…or the social tiles that Pinterest, The Fancy, and Lockerz has made ubiquitous?

Either way, good timing to deploy Windows 8 for desktop and Surface. The user experience is dramatically different from past Windows versions so the proliferation of tile experiences online could actually help .desktop and Surface adoption. And cast a continued innovative, “disruptive” patina on Windows 8 mobile.

So are tiles the new feed? Possibly. There’s a fire hose of content flowing and a feed pushes it to you with some controls via an algorithm. Tiles provide a curated, organized front-end. Perhaps a better experience over all.

It will be fun to watch this play out…

As inspired as I get, I’m always left with…well how do I bring that form of innovation to my job? We tend not to think about operationalizing or adapting our process to create an environment the produces – is held accountable for – innovation.

I have found inspiration of a different kind – in helping create this process. A few months back, I wrote about a frame work from a Harvard Business Review article.

Here’s a new one from last week that feels even more attainable from Max Nisen at Business Insider detailing how Apple, Samsung, and Google approach innovation.

I can apply these three examples to my job:

• Know thy customer (Apple): dig through the target insights and connect the dots for a brand to help deliver a solution.
• Fast Follow (Samsung): we’ve seen that often we’re ahead of ourselves with digital ideas. If we look back to big ideas that went no where before, perhaps now we have the scale, adoption, greater insight to tweak them forward.
• Prototyping (Google): we don’t think in terms of prototyping in marketing. We should. Mock-up blue sky thinking so you can see how it looks, what we’re asking the customer to do, etc. Seeing the idea “in situation” makes all the difference. Even if they don’t make sense to move forward with, save them to revisit under Fast Follow.

Would love thoughts on this and builds!

Happy Monday

Welcome to the Next-Gen Control Room

We have all the necessary data, tools, and people to make this happen; it just requires making the commitment. There are three key strategies for the Next-Gen Control room list below using ABC’s Don’t Trust The B—- in Apt 23 as a guide.

1. Assign macro (e.g. situation comedy) and micro (e.g. new character introduction) attributes to all content

2. Collect social engagement and chatter associated with content attributes

3. Sync content attributes, social engagement and chatter, and audience archetypes through programming algorithm

The programming algorithm output provides direction on digital platform content slate programming and how best to promote tune-in through broadcast promotions.

Create new tune-in moments and habits for digital platforms by knowing what derivative content to produce. Also drive tune-in back to the broadcast platform by aligning the right promotion.

Naturally increased tune-in and consumption of digital platforms lead to greater advertising revenue. Not just from increased reach; there will be new opportunities for targeting and creativity:

• Know the best type and form of marketing message based on insights of content attributes archetype engages
• Help guide brand integrations into specific content attributes
• Know moments of greatest receptivity by media platform
• Message sequence across all media platforms

Clearly the Next-Gen Control Room also orchestrates advertising. I’ll share more thoughts on this side next week. Thanks for reading!

Fancy is a Pinterest competitor that has already cracked the code on interest-based social commerce; they launched commerce in February 2012 as detailed in this TechCrunch story.

They’ve created a platform where any merchant (once registering) can come in and claim an image if they have that or a similar product to sell. Travel companies can even claim a travel related image to drive bookings.

A unique aspect for users is that we can earn credits and unlock deals by referring potential customers by sharing images on blogs or social channels. Here’s an example of the “iRetrophone”:

I joined this weekend and have been Fancying things left and right. To me it’s like Design Within Reach, hive modern, Dwell, and MOMA all rolled into one on a modern, intuitive interface. The experience is as modern as the products. Here’s a link to my catalog.

Enter Apple

Apple has over 400mm consumers with credit cards on file currently buying music, movies, apps, etc. You have to think they have plans or aspirations to expand the iTunes beyond, well, tunes. This could be an intriguing, uniquely Apple approach to commerce.

I’ll be watching – and spending money on such things as the Illesteva Murdoch Retro Sunglasses - how this plays out.

Have a great week.

So for this Friday’s From-To; I give you a largely positive NY Times review of the book from April…

…to a dubious, funny the Onion story today.

While disappointing to learn of the fabrication – and with lingering questions about what else could have been fabricated – Imagine is till an inspiring read. America loves a good comeback and I’m still a Jonah fan.

I came across this TechCrunch piece on the launch of The Pool; think of it as a more curated and automated form of Google+ circles. I was intrigued so asked for an invite, which was extended last night.

So here are the steps I went through:

What’s interesting is you can make this about dating or just connecting with people who share your interests. My profile was created by pulling key points from Facebook.

You get matched with someone each day and have 12 hours to reach-out.

I’ll report back how it goes after a week; either way love that this is interest-based vs. social.

Came across this article in my new favorite magazine (yes the actual paper version!) Metropolis; they asked Jonah Lehrer what would be the perfect workplace environment based on his book Imagine.

I’ll add this to my list of takeways after reading the book; definitely worth reading what he has to say. My favorite quote “The first thing that they should take into account is that architecture has cognitive consequences, that something as incidental as the color of paint on the walls can dramatically influence the way we think.”

Lehrer mentioned the original Eames office in Venice CA as inspiring; here’s a picture and link to more of a scale model.

I think I’m going to redo my home office…

That’s why I was excited when Change By Design by IDEO’s CEO Tim Brown was released in late 2009. It only took me three years to get around to reading it but it was well worth the wait. Brown created a “mind map” of the book to serve as a visual table of contents:

Brown’s book details the philosophy of how IDEO works and is full of fascinating case studies from actual clients. He begins by detailing that we don’t need to be trained designers to think like one; it’s about human-centered thinking fusing together emotion and function. You don’t need to know how to construct furniture to get to an idea that’s rich with innovation to serve the “sitter” in new ways.

This sounds good in theory right? Brown shows it’s more than theory by identifying three clear “spaces” as he calls them: inspiration, ideation, and implementation. Inspiration is the problem or challenge that we’re trying to solve; ideation “generates, develops, and tests” ideas; and implementation details how to get the idea to market. We all know and appreciate the first two, it’s the getting ideas to market part that we sometimes struggle. Brown shows how to better ensure this happens by stressing the important of prototyping and testing early.

Client case studies include Shimano, TSA, Kaiser Permanente, Cleveland Clinic, and Oral-B; he also details projects for social good like vision care in India, energy conservation in Japan, and farming support in developing countries.

Three things that I’m taking away from the book:

• Convergent and Divergent Thinking: Brown highlights that the way we ideate is much like a funnel, or as he calls it convergent thinking. When tasked with solving a problem, we rely on the tried and true choices of solving the problem. We go right to brainstorming ideas and then focus on taking 2-3 forward (the end of the funnel). His philosophy is to take a step back and start with divergent thinking about the problem; what are 2-3 new ways – or “choices” as he calls them – to solve the problem? Things you haven’t considered before and wouldn’t if you followed convergent thinking. Once you have 2-3 new choices diverge out from there (upside down funnel) to create new ideas; only then do you converge (see illustration below). What struck me is that we think we’re being innovative by creating new ideas from the tried and true solutions to problem; true innovation isn’t creating a new idea off of how we’ve always solved the problem. True innovation comes from creating new solutions, ways, or choices.

• Power of prototyping: Building prototypes in the design world is an essential process that tests the viability of ideas; Brown advocates rapid prototyping from the start as a way to quickly decide where to go next. Assume prototyping comes in at the intersection of divergent and convergent thinking. So as marketers, prototypes are most commonly used to show how creative (i.e. direct mail piece), user experience (i.e. usability testing), or technology (i.e. rich media) will come to life in market. We don’t necessarily think of prototypes when we’re creating strategies or plans; I’m thinking up ways to rapidly test a strategy before moving on to tactics.

• “Ways to Grow” Matrix: Brown shared a matrix (see below) that his IDEO colleagues Diego Rodriquez and Ryan Jacoby created to use in managing a portfolio of innovation. This was my favorite process oriented takeaway from Change by Design. It provides a strong foundation and “ways of working” with accountability and structure around innovation. I’ve already started to incorporate this into client work to ensure incremental innovation in every engagement; evolutionary innovation semi-annually, and revolutionary annually.

I highly recommend reading this book; it has really inspired me and provided immediate tools to deliver innovation.

My next read is Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. Belsky essentially brings to life Thomas Edison’s famous quote “genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” by showing best practices for getting ideas produced. You can view my past “book reports” here.

Note the spike beginning at 10p; engagement at 3a is greater than any time between 9a-5p!

Dietrich also looks at a new study out from YesMail, which  looks at time-of-day response and engagement for retail through email marketing.

Me thinks we need to employ a graveyard shift of community managers to take advantage of how we’re actually consuming social.

To read about what they’ve created (oh and I ordered one) is truly inspiring. It shows how design can innovate the most mundane, utilitarian products.

It also reminded me of another inspiring innovation by Target a few years ago:

That’s right – an innovative redesign to a 500+ year old container of medicine.

So if Nest and Target can do it, what mundane, everyday thing can we as marketers innovate? Give that some thought on your Monday commute home!