Mutual Social Responsibility

We are now entering a new era of Mutual Social Responsibility, in which consumers (or 'people') contribute partners with businesses, as well as governments and NGOs, to deliver their sustainability aims.

See for example: this blog

Samsung Mobile Travel centres, US airports

While at Dallas Fort Worth airport I noticed Samsung's Mobile Travel Centres. These very from a complete room to a charging station. They also have some in a few other US airports.

More info: http://cellular-news.com/story/30898.php

P&G's Charmin toilets, Times Square, NYC

In Dec 2009 the fourth consecutive year, Procter & Gamble has brought Charmin-branded public bathrooms back to New York's Times Square for the holiday season.

Source: DM News article.

LG Wash Bar, Paris

Do your washing for free while also trying out other LG products!

Source and lots more examples of branded spaces: http://trendwatching.com/trends/brand-spaces.htm

IKEA Sleep Hotel (Sovhotell)

An IKEA in a downtown shopping centre in Stockholm was offering tired shoppers a 15 minute snooze at the Sovhotell (Sleep Hotel). Guests were given special pillows to suit their sleeping style along with sleeping masks and headphones, all set against a soothing faux landscape.
The inspiration for the Sovhotell came when IKEA noticed some of the shoppers taking quick naps in the bedroom section of their stores. IKEA is providing single, double and even a bridal suite in its offering.

Source: http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ikea-sovhotell-a-place-to-sleep

Starbucks' selling music - an accidental innovation

From a 2004 article in Fortune:

As crazy as it sounds, music has become one of Starbucks' zingiest brand extensions. [But it happened more or less by accident.] Music at Starbucks began when a store manager named Timothy Jones made tapes for his store, which proved so popular that the company licensed compilations for sale. "I had to get talked into this one," says Schultz. "But then I began to understand that our customers looked to Starbucks as a kind of editor. It was like, 'We trust you. Help us choose.'" In 1999, Schultz bought Hear Music of Cambridge, Mass., run by Don MacKinnon, who was putting together albums of cool music, both old and new, that wasn't getting played on the radio. Since then Hear has released about 100 albums and sold about five million CDs, including the Artist Choice series, in which performers like the Rolling Stones and Ray Charles pick their favorite tracks by other artists.

Source: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/01/26/358850/index.htm

Five Disruptive Customer Experience Strategies

Interesting blog post from Bruce Temkin at Forrester. 5 ways to differentiate your brand through customer experience:

1. Ultrasimplicity: stripping away features to better meet the needs of customers. [examples: ING Direct and JetBlue]
2. Online infusion: integrating online features into core offerings. [examples: Netflix and Disney Mobile]
3. Service infusion: integrating service features into core offerings. [examples: iPod/iTunes and Panasonic Plasma Concierge program]
4. Service amplification: investing in distinctly high levels of service. [examples: Mandarin Oriental hotels and The Container Store]
5. Value repositioning: offering a radically different value proposition. [examples: Starbucks and Umpqua Bank]

See full article and comments for more info and examples: http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/five-disruptive-customer-experience-strategies/

C's Best Expression

My friend C has some wonderful catchphrases that, more than anyone else I've ever come across, summarise her personality and worldview.

A sample:

- "Off the hook" (surpassing expectations)

- "Superchill"

- "Supersmart"

- "Supersolid" (a dependable person of good judgement)

- "I'm a yes" (I am open-minded and non-judgemental; I am open to new experiences)

- "Bring it"

- He/she has "got skills"

- "Awesome"

- "Right on" (often used to show support of anothers' position or actions)

- Edgy

- Into that

A few more suggestion from C herself:

- On point

- What's your damage?

- "Tight situation"; as in: 'Eating at that Indian restaurant Rasa was a tight situation' or 'That girl's dress is a tasty situation'

- Rock it, bite it, suck it,

- Drop into it

- Radical maneuver...

Car Accident iPhone App

Innovative US insurer Nationwide now has an iPhone app available whether you are a customer or not.

It talks you through what to do after an accident, from calling emergency services to taking photos.

More here.

Problems with Future Predictions

Future trend predictions are rarely accurate because, according to the Wall Street Journal:

1. Present trends almost never continue. Straight-line extrapolation, perhaps the most common form of prediction, may also be the worst method. Extrapolations have variously foretold the end of all oil supplies etc. In reality, trends almost always generate their own countertrends. Societies are unbelievably adept at adapting. People are incredibly good at learning. And everything changes, including rates of change.
2. Every prediction suffers from situational bias, i.e. predictions are influenced by the time period in which they are made. The futurists of the 1950s could easily imagine astronauts working on the moon, but not their own wives working outside the home.
3. We are influenced by commercial and politics interests. Those who came closest to the mark about the year 2000 were detached professional futurists.
4. The future begins in the present. It is not a detached leap.

But however outlandish, fallacious and inaccurate the exercise, predicting the future widens our horizons and deepens our capacity to imagine.

Source: Adapted from Wall Street Journal, http://interactive.wsj.com/millennium/articles/SB944516725378711715.htm