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

<ul><li>Web Entrepreneur since 1995 </li></ul><ul><li>Management
Consultant 2000-04 </li></ul><ul><li>Director of Superprime / Head of Innovation @ Capital One Canada 2004-Current </li></ul><ul><li>Founder & Chief Trend Hunter TREND HUNTER .COM </li></ul>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 <ul><li>Guess the
Company: </li></ul><ul><li>“ ______ has been turning creative ideas into breakthroughs for well over a century” </li></ul><ul><li>Invented grammar checkers </li></ul><ul><li>Invented built-in dictionaries (1985) </li></ul><ul><li>Invented the laptop word processor (1989) </li></ul><ul><li>Started building PDAs in (1994) </li></ul><ul><li>Any guesses? </li></ul>Culture of Innovation Perspective

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

Perspective <ul><li>Smith Corona wanted to
win in the world of Typewriters. </li></ul><ul><li>They viewed the PC as rival technology </li></ul><ul><li>But they could have dominated PC word processing </li></ul>Culture of Innovation Perspective

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 <ul><li>Personal
Experience </li></ul><ul><li>Inherited Capital One Canada’s largest business when it started to fail </li></ul><ul><li>Goal = Decline by ONLY 20% </li></ul><ul><li>Declaration of crisis became a major opportunity </li></ul><ul><li>Allowed us to cut through red tape </li></ul><ul><li>Accelerated innovation </li></ul><ul><li>Forced us to ‘meet our customers’ </li></ul><ul><li>We tripled monthly bookings by the end of the year </li></ul>Culture of Innovation Perspective

(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 <ul><li>BBC Programming </li></ul><ul><li>In the late 90s BBC created rigid budget controls </li></ul><ul><li>Innovation became narrow </li></ul><ul><li>Market share went down </li></ul><ul><li>New CEO and CFO created a ‘Gambling’ Fund </li></ul><ul><li>Ideas expected to fail could qualify this fund </li></ul><ul><li>One idea that won ‘gambling money’… </li></ul>

While it was funded from
BBC’s gambling fund, the Office ended up being a smash hit Culture of Innovation <ul><li>The Office </li></ul><ul><li>Biggest hit in BBC’s history </li></ul>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) <ul><li>Creative Environment </li></ul><ul><li>Freedom </li></ul><ul><li>Fun </li></ul><ul><li>Broad involvement </li></ul><ul><li>(You know this, but implement it!) </li></ul>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 <ul><li>Reset Your Expectations </li></ul><ul><li>Observe Your Customers </li></ul><ul><li>Hunt for Cool </li></ul><ul><li>Cluster Insights Into Trends </li></ul><ul><li>Develop a Point of View </li></ul>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
<ul><li>Designers </li></ul><ul><li>Entrepreneurs </li></ul><ul><li>Artists </li></ul><ul><li>Marketers </li></ul><ul><li>Strategists </li></ul>In ALL industries, innovation starts by observing customers 2

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting
<ul><li>CEO </li></ul><ul><li>Sr. Managers </li></ul><ul><li>Worker Bees </li></ul><ul><li>Newest Hires </li></ul><ul><li>All Levels </li></ul>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

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting
<ul><li>HEAD OF CADILAC DESIGN </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Rides with Escalade-driving inner city customers in Detroit </li></ul></ul><ul><li>CAPITAL ONE SENIOR EXECS </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Answer customer service calls </li></ul></ul><ul><li>CONTINENTAL’S CEO </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Always flies economy </li></ul></ul>2

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting
<ul><li>Needed to reinvent gas station stores </li></ul><ul><li>Hung out in a gas stations for 6 hours </li></ul><ul><li>But I already KNOW what people are like in a gas station… right? </li></ul><ul><li>Powerful insights were gathered only by observing </li></ul>2 PERSONAL EXAMPLE: BP Oil & Gas

Observe Your Customers Trend Hunting
<ul><li>TEENAGE BOYS @ GAS STATIONS </li></ul><ul><li>Teenage boys ‘ group shop ’ at gas stations. </li></ul><ul><li>They get excited by energy drinks and snack food </li></ul><ul><li>They are price insensitive </li></ul>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) <ul><li>Levels the playing field </li></ul><ul><li>Forces innovation (cultural benefit) </li></ul><ul><li>Organizationally specific </li></ul>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 <ul><li>SIMPLE </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ Supercharge Word of Mouth” - Seth </li></ul></ul><ul><li>DIRECT </li></ul><ul><ul><li>“ I understand everything from the title” </li></ul></ul><ul><li>INNOVATIVE </li></ul><ul><ul><li>The ‘I-Have-to-Tell-Someone’ test. </li></ul></ul>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