Mobius View

Dilbert

2008-09-18T10:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to post the occasional Dilbert, only because Scott Adams could be the greatest thinker of the corporate age. Also because he says Mobius. Heh.

In the meanwhile, Anand has embarked on an important mission - please contribute.

Profiting from Higher Oil Prices

2008-09-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

It's not just the oil-producers that benefit from higher oil prices, it can be innovative firms too. Take the case of Checker Courier, a NY-based pedal-driven courier service. Which in turn is a client of Revolution Rickshaws, a firm that provides alternatives to petrol-driven vehicles. The alternatives are of course, greener and healthier, which are benefits beyond fickle petroleum prices.

Via the interesting Reveries, which in turn was pointed out to us by Seth MARKETING-GODin.

- B

Marketing News - Unilever Chief.

2008-09-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

This should be interesting: The new Unilever chief. He's ex-P&G! It'd be a shame if the two cultures average out - they're different.

Read more about it at the Brandgym blog.

A Brief History of Japanese Design

2008-09-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Interesting link, this. It's a TIME magazine photo-gallery which charts a brief history of Japanese design. The entire list can serve as a set of case studies about innovation and/or outstanding marketing, in it's time. It's also a history of Japanese marketing. Apart from being good examples of design, needless to say.

The list, transcribed here,

1. The Sony TR-63 transistor radio, 1957
2. The Toyota Corolla, 1966
3. Hello Kitty, 1974,
4. Sony's Walkman, (or Soundabout), 1979
5. Nintendo Super-Mario Brothers, 1985
6. Issey Miyake in the 1990's
7. Tadao Ando's pavillion at the World Expo in Seville, 1992
8. The Toyota Prius, 2001
9. Hayao Miyazake's films, especially Spirited Away, 2001
10. Tatsuya Matsui's Palette, 2005
11. The Orochi

I'm disappointed that the Nintendo Wii is not in it, I'd put it as among the best of the lot. Nevertheless, it's a must-see for anyone interested in the history of innovation, marketing or design.

Link to Photoessay.

- B

Clearly

2008-09-07T10:35:00.000-07:00

Cleartrip, for the uninitiated, is among the many Indian travel meta-websites around these days. But it's my favourite. By a significant margin. For it's SIMPLE interface.

I've liked it for some time now, and that preference has been driven purely by the nice clean uncluttered interface that they've always had. I'd say that their interface today is the most cluttered it's ever been. Which still makes it far cleaner an interface than it's competitors. Take a look at a couple of random selections from the same space, shown below. The pictures say it all.

I thought about my preference for the website, and I remembered that though I've always liked it, it's not been the site I've used for ALL my domestic travel (they only recently introduced international flights). I've occasionally used other websites when they've given me significantly cheaper offers. However, if all the prices are more or less closer, I'd rather use Cleartrip.

I also realised that they have a regularly updated, and interesting blog. I first stumbled upon it, when someone (sorry, but I forget who/where) linked to their 5-part story on how they developed their visual identity. I had used it as an example in a lecture of developing brand identities. The story starts here, and you can navigate from there on.

An aside. The one thing I always wondered, though is whether Cleartrip designed their interface page first, or whether it was Kayak. Their interfaces are visually similar. There is a discussion about that here (scroll down to the comments). Kayak, for it's clean interface, and nice functionality, has been my preference for international travel in the past. However, Cleartrip now has international flights, and Kayak has an indian site in beta. I'll let my emotional consumer decision making decide, at the moment, which one to use.

- B

PS: for some reason, the images are getting all skewed when I'm uploading it, I'm trying to fix it.

An Unexpected Break

2008-09-01T00:36:00.000-07:00

This blog has been neglected for a while due to good news at A's end, and B's holiday. We'll be back, soon.

Youtube Insight

2008-08-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

Youtube Insight is essentially like a Google Analytics functionality added on to your Youtube Page.

Otaku

2008-08-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

Our latest presentation on slideshare is up. It's on a concept from Purple Cow, Seth Godin's iconic marketing book. Here is it:

Otaku

view presentation (tags: schulz howard cow purple)

Do remember to vote for us!

- A

We Made It

2008-08-02T05:10:00.000-07:00

To Triiibes, Seth Godin's new 'project' - about his upcoming book. It's invitation only - but all you need to do, is to order the book.

Simplicity in Packaging

2008-08-01T05:01:00.000-07:00

Awesome reductionist packaging from Japan (where else?) - Tofu in balloons!

Tofu packed into balloons, by Kamakura-komachi?! Surprisingly a great example for reduced packaging: Its elastic material is extensively stretched, and when pierced with a toothpick, the balloon bursts and only a tiny bit remains. How amazing! REDUCE with more flexibility! The same packaging concept is also applied to a pudding – to be seen here.

Read the rest of the post on pingmag to see some more examples of good packaging. Some brilliant innovative thinking here.

Via Boing Boing.

-B

On The Map

2008-07-31T01:36:00.000-07:00

We've put the country on the map. Yay.

- A

User Behaviour

2008-07-29T01:26:00.000-07:00

While simplicity is one of things we advocate on the blog, designing apps is not necessarily simple. To make the interface simpler, one actually has to go further with the thought at the back-end. Google's search engine interface is the simplest start page around for ages, but it's search technology is far from simple - it hasn't been bettered in a long while.

We found this nice piece at the Juice Analytics Blog, which looks at analytics apps, and how thinking through the user behaviour very carefully goes a long way. I like the fact that they recognize sites like Travelocity and Kayak as analytics apps. It's a good quick read from earlier this month.

I myself have been a fan of both Kayak and Google Analytics for a while now.

- B

Our Next Presentation

2008-07-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

We put up another presentation (well, two actually, if you count the Doodle4Google one. Here's the second one - expect more on this and related issues in coming blogposts.

the edge

view presentation (tags: generations thing big next)

Do remember to vote for us!

- B

Compressed News Redux

2008-07-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

I was browsing about aimlessly, and came across 10x10, this pretty neat visualization of what is essentially the news. It's a set of 100 pictures (and associated words) that represent the news of a chosen period - lovely clean site navigation too.

Check out the 10x10 site here.

- B

Vote for Us!

2008-07-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Do vote for us at the World's Best Presentation Contest on Slideshare. We've recently put up the first of our many (intended) entries!

Here it is...

Simplicity

view presentation (tags: ford coke mcdonalds godin)

It's a long-time favourite topic of ours - expect a lot of posts on this!

- A

Breakthrough Consumer Innovation

2008-07-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

Every marketer talks about creating the next big thing - but a parallel challenge is to operationalize it. Yes, one needs to be 'innovative' or 'imaginative' - but how?. A great example can be found in designer Tithi Kutchamuch’s work at her website. I think the essence of her work is simplicity and a drive to personalize the consumer experience. A lot of her ideas spring from a simple thought based on very basic consumer insight.

In her project “a cup of” – she starts very simply with the statement

Each Drink have their own typology of vessel e.g. beer mug, wine glass, coffee cup, milk bottle etc.
How about when we mix the drinks?

To me, the above lines have brilliance of being able to start so many thoughts because they are based on basic consumer truths. This thought conveys that beverage consumption is not just an event but a ritual where many things play a role, e.g. the setting, the occasion, the location and the container. Tithi has gone ahead to create cups where you can experiment with this ritual by mixing of drinks. What's impressive is her simple and visual layout to present her ideas.

However the bigger thought again is the ability to imagine the consumer situation (I doubt many beverage marketers could come up with this insight) which paves way for simple, yet new, ideas. Imagine the possibilities for a juice manufacturer who might want to grow in a tea dominated market. Can we create a ritual of consumption of a juice mixed with tea and position the brand around “good to go with your morning tea”?

A similar idea of hers is “my tea time” – which brings in the setting also into the picture. Tithi has designed trays based on the setting and the drink consumed. The whole design just heightens the beverage consumption experience.

We learn to ask four questions from here:

1. Can I personalize the product experience?
2. Can I visualize the product experience?
3. Can I ask very simple ‘what ifs’ based on my understanding of the environment?
4. Can I enhance the product experience by changing the environment?

There is a recent growth of an experiential form of product consumption - Starbucks has been riding on this wave. Can we try this on a completely different situation? Let us take an example of a Bank ATM (any time machine).

Applying the 4 rules we learnt in this context -

1. How do we personalize the experience?
Personally ATMs remind me of annoying queues or irritating delays where the machine does not work or being in a hurry because I just want to get the money and be somewhere else.

2. What can I visualize of the experience? Cramped rooms, staring at the back of somebody’s head, listening to random segment of someone personal conversation on a cell phone.

3. Now comes the tough one – What are the "What ifs" I can ask based on this picture?

What if I can get some other work done while waiting?
What if I can meet some interesting people who are there?
What if I really enjoy being in the small room?
What if the ATM machine for a change gave me some pleasant surprises along with the cash?

4. How can a bank enhance the experience for a customer? I am sure there are many possibilities arising out of each of the What ifs.

What if I can get some other work done while waiting?

Can I offer free internet on mobile devices for people to browse while they wait
Can I Bluetooth-enable the area near the ATM so that customer can key in the request in advance using the mobile while waiting or maybe do some other bank transactions (obviously this idea would have some security concerns)
Can I pay utility bills using the ATM’s

What if I can meet some interesting people who are there?

Can there be an incentive for people to meet others and collaborate – reward for a pair who enter a contest while waiting. Can I make the ATM a social hotspot (OK this is a wild one but maybe there is some culture out there where people are desperate for a conversation with others)

What if I really enjoy being in the small room?

Can the ATM machine be anything other than a stupid box with a screen. Can I collaborate with product makers such that I use the latest Macbook Air, iPhone, or the Wiimote to enter the request. Obviously this will work more where there are no long queues However there are clear co-branding and revenue opportunities (ATM as a media contact point)

What if the ATM machine for a change gave me some pleasant surprises along with the cash?

Can I give random reward points?

Overall, the learning is to be on the lookout for innovative ideas - inspiration can strike you from anywhere. It's more likely to come from unconventional sources like cup and crockery designers.

- A

Hello World

2008-07-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

:)

- B