Unlocking Cool - By Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter.com

UNLOCKING COOL By Jeremy Gutsche Chief Trend Hunter, TrendHunter.com How to Inspire Innovation Potential & Infect Your Products With Cool TM

Web Entrepreneur since 1995

Management Consultant 2000-04

Director of Superprime / Head of Innovation @ Capital One Canada 2004-Current

Founder & Chief Trend Hunter TREND HUNTER .COM

Jeremy Gutsche, MBA, CFA Background: Who is this guy?

= Background: What is Trend Hunter?

400 Trends Per Week Editorial Review Background: How does Trend Hunter Work? 9000 Trend Hunters

WE REVIEW UP TO 1000 POSTS / MONTH HUNTING FOR COOL Background: Context for Cool

POPULAR IS NOT COOL COOL IS THE NEXT BIG THING WHAT IS COOL?

UNIQUE COOL IS WHAT IS COOL?

CUTTING EDGE COOL IS WHAT IS COOL?

VIRAL COOL IS (Because it’s viral , marketers and designers seek to attain it) WHAT IS COOL?

UNLOCKING COOL is the title of my in-progress book, which explores how methodical innovation can unlock cool Culture of Innovation Unlocking Cool Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg

Culture of Innovation - A culture of innovation is the requisite [foundation] catalyst to disruptive innovation Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg Culture of Innovation Unlocking Cool

CULTURE EATS STRATEGY FOR BREAKFAST Sign on wall of Ford’s Strategy War Room: Not sure if ford is cool… but the sign is! As after 4 yrs of Management Consultant, I agree

In short, these aren’t base requirements, these are areas where you must be revolutionary Culture of Innovation Jeremy Gutsche’s Four Dimensions of a Creative Culture Perspective Creativity Incentive Forced Failure

Perspective – A Starting Point Culture of Innovation Perspective

Perspective - Example

Guess the Company:

“ ______ has been turning creative ideas into breakthroughs for well over a century”

Invented grammar checkers

Invented built-in dictionaries (1985)

Invented the laptop word processor (1989)

Started building PDAs in (1994)

Any guesses?

Culture of Innovation Perspective

Perspective – Example (cont’d) Smith Corona! Culture of Innovation Perspective The best typewriter company in the world!

Perspective

Smith Corona wanted to win in the world of Typewriters.

They viewed the PC as rival technology

But they could have dominated PC word processing

Perspective The Point? SITUATIONAL FRAMING DICTATES YOUR OUTCOME Culture of Innovation Perspective

Perspective – Crisis can be good Culture of Innovation Wei-Ji Crisis = Opportunity Perspective

Perspective – Crisis Example

Personal Experience

Inherited Capital One Canada’s largest business when it started to fail

Goal = Decline by ONLY 20%

Declaration of crisis became a major opportunity

Allowed us to cut through red tape

Accelerated innovation

Forced us to ‘meet our customers’

We tripled monthly bookings by the end of the year

(Responsible) Failure Means You’re Innovating Culture of Innovation Forced Failure

Want this giant word on the top your performance report? Maybe you should. Culture of Innovation A DECENT PROPORTION OF YOUR INNOVATIONS MUST FAIL

Fail or Die Culture of Innovation IF YOU DON’T FAIL: YOU WILL BECOME THE BEST TYPEWRITER COMPANY IN THE WORLD

The Danger of Success Culture of Innovation SUCCESS COMPLACENCY

The Impact of Complacency Culture of Innovation COMPLACENCY WILL BE THE ARCHITECTURE OF YOUR DOWNFALL

Successful organizations innovate to optimize their position. It’s like finding the top of a hill Culture of Innovation © Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter.com

It is a large tradeoff for successful companies to make a big test, because failure is more likely Culture of Innovation © Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter.com

However, without making large innovations, it is impossible to find even LARGER hills Culture of Innovation © Jeremy Gutsche, TrendHunter.com

Creating opportunities to fail can result in breakthrough innovation Culture of Innovation Failure

BBC Programming

In the late 90s BBC created rigid budget controls

Innovation became narrow

Market share went down

New CEO and CFO created a ‘Gambling’ Fund

Ideas expected to fail could qualify this fund

One idea that won ‘gambling money’…

While it was funded from BBC’s gambling fund, the Office ended up being a smash hit Culture of Innovation

The Office

Biggest hit in BBC’s history

Failure

Incentive = Motivation = Success Culture of Innovation Incentive

Organizations reward individuals and groups based on the outcomes of their actions Decisions vs. Outcomes Culture of Innovation Incentive BAD GOOD BAD GOOD DECISIONS OUTCOMES REWARD PUNISH

If a person gets paid for making their numbers, there is no incentive to fail Culture of Innovation WHY BOTHER FAILING IN SOFTWARE WHEN I CAN MAKE A PROFITABLE NEW TYPE WRITER ?

Accordingly, rewarding decisions is particularly important in the world of innovation Decisions vs. Outcomes Culture of Innovation Incentive BAD GOOD BAD GOOD DECISIONS OUTCOMES REWARD PUNISH PUNISH REWARD

Rewarding decisions (not outcomes) can also enable a more innovation friendly environment Culture of Innovation WIN WIN LIKE YOU ARE USED TO IT LOSE LIKE YOU ENJOY IT Incentive

Exude Creativity Culture of Innovation Creativity

There are core elements of a creative culture that we all know (but forget to practice)

Creative Environment

Freedom

Fun

Broad involvement

(You know this, but implement it!)

Culture of Innovation Creativity

People mirror their leaders, so a senior leader with only ‘feasible’ ideas ruins idea generation Culture of Innovation Creativity SENIOR PEOPLE NEED TO BE CRAZY

Commitment to an idea limits creative potential. Share ‘half baked’ ideas and be willing to change Culture of Innovation Creativity NOTHING IS PRECIOUS

Trend Hunting – Innovation and strategic advantage hinge on the ability to anticipate trends and identify the next big thing Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg Culture of Innovation Unlocking Cool

Hunt For Cool Trend Hunting 3 DON’T ACCEPT SOMEONE ELSE’S MACRO-TRENDS (THEY AREN’T RELEVANT)

Trend Hunting – Seeking inspiration from innovation

Reset Your Expectations

Observe Your Customers

Hunt for Cool

Cluster Insights Into Trends

Develop a Point of View

1 2 3 4 5 Trend Hunting Trend Hunting

Reset Your Expectations Trend Hunting New Hires Managers Leaders AN OBSERVATION: Ask Questions Act With Confidence Ask Questions 1

Reset Your Expectations Trend Hunting AVOID YOUR BIAS 1

Reset Your Expectations Trend Hunting There’s no point innovating if you think you already know the answer. 1

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting

Designers

Entrepreneurs

Artists

Marketers

Strategists

In ALL industries, innovation starts by observing customers 2

CEO

Sr. Managers

Worker Bees

Newest Hires

All Levels

In ALL industries, even CEO needs to observe customers 2

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting Focus groups Surveys Interviews Interact with them Observe product use Watch the purchase Observe customers… … in their zone. 2

HEAD OF CADILAC DESIGN

Rides with Escalade-driving inner city customers in Detroit

CAPITAL ONE SENIOR EXECS

Answer customer service calls

CONTINENTAL’S CEO

Always flies economy

2

Needed to reinvent gas station stores

Hung out in a gas stations for 6 hours

But I already KNOW what people are like in a gas station… right?

Powerful insights were gathered only by observing

2 PERSONAL EXAMPLE: BP Oil & Gas

TEENAGE BOYS @ GAS STATIONS

Teenage boys ‘ group shop ’ at gas stations.

They get excited by energy drinks and snack food

They are price insensitive

2 PERSONAL EXAMPLE: BP Oil & Gas

Hunt For Cool Trend Hunting 3 GET INSPIRATION BY HUNTING FOR COOL web + your industry + fashion + design + marketing + pop culture @ trendhunter.com

Hunt For Cool (example: Hotel Industry) Trend Hunting 3 Dockside Crane Hotel Celebrity B&B (Tori Spelling) Portable Hotel Little Slim Inn (Rio) Prison Hotel Pipe Hotel Rolls Royce Hotel Extreme Hotel (climb it!) Coffin Hotel Luxury Blimp Hotel Cave Hotel Underwater Hotel

Hunt For Cool (example: Hotel Industry) Trend Hunting 3 In Room Chef Pet Spas Artist Designed Rooms In Room Massage Pre Cooked Gourmet Meals Graffiti Architecture Beer Spas Wine Spas RainSky Showers Bubble Architecture Pro. Run Sleepover Parties Glowing Bath Tubs

Hunt For Cool (example: Outside Hotels) Trend Hunting 3 Art Venting Machines Fighting Robots Naughty Video Games Helmets For Your Dog NYC Garbage (As Art) Skateboard Park in Museum Urinals for Dogs Urinals with Video Games Botox Parties Orthodox Jewish Barbie Muslim Barbie Barbie Cosmetics

Hunt For Cool (example: Ad Mediums) Trend Hunting 3 Eggvertising Fake Prostitutes Video Game Advertising Assvertising Escalator Advertising PETA’s Pretending to Kill Ppl Scentvertising Ads in College Notebook Bagvertising TV Headvertising Cowvertising Sheepvertising

Cluster Into Trends Next, cluster customer insights and cool Trend Hunting 4

Trend Hunting 4 Cluster Into Trends Certain trends will become apparent

Trend Hunting 4 Cluster Into Trends Hotel Industry Examples In Room Chef In Room Massage Rolls Royce Hotel Luxury Blimp Hotel Ultra Luxury Sensationalism Skateboard Park in Museum Beer Spas Pipe Hotel Coffin Hotel

The Patterns of Cool Luxitization Shock Style over Substance Old is the New New Fame Beats Fortune Cool Comes From the Fringe Reality Personalization Antithesis Temptation Sexification Pride Trend Hunting 4 Cluster Into Trends Pick relevant names for your trends

Trend Hunting 4 The human mind has an amazing ability to recognize patterns by creating shortcuts. This is bad. Cluster Into Trends Be careful…

Cluster Into Trends It’s easy to see what you already expected… Trend Hunting 4 You knew these (look harder) X X In Room Chef In Room Massage Rolls Royce Hotel Luxury Blimp Hotel Ultra Luxury Sensationalism Skateboard Park in Museum Beer Spas Pipe Hotel Coffin Hotel

Trend Hunting 4 Force yourself to RE-CLUSTER your trends That’s how you unlock insight . Cluster Into Trends Re-cluster, re-cluster, re-cluster!

Trend Hunting 4 Cluster Into Trends – RE-Cluster! It can be difficult, but new trends will emerge

Trend Hunting 4 Cluster Into Trends – RE-Cluster! Hotel Example – ‘In room’ was less apparent In Room Chef Pre Cooked Gourmet Meals In Room Massage In Room Luxury

Develop a Point of View Identify how to act upon your new trend… Trend Hunting 5 “ We will transform the industry with unparalleled in-room luxuries ” In Room Chef Pre Cooked Gourmet Meals In Room Massage In Room Luxury

Power Innovation – Adding ‘some’ structure to your innovation process will enhance results Power Innovation Unlocking Cool Culture of Innovation Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg

Starting with your new point of view, develop a methodical staged innovation process Power Innovation Power Innovation (2 Minute Version) Trend Hunting Infect Cool Ideate Rapid Proto-typing Rank Market Survey Refine Market Testing Power Innovation Trend Hunting Infect Cool 100 35 20 12 6 4 “ We will transform the industry with unparalleled in-room luxuries ”

Stage Gate Innovation can be powerful because it levels the playing field and forces innovation Power Innovation Power Innovation (2 Minute Version)

Levels the playing field

Forces innovation (cultural benefit)

Organizationally specific

Trend Hunting Infect Cool Ideate Rapid Proto-typing Rank Market Survey Refine Market Testing 100 35 20 12 6 4

Infectious Marketing – How you pitch an already cool idea will dictate its success or failure Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg Culture of Innovation Unlocking Cool

VIRAL WHAT YOU REALLY WANT IS TO BE The goal is to be VIRAL, which can be very different from typical branding Infectious Mktg

Infecting the Blogosphere INFECT THE BLOGOSPHERE Case Study – The Half Suit Infectious Mktg

Infectious Mktg Fashion Police Nerd Approved When one of our Trend Hunters posted The Half Suit, 175 Sites Linked to Trend Hunter post

Infectious Mktg Fashion Police Nerd Approved 1800 sites linked to the 175 sites that linked to Trend Hunter

Six months later, the Half Suit has received massive exposure (for free) Infectious Mktg 6 Months Later = 13,800 Sites Exposure = ~ 35 Million Top 15 ~13,800

VIRAL? MY PRODUCT ROCKS! HOW DO I MAKE IT How do I do it? Infectious Mktg

RULE #1

RELENTLESSLY

OBSESS

ABOUT

YOUR

STORY

RULE #1: RELENTLESSLY OBSESS ABOUT YOUR STORY

Story Obsession – a Check List

SIMPLE

“ Supercharge Word of Mouth” - Seth

DIRECT

“ I understand everything from the title”

INNOVATIVE

The ‘I-Have-to-Tell-Someone’ test.

1 2 3 Infectious Mktg Story Obsession

Story Obsession – Example 1 Good Viral World’s Most Expensive Hamburger $5,000 Hamburger

Story Obsession – Example 2 Good Viral Toys From the Toilet Pee & Poo Dolls

Story Obsession – Example 3 Good Viral Balaclava Hoodie Terror Fashion

Culture of Innovation Unlocking Cool BY METHODICALLY APPROACHING INNOVATION , YOU CAN GENERATE IDEAS , STIMULATE CREATIVITY , & ULTIMATELY UNLOCK COOL Trend Hunting Power Innovation Infectious Mktg

Want more? OVER 5000 TRENDS Trend Hunter .com Thank You! TREND HUNTER .com/FEEDBACK