The Wrap #17 | The world isn’t boring… yet.
The Wrap #17 | The world isn’t boring… yet.
A shot of thinking fuel, brought to you each month by Futurestate Design Co.
Innovation is not a game.
It can be fun, it has to be creative and it should veer towards the ‘out there’, but it should never be taken lightly.
If you innovate for the sake of it, you’ll create more problems than you solve – it’s the innovation-equivalent of the butterfly effect. And if you are truly innovating, then you’ll know it’s not just about those sparks of inspiration. Innovation often involves intensive deep-dives into processes, systems and strategies.
Lots of research. New ideas collaborating with, or replacing, current thinking. Communication. And, yes, some due diligence.
It’s tough, but it’s worth it. And we’re back, refreshed, to help you through it, even if it’s just to share some of the things that have got us thinking.
Queuing up for the waccy vaccy
What’s going on?
Covid vaccinations have quadrupled in Quebec, since Canada has implemented the rule that if you want to enter liquor or marijuana stores you need to show your vaccine passport.
Why it matters
A hefty behavioural nudge, this, and we definitely aren’t suggesting you incentivise your customers with the hard stuff (well, maybe sometimes). But notice how, when sales tactics don’t work (i.e. outlining the benefits of the vaccines), Canada has adopted a successful heuristic: that the appetite for alcohol and marijuana outweighs the reasons not to get the vaccine (whether that’s due to indifference or being starkly opposed).
Don’t only think of the pain points and benefits of your products. Consider the relativity of each. Think about what customers want more than your product. What do they want less? It could help your marketeers with their storytelling, and it could unearth fresh concepts for your business, even altering your core value proposition. Maybe you’ll stop competing with your peers to be the best in obvious ways, and instead become the best in the ways that really matter to your customer.
Read on at CTV News
Don’t leave it up to Alexa to do all the thinking
What’s going on?
Not only are we happy to hear from Amazon that Alexa’s become ‘more trustworthy’ but we’re also interested to learn about their ‘ambient intelligence’ system, making at-home smart tech an all-round better experience.
Why it matters
We’ve got a keen eye on this thread of innovation, advancing the way we interact with the internet and internet of things. Pros and cons, of course, and it’ll be interesting to see how these changes affect the Amazon share price. Amazon knows that Alexa needs to become more integral to people’s lives and that a purely reactive Alexa just won’t cut it.
It’s easy for a company as forward thinking as Amazon to recognise this, though: innovation is a baked-in behaviour. The lesson? Always ask “what’s next?” Never rest on the laurels of yesterday’s successes.
Read the original on Amazon Science
Supply chain restaurants
What’s going on?
Eater.com explores innovations around dark kitchens, which give you access to your favourite restaurants’ meals whenever you want them, even though you don’t, in fact, live in Soho.
Why it matters
This article explores the ideas of dark kitchens, challenging the hype, but we think that — assuming they can overcome a similar range of issues to Uber in terms of employee fairness (additionally being reliant on gig economy-type delivery firms to get the food to the customer) — then dark kitchens are a good example of how supply chain and customer servicing can be approached in new ways.
The supply chain is going to be one of the hot topics of 2022, not only in dining but across the business world.
Read the original on Eater