It has a broad reaching name and this year Advertising Age and Creativity brought together an equally wide range of speakers for a day of dialog about creativity and innovation. This year’s conference was held in New York City at Terminal 5, usually a concert and nightclub venue on October 30th. Once inside, attendees could congregate in the Inspiration Pavilion which was made up of booths and displays representing most of the days speakers. Notable was GM who had the Volt on display and Yahoo! who featured one of their Purple Pedals bikes. The following are some highlights of the day:
Blake Mycoskie, the founder of Toms Shoes spoke about his company’s efforts to make giving a core attribute of their business. For every pair of shoes purchased, Toms gives a pair to a child in need, for free. Blake announced within the next twelve months that the company will have given 300,000 pairs away. Blake gave some advice for businesses looking to integrate giving into their business practices. First is to make the commitment as authentic and transparent as possible. The goal is always to help people first, not the bottom line. Second, he noted that giving fosters a sense of empowerment from Toms employees. He said that there is a passion that radiates from the office. Giving creates a stronger bond between what employees are doing, and the people their business is connected to.
Blake offered a preview of the new Toms website launching soon. The site will offer new features that allow Toms customers to connect to each other and become more engaged in the company’s field activities. Toms issues an open call for volunteers every two months to assist with shoe drops in Argentina.
Grant Achatz, the owner and chef of Alinea in Chicago told his amazing story. The award winning chef was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth, a difficult cancer to cure. The diagnosis and treatment potentially spelled the end of his career as a chef. Amazingly, Grant beat the cancer applying some of the same lessons he learned when developing his restaurant Alinea. He spoke about three steps he consistently used to attach and solve problems:
1. Understand your medium: Gain as much information and understanding about the challenges and opportunities that are available.
2. ‘Breaking it down’: Look for even the smallest opportunities to innovate. All of these small opportunities will add up to something much bigger.
3. Rebuilding in a meaningful way: Keep the overall goal in mind. Make sure it is compelling, unique, and personal.
Jason Anello of Yahoo! spoke about how his team embraced ‘experimental marketing’ with the Purple Pedals Project and the Ybike. The goal was to use Yahoo! as a platform to document the places and experiences people had while riding special bikes that Yahoo! customized with GPS units and cameras. The bikes have been sent to places around the world. Jason summed up 5 lessons that the Ybike project has produced that could be applied to choosing how to establish a project like Purple Pedals:
1. Do it or Lose it- there might only be one chance to take advantage of an opportunity
2. Don’t be scared to fail.
3. Learn something- build in a learning component
4. Make it part of something bigger- is there another initiative that is complimentary
5. Put it on steroids- is there an opportunity to go national, international
Nicholas Negroponte, the founder and chairman of One Laptop Per Child talked about how the project evolved and where it is today. Nicholas spoke about how the goal of each child owning a laptop was taking shape in way he didn’t earlier predict. In response to a question about what unexpected thing has he learned from the project so far, Nicholas spoke about the intense competition from other manufacturers to offer a laptop at a cheaper price than his. OLPC first saw the competition as a threat but has since welcomed other companies who are working on similar products. The company even released images of it’s next generation model on the internet this past spring as an incentive for others to copy. Since the real goal is for children to have access to the technology, Nicholas sees this as a way for other companies to help get it accomplished faster.
One Laptop Per Child is again offering a buy one give one program this year. Starting on November 17th for every laptop bought, another will be sent to a child in need. This year the program will be handled through Amazon.
Ian Yolles, the Head of Marketing for NAU spoke about the clothing company’s rise, fall, and recent rebirth. Ian spoke about the NAU design philosophy which in a broader context summed up where other speakers throughout the day thought innovation in business was taking place. Ian spoke of three attributes all of their products aimed to have:
-Beauty
-Performance
-Sustainability
In many ways NAU’s story merged together many of the topics covered throughout the day. The company has continued a commitment to giving by allowing customers to chose a social/environmental organization where 2% of their sale will be donated to. NAU established a code of conduct section on their site with details the company’s employment policies, supplier relationships, and environmental initiatives in a very transparent way.
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