New Tricks

Innovation

In these tough times, it's important to stay proactive. If you are hoping to weather the storm by battening down the hatches, then there is the risk of being left behind in a few years—that is, if you survive. Yes, by all means, look at cutting costs, but not at the expense of innovation. Take a look at all aspects of your business (product, service, marketing efforts, customer interaction, etc.) and ask yourself if there is a new or different approach. It's the ability to change with the times that keeps a great business out in front of the competitors.

When I was doing research for this article, I came across several stories on weathering a recession. One of my favorites is from Business Week, "10 Worst Innovation Mistakes in a Recession." The 10 mistakes are

  1. Firing talent
  2. Cutting back on technology
  3. Reducing risk
  4. Stopping new product development
  5. Boards replacing growth-oriented CEOs with cost-cutting CEOs
  6. Companies retreating from globalization
  7. CEOs replacing innovation as key strategy
  8. Changing performance metrics
  9. Reinforcing hierarchy over collaboration
  10. Retreating into walled castles

Many of these mistakes are made out of fear and reacting to the immediate situation without looking to the future. It takes great creativity and courage not to panic in the face of the present crisis, and work towards a brighter economic future.

Personally, I'm taking this opportunity to explore and brainstorm new ideas and concepts. They are sprouting like flowers! Many other companies have produced great ideas and products during recessionary times. Do you know that soap operas, MTV, the iPod and Apple computers all were born out of such times? While other companies are frozen in inaction, we here at SDG are busily twittering new strategies.

In the design world, we look to achieve the best solution for our client's communication goals through fresh concepts, colors, shapes and images. This is a great opportunity to recapture the spark of innovation and to stand out from the crowd. With everyone's purse strings tightening, it's to your advantage to catch the consumer's eye with an updated look or product.

I recently attended the Fancy Food Show here in San Francisco. I observed that the companies that are still investing in their brand and coming out with new products had the booths with the most traffic. It was sad to see some long-time favorites fade to the background, I hope they make it through. What I took away from this is that the consumer is still looking for what's fresh and new, and because of the economy, it's now more important than ever to get them interested in your business. The best way to get their attention is through innovative and creative communication. This should be a top priority, no matter what the economic climate.