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At a time when product performance now trumps marketing spin, Unilever's Chairman is looking for more product innovation from the giant multinational.

According to an interview in the Times of London.

"Michael Treschow thinks there is not enough “wow” at Unilever.

The Swedish chairman likes inventions, gadgets and new whizz-bang things. He has been in his job for a year and, after a shake-up and streamlining of the top team at the Anglo-Dutch food and soap company, he wants the men in white coats to work faster, creating an assembly line of new products.

The marketing is good, the selling is good, it's the product line that needs attention, he says. “The single most important thing is that we speed up our innovation machine, which means that we bring more highly appreciated products to the consumer so that they say, ‘Wow, this is really something I would like to have',” he says."

Can we now expect increases in R&D spends as packaged goods companies go back in search of product performance and difference?

Posted by Ed Cotton nike-entering a new era? (40.01078714046552 , 116.54296875) Nike is a brand that was built on the back of raw emotion of sports, but is it about to change?

Are product performance and technological innovation going to be the drivers from now on?

Take a look at the amazing exhibition the brand is putting on in Beijing that celebrates the 100 most important innovations in the company's history.

In the past, the company has been reluctant to let technology dominate the story, but in this show, it's the star.

Perhaps, the brand feels it needs to demonstrate the substance that lies at the heart of the company and put fear into anyone, especially the smaller Chinese upstarts, that Nike's success isn't something that can be easily copied.


Posted by Ed Cotton It's somewhat surprising with all the creative and strategic people employed by ad agencies, how poor the industry is at innovating.

It's something we seem to demand from our clients, but are terrible at doing ourselves.

Most of the energies are focused on short-term brand ideas, not new platforms, formats or business ideas that can be of mutual benefit to client and agency alike.

Are we simply too occupied in the present, to build for the future?

Is Havas about to change the game?

Umair Haque well known for his provocative writing on business strategy and the media business over at Bubble Generation has been picked to lead the Havas Media Lab.

Umair writes that the creation of the lab is a response to other things not working.

"The Lab happened because I don't think any of the standard models - venture funds, corporates, firms, etc - can really make it happen (or else it would be happening).

Hence, the need for a new kind of entity, which is focused on driving new ideas - but also focused on igniting experimentation and discovery."

It remains to be seen exactly what this turns into and if it has the power to create genuinely new and valuable ideas.


Posted by Ed Cotton Most brewers focus their innovation around new taste, flavor and lightness profiles.

They focus on the beer itself, Heineken has done the same, but it's also created some interesting innovation in packaging and product delivery; the keg can and the draught keg are two breakthrough ideas.

In March of this year, the will launch take the delivery innovation a step further with the Beer Tender.


It's a home draught beer system developed in conjinction with Krups and others.

It's a great move on so many levels; it elevates the brand, it provides interesting interaction and engagement for the consumer, it has talk value and provides an entry point for dialog with the older segment of beer drinkers, who mainly drink beer at home.

It will be interesting to see how other brewers respond to this.


Posted by Ed Cotton "Advertising is a tax you pay for unremarkable thinking."

Robert Stephens, founder of GeekSquad

Via Social Customer Manifesto


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