranges all Andrew Lloyd Webber’s productions. All because one headmaster saw an opportunity where everyone else only saw a problem. Because he wasn’t trying to make her fit the norm. He wanted to celebrate what made her different.

Her creativity was disruptive and sometimes awkward (not normal) but this was the thing that made her special. All it needed was for someone to see it.

Maybe, we all need to look harder for talent and passion rather than educational acceptance.

10 pointers to make the most of these challenging times

It’s a time of change. A time to focus on business survival but also a time of opportunity.

Here’s my 10 point plan for this challenging period:

1/ Don’t despair. Face the reality of the situation. Pretending it isn’t happening will not support the change that WILL be required.

2/ Cash is king but there has to be a sustainable profit at the end of it. Be very aware of your margin and break-even. Customers want value but good customers will appreciate you have to make a profit to survive. Remember reducing prices is easier than increasing them so act with caution.

3/ Think relationship not transaction. Treat every ‘profitable’ customer as if he/she is your last. Treat every new customer with sincerity and gratitude. Encourage people to talk about your business. Create surprise but keep it ‘real’. Communicate integrity and passion every chance you get.

4/ If your ‘old’ markets are shrinking then think ‘new’ markets.

5/ If you spend money on advertising or marketing and you cannot measure or see the ROI then stop what you are doing and think again. If you cannot see the value then your customers may not either.

6/ If your marketing spend is focused primarily on one-way ‘Interruptive’ techniques (i.e my ad is bigger and more frequent than yours) then you need to re-think. If your target market gives you ‘Permission’ to create a dialogue with them then the door is open to create a stronger relationship. Consider conversational marketing techniques such as social media to really engage with your customers.

7/ Give something back to your community (customers and employees) so that they see that you have a purpose beyond profit. This is where the future lies.

8/ Look after your people (after all, they embody your brand) and be as open and honest as you can be (share your dilemmas and challenges as they will have some great ideas).

9/ Innovate – understand your customers and create products and services that empathise with their needs. Remember these needs have changed in the last 6 months.

10/ Network – drive your personal brand. Make new friends as you can never have enough connections. Collaborate - Join Groups, discussions and blogs .

Freedom of choice

In my mind marketing is essentially a democratising process that promotes diversity by giving people the information they need to choose one product or service over another. Okay. I admit that sometimes Power brands become too powerful and too dominating so that choice becomes a casualty but this is rare and there is usually a consumer kick-back that will eventually re-instate democracy. Microsoft is a good example. Immensely powerful and often immensely arrogant. They have just launched Internet Explorer 7 without full web standards compliance so that many websites do not work. (This is incredibly frustrating to web developers like us) How do they get away with it? Well they do because they dominate the PC market. But all those people cheesed of will remember and just maybe look to other options (FireFox, Safari etc) so that eventually 'Big M' get the point! Democracy and the voice of the little people will always win through - so vote with your feet.

This leads me to a political point which I know is dangerous but it links to the theme of this blog - CHOICE. The government has just announced that they will spend £20bn (it will probably be much, much more) on upgrading our nuclear deterrant. This may be the right decision but it's such a big decision that shouldn't the customer (eg me and you) be more involved. No one has said to me 'Here is £20bn, we can spend it on our nuclear deterrant, we can spend it on education, we can spend it on sustainable energy research, we can spend it on better health, we can spend it on aid to the poor.' As the customer (a tax payer) where is my choice? I can not recall, when I voted last, that this was on anyone's policy agenda. To me there are some things, some choices that are so fundamental that WE should be asked. This is one of them. By not having the choice I believe we are all being treated with contempt. Politicians are saying to the 'little people' that you are not bright enough to make such a decision. This is poor marketing and poor politics. Respect for your customer (voter) is the platform for business and political survival.

Be Permeable

I loved an article called 'You're never too young to do business' by Kevin Steele published last week in the Sunday Observer. The basic theme of his article was that our education system 'too often strangles enterprise at birth'. He believes that many schools are closed communities that lack permeability to outside influences. This made me think about general business and the need to be open to new ideas and thoughts. I guess like teachers we all assume we know best. But what is best?

To test your businesses permeability to outside influence ask yourself the following questions;

1. Do I really listen and take time to understand what my customers are saying?

2. Do I make time to listen and interpret the global undercurrents and trends that will affect my business (a good starting point here is to have a look at a website called trendwatching.com ).

3. Do I give permission and encourage my people to take time out to see a  bigger world - do I encourage learning in its widest sense.

4. Do I create forums for people to have the opportunity to give ideas for how the business can change (this goes beyond a suggestion box hidden in a corner of an office some where).

5. Do I challenge my comfort zone and push myself to experience new activities and new emotions.

If you and your business can answer positively to most of these questions then you will reap the rewards of having a motivated, inspired and open-minded organisation that is an ever changing, dynamic and one step ahead of your competition.

BE PERMEABLE.

What's enough

Yesterday the Guardian produced a special supplement on corporate and social responsibility and I was astonished to see the headline that ' FTSE 100 giving drops to below 0.8%'. The top 100 companies listed on the LSE gave just 0.79% of pre-tax profits for financing their social and environmental responsibilities. This equates to a total expenditure on corporate responsibility for the FTSE 100 companies of £985.76m. To put this into perspective:

- According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), the value of bonuses paid to London's financial elite will rise 18% to £8.8bn.

- More than 4,000 City workers will take home £1m bonuses this year as the stock market has soared and takeover deals have surged.

- The average pay of the UK's top company bosses rose 43% last year - research by Incomes Data Services (IDS).

- The chief executives of the country's 100 largest listed companies earned an average of £2.9m in 2005-6, up sharply from £2m the previous year.

Looking at these figures I believe our biggest and most respected company's need to do more to address their social and environmental impact. After all being a 'Good Business' pays.

- 83% of people in the recent Ipsos Mori survey of attitudes to business behaviour said that a company’s social responsibility is an important consideration when they are purchasing a product or service.

The Favour Bank

I know its another story from Howies but I love what they say and how they say it. The passage below was taken from their latest catalogue. It reminded me about how everyday people help our business, with no money exchanging hands. It reminded me that we likewise do 'Favours'  for our clients and friends to help them grow even though it is sometimes unprofitable to do so. It makes me feel good that sometimes we give our creative time never expecting to get something back.

We recently helped a small crab company, not because we expected anything in return, but because the business belonged to friend of a friend and their ethical approach interested me. If anyone from an ethical business, that will do some environmental or social good, needs a helping hand then talk to us. Our Favour Bank has some time.

Howies views on the Favour Bank

When you start a business, the standard banks don't want to know you.Apart from one. It's called the favour bank. It's the alternative kind of bank. It doesn't have any money to lend. It doesn't have any branches. It doesn't want to make a profit from you. It has only one rule. The rule is that one day you have repay the favour, not in money or gifts. But in other ways. Like you returning the favour. You do something for person who did something for you. Simple, huh. But at the end of the day, nice. Or it could be simple as saying a thank you.

The favour bank accepts that kind of repayment. The favour bank is a favourite of lots and lots of small businesses. In the early days, you have to borrow from it. Quite heavily at times. Ours was no exception. In fact for a while we were one of the Favour Banks best customers.

You see, when we first started out we had no money. We asked illustrators, designers, and friends for lots of favours.We asked riders, photographers, ramp builders, magazine editors. In fact you name it, we got favours to help do it.They believed in us. They believed this little company wanted to do something. They wanted us to win. To the extent, even if we couldn't repay them one day, they still wanted to help us. They designed stuff, helped us in oh so many ways, because they wanted to help us build our brand