Innovation Forum - held at Danks Depot in downtown Waterloo on Tuesday 24th of November.

Innovation can be fleeting. One person’s idea of innovation can be another persons idea of failure. Innovation comes and goes, often leaving behind either infused fans or scathing critics. What is innovation and how is it defined? mmm how long is a piece of sting?

At igloo, innovation is one of our core business pillars and we are constantly striving to evolve and adapt to it’s changing landscape. Heck if anyone understands how to adapt to different environments then it is certainly eskimos -We need to stay warm in cold conditions.

In a quest to uncover the key to innovation, I recently attended the first Innovation Forum. A night to debate innovation amongst industry experts and align innovation with best business practices. The Innovation Forum is an initiative by Ben Rennie of Uncluttered White Spaces.

The Innovation Forum presented an opportunity for like minded industry professionals to discuss what constitutes innovation and how it redefines consumer behavior. The event also raised crucial funds for social enterprise organisation Streat that helps homeless people find long-term employment.

Social Media practitioner Ian Lyons kicked off the forum discussion, exclaiming “broadcast is disrespectful, repetitive 30 sec TVC’s are not only annoying but consume peoples time, I find them offensive”. Lyons went on to inform us that, “social media is more than just Facebook and Twitter. Competitors are listening to countless online conversations to gain consumer insight and deliver innovative products”.

Business Strategist Mick Calder from 333 Consulting explained innovation “is like porn, you really don’t know what it is, but you know it when you see it”. Ideas Director, Paul Swann from Naked Communications, went on to explain innovation as a social responsibility, claiming “retailers demand new products”.

Only 15 minutes into the discussion and clearly the innovative juices were flowing. Innovation is a complex topic that requires lateral thinking and educated debate. The forum raised questions surrounding,

What is the incentive to innovate?
Is innovation possible in big business?
Why is there a need for innovation?
What kills innovation?

So why do some companies innovate whilst others are reluctant? Its the age old mystery, why didn’t Encyclopedia Britannica invent Wikipedia? What stopped them from innovating? Why is it technology and innovation are possible, yet we are still apprehensive to combine them?

Increased consumer demand for relevant and up-to-date knowledge will continue to dictate innovation. The key difference between profitable innovation and innovation that goes unheard, is the difference between innovation that changes consumer behavior and innovation for the sake of innovation.

Jason Pollard from Public Design Group claims, “big corporations do not harvest innovation.” This is commonly attributed to employees feeling disillusioned about change and afraid to step out of line. Fear of losing our jobs cannot immobilise change. According to Calder “taking risks and allowing something to fail is what makes innovation possible”.

Johannes Weissenbaeck, Managing Director of Play Communication, explains innovation as “changing consumer behavior and offering something new”. Innovation is without doubt a buzz word that conjures up excitement amongst creatives and hesitation amongst financial heads of department. How does a company safeguard their innovations whilst fostering innovation? James Hewitt from Public Design Group explains “the ones that innovate are not the ones that need to survive”. For example Google has the financial luxury of allowing employees to innovate one day a week. This is exactly how Google Earth was discovered and most importantly came to fruition. Google won innovation points because they allocated specific time and resources to foster research and development.

So how do we compete with Google and get companies to innovate? Lyons encourages “prove that your competitor is going to eat your lunch”, in other words innovate or get left behind. Lyons believes getting innovation off the ground all comes back to conveying perceived value.

Cool Hunter Co-founder, Laura Demasi, acknowledges that perceived value comes back to consumer habits explaining “the consumer today is more informed and educated then ever before and in order to innovate you must be the loudest person in the room. Today innovation is mandatory”.

Although research and innovation go hand in hand, technology provides transparency. This transparency has changed market research and product testing. Today you can test and gauge public perception at the click of a mouse button. Social media platforms can deliver key insight into observed and non-prompted behavior vs traditional market research. These social marketing channels are reshuffling how businesses not only collate consumer insight but also prioritise innovation.

Online technology has allowed for transparency and accountability from both marketers and consumers. For example one charity organisation that Lyon recommends is Kiva, an organisation that has innovated online. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. A common goal and an innovative way to deliver this goal. Thanks to Kiva delivering a transparent lending platform, innovation has meant real people can share real stories and influence the lives of others.

In the final 15 minutes the big question hit, “What kills innovation?” The answers were diverse. Inhibition, fear of change and loss of revenue were a clear consensus. Businesses that are afraid to innovate inhibit growth.
So how do you get innovation off the ground? Innovation comes back to collaboration, we must involve the client. The same can be said internally, involve the CFO in your next marketing meeting. Lyon is an advocate of including key financial decision makers in the innovation process and believes that you are more likely to get innovation approved and into production if you involve all key decision makers from the beginning.

Calder concluded that “innovation is about having the courage to have a go whilst employing risk management strategies”. Innovation is all around us and the realm of possibility is infinite. The difference is talking about it and actually doing it. Best advice is to build a supportive framework of both people and financial resources and see a project through.

The final question put to the panel was “What would you do differently tomorrow?”. Consensus was that in order to innovate and stay competitive then you must be unafraid of change, foster collaboration and speak up, be the loudest person in the room, innovation is not just a new way of doing something – it is a new way of behaving. Most importantly don’t be precious and remember to laugh at your own ideas. We certainly do at igloo!