Who's Responsible for Innovation?

If a company wants to be innovative, it must create an atmosphere that encourages innovation. A healthy atmosphere of innovation will exhibit three conditions:

1. Innovation - The company must give employees - ALL employees, not just those in the R&D department - the freedom to innovate. Supervisors at all levels should welcome their subordinates to discover creative solutions and to constantly look for ways to do things better. Employees should be allowed to generate new ideas, and should feel that their supervisors will be receptive to their ideas. Employees should be empowered to innovate.


2. Submission - Once an employee develops an innovative idea, she must share it with her supervisor. The supervisor should listen eagerly, ready to assess how this idea could benefit the company and customers. The supervisor should ask questions and coach the employee on how to improve and adapt the idea to best fit the company and the situation. The employee should trust that her supervisor will be an advocate of great ideas; because of that trust, the employee submits to her supervisor's final decision about whether or not - and how - to move the idea forward.


3. Protection - Once the supervisor gives his employee the authority to implement the idea, then the supervisor becomes a protective covering for the employee. As long as the employee follows the supervisor's instructions, she doesn't need to fear the consequences of failure - the supervisor takes those consequences upon his own head. If the employee makes a mistake or makes someone angry, or if the idea doesn't work, then the supervisor bears the responsibility. He protects his employee, because the employee was acting under his authority. This gives the employee the freedom to fail - and the freedom to succeed.

These three measures - innovation, submission, and protection - are essential if a company wishes to be innovative. Employees throughout the company must be inspired to think creatively and to generate ideas, no matter how raw or ridiculous the ideas seem at first. Employees must vet those ideas through their supervisors, trusting that their supervisors will want to bring great ideas to life, and ultimately submitting to the final decision of the supervisor. And supervisors must protect the employees as they start implementing their ideas under the supervisors' authority, empowering the employee to succeed by bearing the responsibility if they fail.

If one of these conditions is missing, innovation within the organization will be stifled. Companies stagnate if employees don't generate ideas. Ideas go awry if employees act without the authority of their supervisors. And employees stop innovating if they can't trust their supervisors to protect their efforts.

If your organization wishes to be innovative, does it have these processes in place?

Lessons from a [Virtual] Zippo Lighter

Yesterday I enjoyed another great article from one of my favorite marketing bloggers, Steve Smith. This time, Steve wrote about the phenomenon of Zippo lighters at concerts, and the life cycle of the Virtual Zippo Lighter app for the iPhone.

Watch this video to see the Virtual Zippo Lighter app in action (my favorite part is the flicking it open and closed!):



The Virtual Zippo Lighter app has been downloaded more than five million times since its release a year ago, making it the 13th most popular iPhone app, according to ComScore.

The beauty of the app lies in two things: its simplicity, and its connection to a cultural classic.

Simplicity: The Virtual Zippo Lighter has one single purpose - to look like and act like a virtual Zippo lighter. That's it. Nothing else. The Virtual Zippo Lighter flicks open like a Zippo lighter, lights like a Zippo lighter, and its flame moves and flickers with movement like the flame of a Zippo lighter. It's the beloved concert toy, without the fire hazard or lighter fluid smell.

Connection to a Cultural Classic: Had that first brilliant concert-goer never had the inspired idea to hold his Zippo lighter aloft and sway back and forth to a rock-and-roll hit, the Virtual Zippo Lighter would be pointless. A fire-starter that doesn't start fires? Please. But because this cultural phenomenon did happen with the ubiquitous pocket-sized object of the 20th century, Zippo was able to recreate this "Zippo Encore Moment" with the 21st century's own ubiquitous pocket-sized object: the smartphone.

Simplicity and connection to a cultural classic (and the ultra-low cost: the app is free!) created a fan-base 5-million-strong for the Virtual Zippo Lighter app. And now, Zippo and its mobile marketing partner Moderati are planning ways to re-launch the app into the growth phase of its life cycle.

Simplicity built the application's popularity; the next generation of the Virtual Zippo Lighter will inhabit the opposite end of the iPhone app spectrum: a full-media package, allowing users to customize their lighters and, possibly, to find music and information on the concerts that are happening near them. Brilliant, right? Add value to customers and allow them to find venues in which use of their app is logical and "cool".

As Steve Smith points out, it is difficult for a smartphone application to survive in the space between ultra-simplicity and ultra-complexity. Zippo and Moderati will be avoiding that "no-man's-land" and occupying both extremes. Customers will be able to choose either the free original app, or the 99-cent customizable, concert-finding version.

Zippo and Moderati used simplicity to attract fans, and will use complexity to build deeper relationships with those fans. Good move. Can we do the same?

Your Employees are Your Ambassadors: PUMA

Yesterday MediaPost published an article entitled "Puma Employees Become Ambassadors," describing Puma's new campaign called "Puma Employees Only." This marketing effort showcases the distinct personalities of 14 Puma employees through a series of YouTube videos, a Facebook Fan Page (with over 1 million fans, thank you very much), and future in-store and out-of-store events. These employees share fun info like their favorite things, pet peeves, and best places to visit in their respective cities.

I love the idea of Puma employees being ambassadors for their brand. I love their use of online video, social media, and in-store/out-of-store events to make Puma more personal - to give a face to the brand. To let the customer "get to know" the real people who work for Puma, and to think "This person's cool; he reminds me of me. He likes Puma; maybe I'll like Puma, too."

But MediaPost got it wrong. These Puma employees didn't become ambassadors for their brand when they were featured in this campaign. Employees are always ambassadors for their brands, whether they star in online videos and Facebook Fan Pages or not. Whether they intend to be ambassadors or not. Whether they show pride in their brands or not.

If your employees don't show pride in your brand, if they talk about coming to work as if they dread it, if they complain about their coworkers or bosses or management or customers or work-hours, they are representing to the world that your brand is dreary, thoughtless, inconsiderate. As ambassadors, they are influencing people against your brand.

If this is true for a significant number of your employees, it is time to look at your corporate culture. Is your company a place where people are respected? where their jobs are appreciated? where their skills are recognized? where ideas are rewarded? where departments work together? where coworkers encourage and help each other? where individuals can get excited about the work they are doing, the products they are delivering, and the difference they are making in the world?

If not, start making it so. It begins with you.