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Back in March, Starbucks asked their customers for ideas, it created a website and the ideas have been been flooding in, exceeding the expectations of the company.

It makes me thing that every brand should be doing this, why not?

Here are the top 20 ideas that are being considered.

It's a great list that includes new products and experiences, ways to reduce waste and more healthy items.

Option to not print Receipts



Posted by Ed Cotton I just quickly pulled together a deck that highlights some interesting quotes from experts, observers and the media in general on a variety of topics including; advertising, China, economy, environment, food, media/technology, etc.

It's a smorgasboard of smart thinking that sums up the year rather nicely and should provide some food for thought for all of us starting this new year.

It's been sourced from some of the raw material we've collected at Influx over the past 12 months.



Posted by Ed Cotton Sometimes ideas are so powerful and iconic, that the power drowns out questions about effectiveness.

A great example is the CCTV camera in London.

Cameras are literally everywhere and appear to provide citizens with greater security. However, if you dig a little deeper, you discover the CCTVs don't seems to be effective as it might first appear.

Despite the presence of 10,000 cameras in the city, 80% of crimes remain unsolved.

Analysis of clear-up rates across different neighborhoods shows the presence of cameras don't impact the rate.

Be careful, ideas can be seductive and shiny, but we always need to be asking ourselves the question about impact, effect and challenge everyone to understand if they are solving the real problem.

Interestingly, with the CCTV camera, the desired political goal might be to provide the illusion of safety.

Via Tom Hume


Posted by Ed Cotton The first day at the AAAAs Account Planning conference in San Diego started with a bang, straight out of the gate, Sir Ken Robinson set the stage with an inspiring address about the human resource crisis and suggested building and nurturing creative cultures as the only way out.

Sir Ken suggested, as many others have done before, that we are entering a period of perpetual change, where creativity and innovation are the only solutions to gain competitive advantage.

He also noted some other problems:

1. Our perception of creativity and intelligence

There is little recognition that the two are linked. You can’t be creative and intelligent and visa versa. In fact, it seems that planning thrives on this perceptual division.

2. Our narrow definition of creativity.

It’s not just art, design and communication. There can be creative approaches to process- he cited Wal-Mart or adding a culture around coffee like Starbucks has done.

3. The creative ghetto

Putting the responsibility for all things creative in the hands of one department negates the creative capacity of the whole organization.

4. Our education system

A system that beats creativity out of kids.

Sir Ken noted that being creative requires people to DO something- people have to make something, they can’t just think about it. So the secret is to help people find their outlets- the best medium for their expression.

Creativity, like intelligence comes in different flavors.

He challenged the audience to consider the questions:

    How are you intelligent?

    How are you creative?

Sir Ken’s secrets for creative success were all about having teams of people who were multi-disciplinary and had the power to take ideas upwards. He also mentioned the importance of creative workspaces as they are both reflections of the corporate culture and play a vital role in stimulate employees imagination. Companies need to strive to create the ideal conditions where creativity can blossom.

Finally, he challenged everyone too aim high and succeed because too often we aim low and succeed.



Posted by Ed Cotton Business Week recently conducted a survey amongst senior executives on the topic of innovation. One of the questions struck Influx as being especially interesting; the obstacles to return on investment for innovation.

The barriers aren’t exactly what you expect them to be, for example, clients don’t seem to have a problem generating the ideas, it’s the implementation that’s the issue.

Clients need help in areas beyond the creative generation of the ideas themselves.

Specifically, clients want help in the following areas...

-    Becoming more comfortable with risk
-    Streamlining the internal co-ordination process
-    Identifying the right opportunities
-    Bringing relevant consumer insights to the table

It appears clients want strategy and process, more than creativity a notion that runs counter to the thinking at most communication agencies.


  Everyone these days is talking about viral marketing and memes, but it's often a tough concept to grasp, it appears so intangible.

So here's a great real world example for you.

Improv Everywhere are a NYC performance group who are all about doing great stunts (100s of blue shirts invade Best Buys, when U2 comes to NYC they staged their own rooftop concert with a U2 look-a-like and sound-a-like band, etc).

Its latest exploit was to "Punk'd" Yankee Stadium in the middle of a baseball game.

One of its "agents" spent several innings pretending to be unable and incapable of finding his seat. It started when he tried to return to his seat after visiting a concession stand and despite the shouts of "Rob" from his friends, he couldn't find it.

The Rob virus quickly spread throughout the stadium with hillarious results.

A full account can be found here.

It really shows how interesting ideas can spread quickly.

Apparently, all it takes is one dumb guy at a baseball game.

Here are six reasons why it works.

1. The crowd is connected- in a physically confined space and they are all Yankee fans- which allows the idea to spread quickly
2. There is lots of attention on the crowd because of the numerous breaks in the game-people are often looking around the crowd as well as the field-so they are looking for something to catch their attention that might have talk value for the person they are watching the game with
3. Someone lights the fuse- friends start the story- they set up the character and the problem for the rest of the crowd
4. It becomes a storyline. Rob has become a character with a dilemma
5. It's interactive- it's become a game-help Rob find his seat- people naturally want to help
6. There's also mystery.Why is he doing this?- the expected reasons are  because he is stupid and/or drunk- which are amusing topics for baseball fans

Via Wonderland