Hip, Hip, Design!

Glad someone else is saying it too...

"Innovation is no longer just about new technology per se. It is about new models of organization. Design is no longer just about form anymore but is a method of thinking that can let you to see around corners. And the high tech breakthroughs that do count today are not about speed and performance but about collaboration, conversation and co-creation. If you are in the co-creation business today—and you’d better be in this age of social networking—then you have to think of design. Indeed, your brand is increasingly shaped and defined by network communities, not your ad agency. Brand manager? Forget about it. Brand curator maybe."

"Design and design thinking—or innovation if you like--are the fresh, new variables that can bring advantage and fat profit margins to global corporations. In today’s global marketplace, being able to understand the consumer, prototype possible new products, services and experiences, quickly filter the good, the bad and the ugly and deliver them to people who want them—well, that is an attractive management methodology."

And that's just what agencies with a new-type of model are doing. Thank you Anomaly. Thank you Mother. Thank you Undercurrent. And many more are getting closer to the real issue between consumers and companies: that of disconnection & distrust.

Consumers demand more honesty in the commercial realm, and the internet puts accountability at the front and center of conversations nowadays. Think smart. Think consumer. Listen to them. Innovate as needed. Proceed with confidence and conversation. Design/planning/strategy, whatever you want to call it, it's a necessary component if you want to be a smart company and make smart decisions. My philosophy is that it's about making ALL of the elements make sense and fit together in a seamless, authentic, honest way.