GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

Here’s a flow in the right direction. The Wall Street Journal reports that companies are working hard to make business applications more “social”, following the explosive growth of Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr et al. Global spending on social business applications is estimated to hit $630 million this year and increase to $1.86 billion by 2014. This will help to break down silos, cut out duplication, over-ordering and re-work, and release creative flows.

There are important differences between social networking as we know it, and how it might work in the world of business. Some information may need to stay under wraps, work conversations have to be focused, and there will always be a place where the buck stops.

But what’s encouraging about this trend is that it says business isn’t faking the participation gene. It’s one thing to use social media to reach out to consumers, another for a company to embed participation in its DNA. This bodes well for the consumer: firms that nurture great relationships internally will more naturally reach out to consumers in a way that’s relational rather than transactional.

In the same way that movements are displacing markets, institutional systems in the business world are evolving as demand grows for more human ways of interacting. Participation is penetrating to the core.

Image credit: Clément Petit

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

3D seems to be everywhere at the moment. Burberry made history at London Fashion Week last year by streaming its catwalk show live in 3D. Adidas has a touch wall that lets you browse for your sneakers in three dimensions. Nintendo has just released the first 3D handheld gaming device with no need for special glasses. Movies have been in the 3D space for a while. TV is also breaking through the screen limit – 3D promises to turn sports and adventure shows into richer viewing experiences; make animation more animated, drama more dramatic; and bring the jungle to your living room for National-Geographic-style programs.

All of which invites questions not only about how many dimensions we experience the world in, but how many we actually exist in. For most of us the mind boggles when we try to imagine more than a few steps beyond time and space. Movies conjure images of blackboards and notepads covered in enigmatic equations punctuated with Greek letters and wayward vectors, exciting but incomprehensible. But one of the co-founders of Modern String Field Theory has come to the rescue on The Big Think.

CUNY’s Dr. Michio Kaku believes we exist in no fewer – and no more – than 11 dimensions. I like the musical metaphor that connects it all together:

“The subatomic particles we see in nature, the quarks, the electrons, are nothing but musical notes on a tiny vibrating string. What is physics? Physics is nothing but the laws of harmony that you can write on vibrating strings. What is chemistry? Chemistry is nothing but the melodies you can play on interacting vibrating strings. What is the universe? The universe is a symphony of vibrating strings.”

What a sublime thought. Here we are, trembling together, quivering imperceptibly in harmony on levels we can only imagine.

Image credit: Burberry 3D Fashion Show; Nintendo 3DS; Adidas Virtual Shoe Wall

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

While in Africa the world’s eyes are focused on Libya, further down the continent South Sudan is working through the process of formally separating from North Sudan to become the world’s newest nation. After years of civil war there are still strong tensions between the two states, but it was great to discover how the South chose a song in readiness to celebrate its entry to the world.

The South Sudanese national anthem was selected through an X Factor style talent show in a baking hot concert hall, according to the BBC. The audience went crazy at the end of each anthem as different singers shared their heartfelt renditions of the nation’s struggle and triumph. In a spirit of hope entrants abandoned the military-style march of the existing Sudanese national anthem. The brief was for something serious. Everyone was passionate. People had tears in their eyes. The winning lyrics came from a group of no fewer than 49 poets.

Participation to build a nation. What a great foundation for a future.

Image credit: Peter Martell

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

Recently I wrote about some great ideas circulating the airline industry. Topping the list was Air New Zealand, which continues its relentless leadership in innovation and customer service. The last time I last covered the company’s virtues in some depth was 2007, so a recap is overdue.

In 2008 Air New Zealand’s paperless check-in kiosks completely eliminated the check-in counter in key centers in New Zealand. No lines, just technology that works and friendly staff ready to help if you need it.

In 2009 the airline introduced ‘The Bare Essentials of Safety’, a cheeky pre-takeoff safety briefing. Body painted baggage handlers, pilots and flight attendants made passengers switch back on to the instructions on what to do in an emergency.

I’ve touched on ‘cuddle class’, a groundbreaking economy seating design Air New Zealand introduced in 2010. What makes this truly innovative is not just the fact that nobody’s done it before, but that so many other airlines are fixated on generating premiums by only improving the first class and business class experiences. Focusing on economy shows that Air New Zealand cares about all of its passengers and adding value to every part of its business.

Other recent innovations include being the world’s first airline to introduce induction ovens on flights, allowing it to serve fresh pizza, burgers, toast and eggs the way you like them; offering mobile connectivity on its new Boeing 777 Dreamliners; and involving passengers in the development of inflight snack options, and entertainment through a new website developed in collaboration with YouTube. Degustation, communication, participation. What a menu.

Air New Zealand’s recent cornerstone investment in Virgin Blue to give it more exposure to the Australian market in challenging times is yet another example of the company’s positive, outward-focused mindset.

Wherever you find it, this kind of consistency is the hallmark of a truly great company. Everybody wins. Take a bow, Air New Zealand.

Image credit: Cossack

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

In an attempt to get a competitive edge in a cutthroat industry, many airlines focus on cutting costs, rather than finding ways of consistently delighting their passengers and thereby generating sustainable premiums. It’s a trend that’s irked me for years (witness Exhibit A).

This is surprising as air travel becomes more and more indispensable in the modern world. The world is increasingly developing around airlines and airports rather than vice versa, as the Wall Street Journal recently reported. The ‘aerotropolis’ – the city that grows up around an airport and has more in common with global hubs than its immediate geography – is reshaping commerce and communities much like seaports and trading posts have in previous eras. Aerotropolises are fast springing up in places like Dubai, China, India and Africa, creating electric connections for people, resources and finished goods in a globalizing world. For aspiring airlines, the stakes are sky high.

The good news is that as the global market for air travel continues to heat up we can expect the truly creative, customer-focused airlines to emerge from the pack. Airlinetrends.com’s report on 11 innovative airlines to keep an eye on in 2011 picks out a bunch that are blazing a trail to a better future. While not necessarily the ‘best’ in the industry when it comes to the whole package (though one or two would top that list too), these airlines are showing the kind of can-do instinct that generates true value for both customers and stockholders. Here’s the list, along with a few of the ideas that are setting them apart:

1. Who else? Air New Zealand has long been leaving the competition in its jet stream. Its most stratospheric innovation of late is ‘cuddle-class’ (as I covered last year), an Economy Class feature that allows passengers to convert three seats into a comfortable bed. This is the tip of the innovation iceberg. More tomorrow.
2. All Nippon Airways is getting creative closer to the nose-cone. The ‘welcome home’ helicopter or limousine transfer to Tokyo for first class and business class passengers making the round trip to North America or Europe gets a big thumbs up.
3. Lufthansa comes in third with in-flight internet access and an uber-quiet first class cabin with sound-absorbing curtains and carpet. Wunderbar.
4. Delta has introduced service agents with hand-held computers who are actually equipped to deal with numerous customer problems. A refreshing change from hapless attendants glued to a counter.
5. Finnair was among the first to employ Mandarin-speaking staff to welcome passengers. Savvy. Traditional Finnish saunas next to the lounge get my vote too.
6. Southwest (airline code: LUV) is showing passengers some warmth by bucking the industry trend towards charging for extras. Second bag? No problem.
7. KLM – Royal Dutch Airlines is showing some True Blue-skies thinking by introducing sustainable fuels and catering. Way to go Dutch.
8. Virgin America is setting the pace digitally, with an in-flight entertainment system that supports chat, gaming, live satellite TV, digital shopping and a food and beverage service that links to flight attendants’ tablet PCs.
9. Cathay Pacific is discovering the power of participation by asking customers to submit ideas for an Asian-inspired dessert through Facebook. The winning dessert will feature on ex-North American flights.
10. Emirates from Dubai is the biggest and one of the best airlines in the world, two things that often don’t go hand-in-hand. State of the art in-flight entertainment. Premium amenities. Providing crew with real-time customer information so they can provide better service. Brilliant. On my own ranking Emirates would swoop in at number two, I have written several times about its incomparable service, experience and the destination itself; and it would be matched by Abu Dhabi-based Etihad – another great experience and proud sponsors of the mighty Manchester City.
11. Korea’s Asiana rounds out the list with services like PreMom and Happy Mom specifically for expecting mothers and families travelling with tots. A class act.

Image credit: Brian Joseph

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

I posted two whiteboard videos towards the end of last year – audio lectures on fascinating subjects combined with quirky, fun illustrations of the innovative concepts being discussed that unfold in real time while you watch, see here and here. These simple but compelling pieces are perfect examples of how sisomo works.

The website of the 254-year-old Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in the U.K. (RSA) has smartly reinvented itself as a platform for “21st Century Enlightenment,” with its whiteboard and other videos of “talks”, the category invented, or rather resurrected, by TED in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The RSA has reenergized its program with cool features like the whiteboard video series, called RSAnimate. I already wrote about Ken Robinson’s lecture on “Changing Education Paradigms”, but I was also blown away by the previous installment in the series, RSA CEO Matthew Taylor’s talk on what 21st century enlightenment means.

Taylor’s main point is that today’s many challenges require us to think differently and that means embracing a new, “self-aware, socially-embedded model of autonomy”. His model urges us to incorporate recent insights into human behavior and look at our reactions to events without being captive to them, which will help us extend the reach of empathy and create a more collaborative, sustainable world. Still with us?

What I really like about Taylor’s position is its emphasis on qualities of the Age of Now. In the 21st century, we need to accept and adapt to constant change without losing sight of our commitments to each other and the earth itself.

Another RSA video features writer Kathryn Schulz on “Being Wrong”. Schulz makes the case for error as a key driver of ultimate success and breakthrough and offers this insight as central to any vision of 21st century enlightenment.

Add the RSA to your bookmarks – it’s become at least a weekly must-see, along with TED and BigThink. Below are additional selections worth checking out:

• Economist Paul Ormerod on Public Policy and the Power of Networks
• Futurist Dr. Ian Goldin on Africa 2050: Will Africa Claim the 21st Century
• Nobel Prize-winning Economist Amartya Sen on Reducing Injustice
• Adam Kahane on Power and Love: A Theory and Practice of Social Change
• Philip Zimbardo on The Secret Powers of Time

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

China’s economy is set to become as big as that of the United States, by some estimates as early as 2027. Too often though, commentators speak about Chinese consumers like they’re some kind of monolith, somehow different from other customers. Yes, they represent truly enormous collective purchasing power, both now and increasingly in the future. But evidence is building that individual Chinese consumers are ultimately looking for high-quality products they can have an emotional connection to.

This point was driven home in a recent article from China Daily, “Screens and dreams fuel Freud fever,” about the explosive popularity there of Sigmund Freud. Libraries have loaned out every copy of The Interpretation of Dreams, first published in 1899. Bookstores are sold out. Tens of thousands of Chinese students have sought training to become psychoanalysts. And the blockbuster-in-the-U.S. Inception, set in a stunning dream world and owing much to Freud’s theories – and predicted to bomb in China – was a smash.

The New Yorker also reported on the trend, with an article “Meet Dr. Freud” commenting on the Chinese hunger to explore psychiatry. Where China had around 60 psychiatrists for a population of 500 million in 1949 – reflecting the status of mental health as a social taboo – a surging interest is now fueling initiatives like web-based psychotherapy courses and analysis between American therapists and Chinese patients over Skype.

Driving this phenomenon is the simple human desire to understand the mysteries of our interior lives. As one man interviewed by the China Daily, Zhong Juntao, says, referring to Inception, “I might not be able to have multi-layered dreams like they do in the movie, but I want to know more about my subconscious.” Zhong keeps The Interpretation of Dreams, along with Liao Yuepeng’s Everyday Magic Hypnotism, within reach at his Beijing apartment.

While Freud and his works were introduced to China in 1920, they became unpopular during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s. As China opened its economy and society beginning in the 1980s, the world-changing father of psychoanalysis began to stage a comeback. Now he’s a superstar. What drives the recent explosion of interest? The China Daily article quotes Harvard anthropologist Huang Hsuan-ying, who says, “[Freud’s] psychoanalysis deals with ordinary things, such as quarrels, pride and pressure. These things echo with the current state of mind of many Chinese.”

That state of mind is worth remembering as we contemplate the opportunities to be found in the ever expanding Chinese market for consumer goods.

Image Credit: Up@Dawn

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

Last year’s Nobel Prize in Physics went to two professors from the University of Manchester for groundbreaking experiments with a material called graphene.

Graphene has the potential to one day make your iPad feel about as dynamic as a brick. It’s thin (one atom thick), strong (100 times stronger than steel), light, transparent and conducting. It could be used for things like touch screens, solar cells, gas censors, DNA sequencing, faster computer chips and bendable electronics. A one meter square hammock made from graphene could hold a four kilogram cat, and would weigh as much as one of its whiskers.

Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize in October for being the first to pin this “two-dimensional” material down and tell us about it. And what I like most about this story is their reputation for playfulness as a way to discovery. Where others failed, these guys managed to extract graphene from graphite (that’s the stuff in your pencil) by, as a first step, sticking it between two ends of Scotch tape and pulling it apart again. And again. And again.

I’m not surprised that one of these guys once made a frog levitate in a magnetic field to demonstrate the principles of physics: it’s the sign of a mind that understands the power of play. It’s thanks to this kind of nimble thinking that we will one day be able to make the almost unimaginable a reality.

Andre Geim (left) and Konstantin Novoselov. Image source: Good News

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

I’m fond of saying there’s no point being brilliant at the wrong thing (thanks Edward de Bono). Which is why any news of a boom in new ideas might be taken with a grain of salt. Quantity is not quality, nor is every idea a winner.

But quantity does increase the likelihood of stumbling on that one crazy, simple idea that changes everything. And diversity across the group of crazies asking the questions makes it just that much more likely.

That’s why the latest UNESCO report on the Current Status of Science Around the World is exciting. If you can make it past the uninspiring title, the topline outtake is that the power base of world science is making moves.

Where once most of the world’s spending, patenting and publishing of scientific work was done by the EU, Japan and the US, today more and more is being done by emerging players like China, India, Brazil and the Republic of Korea. In 1990 the established doyens of science and technology were responsible for more than 95% of R&D globally. By 2007 it had dropped to 76%.

The bottom line is more insights and ideas are being tested by more people in more places everywhere. The challenge will be for the new players in science to remain in a fluid state of emergency, and avoid the inertia that most institutions fall prey too, a state that kills the best ideas at birth.

The good news is the creative revolution has gained momentum to a point where anyone who stagnates will be replaced by someone with more edge. In the meantime, look out for the next big thing to come from somewhere new.

Image source: e-architect

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GUEST POST from Kevin Roberts

Any list of the biggest challenges humanity faces would place energy near the top. Meeting the challenge will require immense creativity, determination, and the help of some of the greatest minds in the world. In order to power the future, we’ll need to create cleaner, cheaper, more dependable sources of energy. For this reason, Saatchi & Saatchi Russia has been working with an inspirational cause called the Global Energy Prize.

Introduced in 2002, the Global Energy Prize has been awarded to 22 scientists from countries around the globe. Aimed at spurring groundbreaking research in energy, they award three prizes each year (adding up to almost $1M) for breakthroughs, discoveries and the large-scale achievements in energy science. Candidates are nominated by the greatest thinkers in the field, including Nobel Laureates for physics and chemistry, past recipients of the Global Energy Prize, and winners of the Kyoto, Max Planck, and Wolf prizes.

This year’s awards will be given in St. Petersburg in June 2011. As a lead-in to the festivities, the organizers have partnered with The Guardian to collect what readers think are the “world’s toughest questions” in energy. If you’ve got one, stop by The Guardian’s Environment page and submit it. On 3 November, a team of past Global Energy Prize winners and members of the selection committee will tackle your questions and, in the process, jump-start the conversation about this important issue.

Already, the responses have been flooding in. The Guardian has collected over 500 questions from people who are concerned about our energy future and are eager to hear what these experts have to say. Here’s a sampling of questions that have come in over the last few days:

1. To what extent is nuclear a safe form of energy (including its production and mining)?
2. How viable is wind power as a clean, alternative energy source?
3. How long does it take to recoup the energy used in the construction of the various non-fossil fuel energy generating systems, including nuclear?
4. What is the single worst consequence of continuing our use of fossil fuels?
5. What is the most dangerous problem that awaits humanity in the next five years?
6. What are the most effective methods of reducing energy consumption?
7. How much of the big “global energy change” is going to rely on new, emerging technologies compared to individual contribution and governmental policies?
8. How far are we on the way to fusion power?
9. When will solar panels be made more efficient so that they can turn more of the sun’s energy into electricity?
10. Can the world meet its current and future energy needs without fossil fuels using existing technology?

We need innovative energy, and with the help of some of the greatest minds in energy science, the Global Energy Prize is blazing the way.

Image source: Save Wave Energy

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