Hi all
Creativity & innovation often involves selling the same old product but adding value to it inorder to differentiate it from the rest.
Heard about this Paan [a South and South East Asian tradition which consists of chewing Betel leaf (Piper betle) combined with the areca nut] shop in Pune which serves 32 different types of Paan (including Chocolate Paan!!)
a normal Paan shop in India
So whats so special about this store that consumers are paying around Rs.12 for a paan!!
First lets have a look what normal paan shops look like in India.
Lack of proper Ambience: To sum it up its not something people along with their wives & children love to visit.
Lack of Variety: One can have only particular types of Paans.
Main Target group: The main visitor to normal Paan store are Men, so normally Paan have Tobacco, etc not suitable for kids/other members of families
So what’s different with this store & what they have done to convert a commodity into a brand
Ambience: This was a proper store, customers were given menu which included different varieties of Paan & the atmosphere of the place was friendly, properly lit & open, something which consumers (along with family members) may not shy away from coming.
Variety: The store offered 32 varieties of Paan which were listed on a menu catering to each member of family (Chocolate paan for kids, one with tobacco for men, etc)
Target Group: Apart from men, shop focused on having offerings for ladies & kids (often neglected by normal shops).
In addition to this the store packed the Paan in proper packing with their name which ultimately acted as source of branding & help in spreading word about them.
In the end the store has converted a normal commodity into a brand and has moved into blue ocean away from its competitors.
Neeraj
ImagesSource :Google & Self taken
Hi guys
Now one of the attributes noticed in Innovators seems be their ability to challenge the current mindsets to bring about a change. Their ability to question Why something exist or not exist helps them provide answers with new & better solutions.
I got this 4 page brochure of Lenovo ThinkPad describing the evolution of Think pad over the years with one thing in common, the makers ability to ask WHY constantly inorder to come up with new solutions.
So the company asked:
1. 1. Why Design a computer like a computer(bulky & boxy)? So engineers gave the solution in terms of a laptop being able to fit in office drawers.
2. 2. Why Put a computer to sleep when the lights go off? And the solution that came was Thinklight--an LED on top of screen.
3. 3. Why should the mouse stay away from the keyboard?? And the solution was the red button allowing users to move the cursor without removing fingers from keyboard.
4. 4. Why should the keyboard shrink with the Monitor? And the solution was a butterfly keyboard split into two blocks that expanded into a comfortable full sized keyboard when laptop was opened.
5. 5. Why should a notebook shed its features when it sheds its weight? The result is a thin laptop having all the necessary features.
So what’s the moral of story
Ask questions to create & change
SAT: 18 OCT
Hi Everybody
Last Week i wrote about Shai Aggassi's effort to solve oil & energy problems through his electric car initiatives. Last issue of Time magazine came out with an article titled Heroes of Environment. The article focused on people(like Arnold Schwarzenegger44) who are making efforts to protect the environment by introducing new concepts, legislations, products, services, etc.
Presently if we look at saving the environment is regarded as a social responsibility by many organizations and are included as part of their CSR(corporate Social responsibility) activity.
Now it is an issue of debate whether organizations currently are genuinely interested in environment protection or are forced to do so due to image building exercise for their enterprise.
The current IBM Global CEO study (check article on IBM report in this blog below) mentions that the enterprises of future will genuinely be interested in CSR projects rather being forced to do so.
But what about present scenario. Can Caring for environment make business sense to and provide good returns to environment, society, people and companies involved.
Well In this article I thought of compiling concepts which are trying to focus on preserving the environment while producing Green products/services at the same time are able to make business sense too.
So lets start of our engines!! (running on bio fuel)
1. Ecover(Eco friendly washing powder) : Belgian Company Ecover is manufacturing environment friendly washing powder made of natural plant & minerals ingredients. The product also comes in a recyclable bags. Last year the company generated $15 mn in pre tax profit.
2. Electric Sports Car!!!- Tesla Roadster, 2008 Tesla Motors electric sports car is already sold out (having price tag of $98000) & currently reservations are on 2009 model.
3. Bahrain World Trade Center : It is the world's first commercial building to incorporate large scale Wind Turbines. The Turbines generate approximately 11-15% of its energy needs.
4. Can companies be asked to pay for preservation of rainforest : Bharrat Jagdeo, president of Guyana is offering an innovative option to public & private organizations by offering countries entire rain forest as a commodity to be preserved against a fee. The organizations inturn would benefit from carbon credits obtained, ecotourism & pharmaceuticals discoveries which will provide them return on Investment. An Innovative Solution indeed.
5. Velib : The widely reported Paris' famous bicycle renting scheme is one unique business model started by Jean francois & Jean-Charles Decaux. Launched in July 2007, today the bicycles have become a mainstream & green form of public transportation in Paris. More than 2,00,000 Parisians have taken one year subscription ($40) and in a poll in May, 94% of Velib users said they were satisfied with the service.
The examples listed above shows that being environmentally responsible can also makes business sense. I noted that concept of Design Thinking is playing its role here as consciously or unconsciously these companies are using its philosophy of being User focused and solving his/her problem while generating environment friendly concepts & thus trying make business sense also.
Like we have seen Companies doing their bit for the environment. On a personal level, can we do something. Manish send me this handout which talks about what each individual can do for the environment. Check it out.
Neeraj
Source: Time magazine, Trendwatching, Corbis
Hi guys
I got this Video of Honda.
Talks about One to Hate something inorder to change something. Now I was thinking, the same philosophy could be used for innovating.
I think hate inspires one to bring a change and thus Innovate. As given in the video the noise and pollution made by diesel engine was hated and this gave inspiration to bring a change. Similarly the noise of gensets was hated and may be that’s why we have today Zero noise making diesel gensets.
Take a look
Hate Something, Change Something.
Enjoy
Neeraj
