Making corporate creative

BusinessWeek Online (thanks, TP Wire Service)has a lengthy story on the dawn of the Creative Age—though some companies are well past the first-light stages.

As routine, left-brain knowledge work (engineering, programming, accounting) becomes commoditized and heads overseas, forward-thinking companies like GE are turning to creating breakthrough innovations and amazing, cogent customer experiences to add new value (and, of course, profit).

A snippet on the process of taking creative corporate (in italics):

What is the methodology of the new design strategy that Lafley, Immelt, and others are adopting? The basics are simple. They start with observation -- going out and directly seeing customers shop at malls, families eating in restaurants, or patients being treated in hospitals. Gap Inc. and others have found that social shopping -- in pairs and threesomes -- is the norm in its stores, so it's making dressing rooms bigger. Trying out lots of ideas fast by making models or videos (prototyping) is the next step. This lets managers visualize concepts, make decisions on which to improve and which to discard, and launch products faster.

And, of course, I’ll include a plug for the importance of solid stories and messages around your products. It’s not longer enough to have a great product and to tell consumers about the benefits—there has to be a meaningful story intertwined as part of the experience that customers can relate to and feel good about:

Storytelling is very important. Designers have found that placing a potential new product within an emotional story that connects with consumers raises the chances of success. The design of the new line of MINI_motion watches and driving shoes, for example, captures the story of the Mini Cooper's cool urban driving experience. It's about the driver, not the car.

It’s about the driver, not the car. That should be on every marketer’s wall.