Packaging Innovation

After another holiday period and birthday season, I have to say that Fisher Price wins the award for innovative packaging!  I really found this to be a major breakthrough from a consumer (parental) experience stand point.

They have eliminated:

• the unruly clam shells that require super sharp scissors to cut and then you fear of slicing your finger with the sharp edges
• the plastic ties that also require super sharp scissors and are on so tight that you feel like you are going to gauge the product

And they replaced it with some really user friendly features that required no “tools” other than your fingers:

• Perforated cardboard so you can simply lift up a specific section where the product is tied in
• They used recycled paper and made it into a string to attach the product to the package
• They simply tied it in with a simple knot so that you only pulled one side and it untied

I hope that this cost less (either operationally or materials or in less return costs) versus the traditional packaging because its clearly a consumer preferred solution and should become a packaging standard!

Fisher Price designed with the highest design standard:  be able to open the package with only your fingers.  No tools required.  I give this one an A+.

Thank you, Fisher Price!

How to be more social

I’ve recently had numerous conversations with others about making apps and business models more social. Here are a few ideas and examples:

1) forced or inherently social: word with friends is a great example. The game requires you play against someone so the product (or in this case the game) is inherently social. Pretty simple. Sometimes, though, people try to make something social when it’s not e.g I don’t talk about my razor or shaving because no one else cares!

2) content creation drives sharing: sharing isn’t quite social but it potentially facilitates a social interaction. Facebook and Instagram are great examples.  You share content in an effort to inform, educate, engage, and interact with others.  Those that produce (in most cases) do it because they are looking for engagement, back & forth, and social interaction from others.

3) social engagement leads to personalization: If you like to read, you should check out goodreads.com. It takes the amazon.com “if you liked this, others like …” to the next level by making your social network have a bigger influence (vs. the broad crowd) on what’s recommended.  Its pretty addictive when you first get started especially if you have opinions about a typical genre of books.

4) community drives accountability: Weight Watchers online and offline use social pressure (and encouragement) to provide a person value … In this case help with weight management. Not a new idea but hard to execute well.

I’m sure there are more examples. What do others think?

Sonny

Power of Words: social and language innovation

Ted.com has many inspirational and educational videos.  I wish I could systematically tap into this at the right place, right time, and right situation …

Here’s one that is worth the time if you are interested in learning about:

1) how babies learn words and how language around them changes to facilitate this learning

2) how to visualize complex data in highly interesting ways

3) why social media and TV are creating a powerful loop of content creation, listening, and influence

Here is the link:  http://www.ted.com/talks/deb_roy_the_birth_of_a_word.html

Sonny

Parking innovation

Here’s a great example of how mobile (and eventually Near Field Communication or NFC within your phone) is helping traditional business models — parking meters — become more innovative in our daily lives.  I was happy to pay the “processing fee” so that I didn’t have to bring 12 quarters with me.  I was also delighted from the text message I got telling me that the meter was about to run out and that I could re-up with a few simple taps.

Have you seen any innovation that has made a daily task from dreadful to delightful?

Costco – innovative business model

There is a lot written about Costco and their innovative business model within the retail space which I can’t possibly replicate.

But the numbers are staggering.  In fiscal year 2012, they had $97B in sales and had net income of $1.7B (just under 2%).  All of their profits come from the membership fees of which they collected $2.1B.  It works because their products are so well priced; they only have a 10% gross margin on the merchandise that they buy.

It seems to work well.  For the past three months, I have averaged $130 per trip.  I knew I couldn’t get out of there without spending $100.

What other innovative business models have you seen?

How much do you tip?

This “simple” innovation for servers, cab drivers, etc. is grounded in behavioral economics. When presented with three options you typically go with the middle option. If given two options, you would likely choose the lower option. This simple innovation has definitely influenced my behavior. How about you?

Hurricane Sandy … Innovation opportunity??!!

For those on the East Coast, stay safe!

So I’m not sure how to read this from the WSJ.  Here are a few possible interpretations:

• Being nice:  Huge storm.  Information needs to get out.  Let’s make sure everyone has an opportunity.
• Being opportunistic:  Huge storm.  Information needs to get out.  If folks get a taste of how good WSJ.com is maybe they will sign up.
• Operational ease:  Huge storm.  Our employees have things to worry about so not as much information will go out as normal.  We don’t want to deal with the customer service head aches.

Hopefully the motivation is the first and the goodwill will help on points two and three.  Regardless, we hope that everyone stays safe!