Opportunity amidst underperformers

ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

"Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful."—Warren Buffett

I guess the quote by the great man says it all. Mtv & Ipod, both were born during recessions. What is it that make some people view a difficult situation as an opportunity while to others it’s a dead end. We all have heard of the glass half full & half empty expression signifying optimism to some while others being pessimist by it.

So where am I heading:

Check this out. If you look at it, the general tendency of most business channels, newspapers, magazines is to discuss sectors & companies which are growing & promise to offer better returns. In short, such sectors/ companies offer returns which can be reaped.

Hang on…. but what about the companies which are in declining sectors & are being looked as unattractive. Do they offer any opportunity.

Let s take an example of Circus Du Soleil. In a time when the circus industry was being looked as an unattractive industry with a wide variety of alternative entertainment options (TV, playstation, multiplexes) available, Circus Du Soleil re-wrote the rules of the game. Inshort it made circus cool again.

So whats the point.

I think Industries/sectors/companies which are not performing well or are being written off offer a greater incentive & opportunity to Innovate & re write the rules. I think the problem is not that people don’t need goods & services of companies which are not doing well but in most case it’s the conflict in the alignment of whats the company is offering & what people wants. Through Integrative & Design thinking one can relook the value that is being desired & what the company can offer & thus think of models which satisfy human needs &rewrite the rules.

Thanks

Neeraj

PhotoSource: http://www.corbisimages.com/Enlargement/Enlargement.aspx?id=42-20908001&caller=search

Cultures

Hi everybody

Writing in after a long time..........

So what i have been upto.......

Well been to my hometown in Delhi. Its been around 4 years since I have been staying away (Mumbai & Pune) from my hometown. In past couple of years, I have had the privilege to experience different cultures of these two cities (Mumbai & Pune) which I find are quite distinct as compared to Delhi.

Immediately after landing on Delhi airport, I felt a change in culture. Although it wasn't alien to me as Delhi is my hometown, but somehow I felt certain change in the environment, sounds, behavior.

I started thinking about culture & began to ponder over questions like

- What constitutes a culture of a city/company.

- Can we define culture of a city/company.

- Is it possible to recreate the culture of the city/company.

Although I am still finding answers to the above, but I truly believe that culture of a company/city play an important role in deciding its success. While on a visit to Toyota's factory in Japan, I noticed their culture embracing user centricity & continuous improvement. One of the senior manager of Mattel once told me that it is culture that differentiates the good & great companies.

But how cultures are created & for that matter what constitutes a culture.

I think culture of city/company originates from a Purpose. Some call it vision but i think its the purpose which clearly shapes the culture of the company/city.

A company whose purpose will be to Innovate & bring new products/services will have a very different culture from the one focused on efficiency.

I guess HR managers pay a lot of attention in developing & harnessing a culture of their company which is aligned to their company's purpose.

But can we analyse a culture of a city/company.

Ethnographic research provide excellent tools for analyzing culture of a city/company & determining whether it is aligned to the purpose.

Some of the areas in which I think one would want to analyze a culture :

- Post merger/acquisition inorder to align cultures of two companies

- Company undertaking a new vision

- City, wanting to bring social change & improve image

I think culture is an important aspect of city/company & the right culture can channelize the energies of people to fulfill the higher purpose.

Got this ad of HSBC describing importance of understanding different cultures. Check it out.

Thanks

Neeraj

Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK_NinOmFWw

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rzs/1452117214/

Competing in Commoditized Market- Learnings from Indian Fruit & Vegetable Market

ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Hi Everybody

Recently couple of my friends & I visited the local fruits & vegetable market (picture above).

One of the Interesting thing I noted there was that the fruits & vegetable market (pic above) somewhat reflected the same condition prevalent in any other sector (Aviation, Retail etc) with many sellers selling homogenous products which are commoditized. Now of course the scenario of a Perfect Competition in the fruits & vegetable market is slightly more as compared to being present in other sectors due to advertising & branding efforts being used in other sectors to differentiate.

But this got me thinking..............

If you look at it, as a customer when I visit to the fruits & vegetable market, I am not dedicated to one vendor (as there are many sellers & everybody is selling the same thing). Since there are many vendor, as a buyer I can negotiate the price to a very large extent. I look for quality, but almost all sellers have quality fruits & vegetables.

Then the big question is:

How does vendors in the fruits & vegetable market differentiate themselves (remember everybody is selling the same thing with no branding/packaging)

I spent couple of hours trying to understand how do these vendors differentiate themselves & attract customers.

Here are some of the observations:

Being Different ('stall design')- As people passed from one fruit stall to another, I noticed that they tend to stop at stalls which were designed differently from others. It may be product placement/ certain items being kept. Notice in the below picture a stall is designed using decorative bulbs & shiny disco balls!!!. Notice how the products are cut & displayed.

At Vendor's cost- Haggling is a way of life in India. I guess in India we tend to be satisfied when we have gained something at vendor's cost. I think vendors understand this & they are pretty smart at it.....so instead of keeping a fixed price policy, they offer high prices & let the buyer negotiate. After some hard bargaining they finally sell items generating a profit at the same time providing a feeling to the buyer of having gained something at vendor's cost.

Reflecting Freshness- People look for freshness & quality when buying fruits & vegetables. In order to ensure the items on display reflect these, the vendors sprinkled water on them to generate a feeling of freshness. Water also ensured removal of dust from the items.

Generating a feeling of limited time availability- I get a feeling that the fear of loosing out on good deal adds a reason for the buyer to buy something. Similar thing was observed in the fruits & vegetable market. Vendors told buyers of the limited time availability, seasonal effect, limited stock. The idea was to generate a feeling of limited availability so that buyers fear of loosing out on good deals & can buy.

Now if you look at it, the Fruits & Vegetable market is not a scenario that any company would like to be in (as it is a highly commoditized market, a state of Perfect competition, no investment on branding & advertising methods to differentiate). Still the vendors who are operating in this market understands nitties gritties of Indians & Indian Culture so well that they have successfully integrated their understanding into their business to earn a profit. I believe companies/industry sectors (OEM's, FMCG etc) can learn so much from these sellers about India, Indian consumer & how to compete in commoditized market.

Thanks

Neeraj

Photo Source: Girish

Age of Innovation

Hi Everyone

Recently I wrote an article as a guest blogger on the Importance of Innovation in Indian context for Trak.in (among Top Ten Indian Business Blogs).

Here is a link to the same. Check it out.

http://trak.in/tags/business/2009/09/14/age-of-innovation/

Thanks

Neeraj

Photo Source: http://trak.in/

Problem Framing

Hi everyone

Now, Problem Framing is one of the core tools of design thinking.

But I wanted to know more about the same.

I got these two videos by Institute of Design explaining the concept of Problem framing in design by giving examples.

Check them out.

Also you may want to check out my previous article on Framing. (http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/2009/07/httpideas-innovation.html)

Thanks

Neeraj

Source: http://vimeo.com/5750600

http://vimeo.com/6180364

Design Challenge for India

ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Hi Everyone.

Recently I visited Mumbai. While we crossed the bridge, admiring the engineering marvel, couple of us started discussing that the transition from being a developing country to a developed country has finally happened for India. As we went ahead, we noticed lot of people standing in the middle of the road & amidst a huge traffic Jam.

An accident had taken place a while back of a motorcyclist. The rider was lying unconscious in the middle of the road with many people surrounding him. Apprantley it turned out that people were ready to help but did'nt know what to do. Luckily after a while a lady doctor who was crossing the scene, stopped by & helped. It turned out that the motorcyclist had a fracture too. After a while he was taken to the hospital.

Healthcare it seems is one of the biggest design challenge that India faces at present. 'What to do' when a person is faced with an accident/ medical emergencies. How can every Indian be educated in basic first aid knowledge of handling emergencies. How can we turn Ignorance into Empowerment that can save someone else life when every seconds count. What businesses can emerge in this field.

I think everyone (especially Design thinkers) should take notice of this problem & provide ways to turn Ignorance into empowerment.

Thanks

Neeraj

Photosource: Self

Learning from being a DJ

http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Hi Everyone,

Just started a small course in learning how to be a DJ.

It’s been a while since I first started listening to Trance, house & other similar kind of music.

While playing at the class, a thought came to my mind……what can managers learn from a DJ?

Have made couple of observations on what we can learn from a DJ:

1. Always look from your audience perspective - Great DJs seem to be masters in knowing what kind of audience they are facing & what type of music they will prefer (although the audience may not be able to express what they want). Great DJs s seems to know that it may not be what they like but what music their audience prefers that matters. They always seem to think in terms of what their audience want & seem to use their talent to play accordingly. (Lesson to be learnt- Understand latent needs of your customer & mould your capabilities in offering the same).

2. Give your audience a reason- A reason to party, a reason to come together & meet friends, a reason to listen to good music & leave worries. (Lesson to be learnt- what reason you are giving your customer to pick your product/service)

3. Being a Performer- I have noticed that great DJ's don't just play music but they perform . Also, they seem to become part of their audience. (Lesson to be learnt- How can your Target audience may welcome you/your product to be a part of their lifestyle, what type of emotional elements you need to infuse in your brand/product/service to be welcomed by your target group into their lives).

4. Another point I have noticed is that after every event the audience feels ecstatic & also asks that the DJ should carry on playing for hours. (lesson to be learnt-How can your product/service generate that kind happiness among its Target Audience in a way that they ask more of your product/service. Imagine customer happiness leading to Pull sales which means no advertising effort required)

5. Having Followers & building a community- Great Dj’s have huge number of followers who many times promote their events, albums, etc. They set up platform where Fans form communities linking like minded people & giving them a purpose to enjoy & educate about great music. (Lesson to be learnt- Is your brand/product/service having followers who buy, adore & promote your brand/product/service without being asked for. Are you giving them a purpose that they can relate to & start a movement)

6. And just one more point -they always seems to experiment, Innovate & thus Create.

Think about it while enjoying some great music.

Thanks

Neeraj

Photo Source: Taken by my friend Girish

Cross Pollinators

Hi everybody

One of the key skills of design thinkers is to Cross Pollinate/ draw insights from various disciplines & comeup with Innovative ideas. Ideo calls its people to be T shaped people, who enjoy a breadth of knowledge in many fields but also have depth in atleast one area of expertise. One of the benefits what I have felt working with these kind of people is that they seem to look at a problem from various perpectives at the same time draw insights from various unrelated fields. They think in metaphors & see relationships across disciplines.

Janine Benyus recently gave a talk at TED Global about Biomimicry in action by highlighting various examples about what we can learn from nature in solving design problems.

Have a look at this amazing talk.

Thanks

Neeraj

Source: http://www.trentgillaspie.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/t-300x199.jpg

http://www.ted.com/talks/janine_benyus_biomimicry_in_action.html

Hate Something...Think Different....Change something

http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Think Different- That's what all of them in the picture above did & were featured in the Apple's famous campaign. What difference does it make when you think different? I guess the only difference is that you will in your own way change the world by contributing something.

From Tata nano to the Supply chain model of Dabbawalla all of them have thought differently & thus are recognized globally.

But from where does the Inspiration to think differently comes from. I guess it comes from a Purpose & from where does the purpose comes from. Your purpose may come from when you Hate something so bad that it becomes your purpose to change something.

Have a look at the following ad of Honda talking about the same philosophy of Hating something & changing something.

Many companies are trying to make a change by thinking Different. D light is a solar powered lighting company that came out of Stanford D School. The company adopts design thinking philosophy & has the purpose of providing light for 100 million products by 2020. The company operates in India, China & East Africa.

Dr. Venkataswamy had a purpose to eliminate needless blindness & thus he set up Aravind which today is the largest & most productive eye care facility in the world. Have a look at his story. Also note how he drew example from Mc Donald's & wanted to set up franchisee based system for eye hospital (Cross Disciplinary learning- one of the key skills of a Design Thinker).

TV commercials by Idea Mobile (cellular service in India) also talks about thinking different & briniging a change. check out the following commercial highlighting the power of Mobile telephony to address the socially relevant theme of education in India & how we can teach more students with the same number of teachers available.

Recently Michael Pritchard gave a talk at TED GLOBAL about his Lifesaver filter which he created with a purpose of providing filthy water drinkable to everyone, anytime, anywhere. Have a look at his talk in which he highlight that by having a purpose & thinking different he was able to create lifesaver filter. Have a look.

So in short Hate something, have a Purpose, Think Different & Change something

Thanks

Neeraj

Sources: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bh3HP51rJs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cjnNPua7Ag

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pritchard_invents_a_water_filter.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwRCBHhyrAA

http://theinspirationroom.com/daily/commercials/2005/10/Apple-think-different.jpg

Empathy & being User Centric

http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Hi all

Below is a diagram featuring two kinds of business systems. Have a look and before reading any further determine which kind of system you prefer.

Ok... the first system starts from the User- his/her needs, desires, emotions, wants being converted into products/services& business created around it. In the second, the business assess its capability, produces something & then finds a way to fit into users life.

In the first system, the focus is always the User & the objective of business is to find his/her latent need which can be fulfilled. The approach of this kind of system is being EMPATHETIC. Each & every employee in this system is empathetic towards the needs & wants of user.

The second system starts with the focus on Business capabilities giving rise to products & then it start looking for a consumer. The approach followed here is to hard sell to POTENTIAL user.

The first one based on Empathetic approach leads to discovery of Insights which provide new Ideas leading to Products which users actually want & Love.

The second one demands higher marketing costs which inturn increases product/service costs being offered without the guarantee that user will buy it.

DUDE enough of Management Fundas....come to the point ...

Ok….Be EMPATHETIC & User Centric… because it provides ideas for Innovation leading to success & what user wants.

An Eg:

Below is a photo of a restaurant near my place which is operated by Multinational Company. Most of the Sundays are like this with people waiting outside. I myself waited once for One & half hours to get in. Many people do not wait & after some time leave & the staff seems to not care because the place is already full.

By being Empathetic towards these potential customers (they want to have food from this place & enjoy the evening)...the restaurant can sure think of ideas wherein these customers can also be served.

Consider this from a business point of view, each time a person leaves after waiting for sometime, there is loss of a Potential sale.

So what Ideas can we think of……..

-How about making the whole situation in a fun way.....Give free drinks to people waiting for more than 15 minutes. (Show that their time is also Important & we care)

-How about Introducing a Sunday only Meet the stranger concept wherein strangers share a table so that no seat remains empty, making a way to optimize space problem at the same time connect with total strangers. Add some Ice breaker concepts.

- Delete all the non value added activities from the system.....take orders from those while they are waiting to remove ordering time while the person is in. Fasten the bill & taking money process.

- Acknowledge each waiting customer & thank them that they have come to their place & are waiting. A simple & sincere thanks can go a long way ensuring loyalty from customers.

- Give discounts on takeaway on Sunday so that people order for take away’s & don’t have to come at the store itself.

That’s It……..come on…u can think of some more ideas.

I believe this is just a start…..by giving serious consideration to the needs of these people, I m sure we can think of Ideas which can serve the user’s purpose to have food & also serve Business purpose of not loosing any customer coming to the place.

Barry Schwartz gave a TED talk on Practical Wisdom highlighting how Hospital Janitors went out of their way , showed empathy towards patients & relatives to satisfy their unarticulated need. I think it all start & end by being Consumer Centric which I believe is the root of Innovation……have a look at the Inspiring Video.

Thanks

Neeraj

Video Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/barry_schwartz_on_our_loss_of_wisdom.html

Indian Grassroot Innovations

http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

A question just came to my mind.

Is 'Necessity the mother of all Innovations!!!'.

I mean we all have heard of Innovation processes of large blue chip companies which hire people from crème de la crème Institutes who work to solve problems with the objective to find the next growth path for company or solve economic & society issues.

But what exactly motivates a common man to come up with an Innovative Idea? What Motivates him/her to create something new with bare minimum resources? What makes them to persevere even after many failures?

Do they have the need to change things which makes them to carry on & Innovate.

Below are some of the many, many examples from India wherein common people have Innovated & changed things at the same time creating a possibility to set up new entrepreneurial Indian Ventures.

This is what I call GRASSROOT INNOVATIONS.

Check out the following Videos of INDIAN INNOVATORS. Also check out the National Innovation Foundation providing institutional support in scouting, spawning, sustaining and scaling up grassroots innovations and helping their transition to self supporting activities.

What can we do to make these unique Ideas into a profitable & sustaining businesses & unlock their massive values?

Some of the colleges like Welingkar Institute of Management have already started this process (of which I was part of, while I was in Welingkar) of providing marketing & business knowledge assistance & are developing business concepts/models.

Here are the Videos

More Videos on Youtube. Type Indian Innovators

Thanks

Neeraj

Source: http://www.youtube.com/ http://www.nif.org.in/

Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/frame_us/3140950401/ by Primus D'Mello

TED GLOBAL: Looking forward for these talks

http://ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Hi Everyone

TedGlobal is over. Following are three main talks that I am eagerly waiting to see:

1) DAN Pink: Looking forward for the talk by Dan pink wherein he demonstrates that giving incentives may not necessarily lead to better & quick performance as the nature of problems been faced by employees have changed over the years. Presently people work on problems which are abstract, ambiguous & which have never been solved before. In these kind of problems there can be a possibility of multiple results so it his hard to focus on one particular goal. Can we use Design tools & methods & combine it with Business logic to create something new & beneficial.

Waiting for his talk .

2) The second talk that I am looking forward is from Janine Benyus. Janine Benyus works in the field of bio-mimicry & by looking at the natural world she designs things elegantly. One of the key takeaway from her talk will be to infuse cross-disciplinary learning. For eg: She mentions JR West, makers of high-speed bullet trains, found that when they entered tunnels the train built up pressure and created the equivalent of a sonic boom. Engineers looked at how the kingfisher entered the water and redesigned the train. It solved the problem of the tunnel noise, made the train 10% faster and 15% more efficient.

How we can solve present problems using this cross disciplinary learning. What we can Observe, learn & implement from our surroundings to solve our problems like developing 100% eco friendly plastic, etc. Looking forward for her talk.

3) The third talk that I am waiting for is by Tim Brown where he asks "What happens if you move from design to design-making?". He talks about how the field of design has changed over the years with designers shifted from broader view to narrower view & focused on aesthetics. He mentions that the field of design is once again changing by focusing on human centricity. Designers are now shifting from their sole focus on ergonomics to focusing on human needs & designing products/services/businesses around them. He also points out the importance of prototyping.

Looking forward for this talk.

Incidentally, before going to his talk, Tim had asked people via twitter (#CBDQ) the kinds of questions design thinking might be used to tackle.

I also participated, Here are my list of questions that I sent which I think design thinking might be used to tackle.

1. To measure the carbon footprint

2. To develop solutions that instead of depleting resources, actually create them

3. How to ensure that everyone votes in elections (100% voter turnout) anywhere specially countries like India.

4. Providing MENTAL Insurance to people with depression.

5. When will we get rid of wires & be wireless (remove TV, radio, electrical appliances electric cords)...have power trans wirelessly

6. How can design thinking used to replace plastic (bottles, bags, etc) with viable & sustainable material.

7. How can DT be used so that everyone wants to be fit resulting to healthy nation.

8. Can one be given fitness points for working out & can they redeem it similar to carbon credit in fitness centers, etc.

9. Can DT be used to know what Infants want ?

10. How can we enable people from different disciplines understand each others perspective clearly.

11. How to assess/measure one's skills

12. Ensuring everybody(who is req to pay) pays taxes

13. How to connect B2B together to create a network & helping each other

14. How to help executives multitask

15. How to make school more fun- in a way that students enjoy being there

16. How to make a paint so that no bills/spray paint can stick on them & damage city walls

17. How one can learn foreign language without much effort/ how people from diff countries communicate quickly & efficiently.

18. How to induce people to use eco friendly bags at the same time make business sense

19. Helping traffic police reduce traffic congestions & streamline traffic

20. Helping anyone to understand how to operate a product/service very easily

21. Providing a simulated & interactive experience of travel, food, language & culture to travelers before visiting a place

22. Helping companies, individuals, etc to reframe their problems & provide multiple possibilities

23. Helping neighbors to start interaction with each other

24. How to engaging people who have retired to create value

25. Helping youngsters find & create their unique identity

26. In what way experience can be STORED shared

27. How can other employees rate their peers Anonymously

28. How can we change the mindset of people in companies

29. For developing solutions so that I dont have to shave for weeks

30. For generating conversations among strangers

31. To connect seekers with offerers of service, products, education. Etc

32. To keep a track of our nutrition intake.

Looking forward for these talks

Thanks

Neeraj

Sources: http://blog.ted.com/2009/07/tim_brown_at_te.php

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jul/23/nature-technology-energy-buildingmaterials

http://blog.ted.com/2009/07/dan_pink_at_ted.php

Ethnography

ideas-innovation.blogspot.com/

Theodre Levitt said “ The purpose of business is to create & keep a customer”

So how can a company Create & Keep a customer. One way to do is to understand the people its is catering to, inorder to draw insights which can be converted into Business ideas leading to growth & creation of markets.

Now Understanding & capturing insight is done using Quantitative Studies like Focus Group Interviews. Although these methods are fruitful to some extent, some of the limitations of these methods are that they provide limited insights from the user, their inadequacy to provide any information about user’s behavior, emotions, feelings, pain points etc. The tools acted as evaluation tools rather than insight capture tools.

Qualitative Studies like Ethnography are being increasing used to capture Insights from Customers/Users/Staff inorder to understand their satisfactions, limitations, pain points, etc which can be used to determine the next big Idea.

In the last post I had mentioned about the book Ethnography for Marketers. I have been reading on this subject .Through this post, I would like to demystify the Ethnography – what is it, why & where it is Used, How it is used, when it is used

So what is Ethnography

Ethnography is observing customers/ Users in their natural environment to find their frustrations, limitations, satisfactions, pain points etc with the objective to acquire insights into the users needs & wants. The field is drawn from anthropology & sociology.

Why & Where it is Used

Ethnography is used to complement Focus Groups Interviews inorder to gain insights. The main objective of Ethnographic studies is to understand customers in their natural context (home/office/retail store, etc). It is mainly used when little is known about the target market or when fresh insights are desired from a segment. In the present scenario when customer’s taste & preferences are constantly changing, it help companies to maintain an understanding of their customers & keep a track of their constant changing needs, issues & wants. Ethnographic studies can be used to understand the interaction of customer with product /service (for eg: ATM, website, retail). It can be used to assess the corporate cultures. It can also be used to understand how the user interacts with the processes of a product/ service (using a remote/operating a machine). The tools are used for discovering latent needs of customer for new product discovery, new service discovery, etc.

How It is Used

There are various Ethnographic tools which are available. They are used in the natural context of a user/customer/employee. Some of the tools are:

a. Observing the Product/Service Usage

b. Day In life

c. Mystery Shopping

d. Guerrilla Ethnography: Researcher not disclosing that he is researching

How is it Different from Market Research

Ethnography seeks to understand the behavior of people in their natural environment & their interaction with the product/service. The study seek to draw out emotions, perceptions, pain points, aspirations & beliefs that users may have with respect to products/services. It complements Market Research.

Guidelines for Ethnographers

a. Being in the Users Context: The main Objective is to be in the user’s context inorder to view & understand how the product is being used. What are the pain points, limitations of products, what workaround the customer has created, what is the role of product in the life of customer, etc.

b. Being Subject Oriented: The ethnographer has to be subject/user oriented suspending his own assumptions. The focus should be on learning & observing rather than evaluation of concepts.

c. Flexible: The other objective is to be flexible & not restrict to a pre planned questionnaire.

Here is a Video I found on Vimeo explaining what is Ethnography.

What is Ethnography? from Steve Inskeep on Vimeo.

Now ,Jan Chip Chase is a Principal researcher from Nokia who travels around the world and inside our pockets in search of behavioral patterns that will inform the design of products we don't even know. Here is a presentation he made at TED. Following the video is the Slideshow featuring some of the techniques being used.

Insight & Innovation

View more documents from whatidiscover.

But the question remains How we can organise observations to draw insights patterns.

Lets see...will be exploring this week.

Thanks

Neeraj

Sources: Article Inspiration: Ehtnography For Marketers, Hy Mariampolski

Video & Slide Source: TED.com , Slideshare.com

Ethnography for Marketers

Hi Everyone

One of the questions I keep reading is that what is the difference between Market Research & Enthnographic research.

A lot has been written about Ethnographic Research & how it is different from Market Research but still there was still a need to understand Ethnographic Research Techniques from a Practical Marketers perspective.

Just got this book Titled Ethnography for Marketers: A guide to consumer immersion by Hy Mariampolski.

The book provides a practical guide to what ethnographic research is, how is it different from market research, why marketers should use ethnographic research techniques,etc .

Am presently reading it. One can find a preview of the book at

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=O88vfGNiH_8C&dq=Ethnography+for+Marketers:+A+Guide+to+Consumer+Immersion.&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=v5tlSravEcmIkAXQuqTNDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4

Thanks

Neeraj

Tim Brown- IDEO speaking at TED Global in Oxford

Tim Brown (CEO IDEO) is speaking at TED Global in Oxford next week on the topic of what happens when we move from design to design thinking. One of the things he his trying to do, is to get the audience to suggest the kinds of questions design thinking might be used to tackle. To facilitate this he is using a Twitter hash tag #CBDQ to allow people to post their suggestions. The latest ones can be seen at IDEO.com or by searching the #CBDQ tag. It would be great to get that underway in advance of his talk. If you have any briefs or problems you think would be interesting then please go ahead and post them.

Thanks

Neeraj

Article Source: http://designthinking.ideo.com/?p=347#content