theIdeaStudio (Customer Crossroads)

Launching a new look and a new name: theIdeaStudio

It's been 6+ years, a gazillion posts, and lots of fun. It was time for renovations, so today is the start. We tore off the old wallpaper, stuck a dumpster out back and threw in a bunch of widgets, and then got the sledgehammer out.

So today is the launch of a new look, and a new name for this space: theIdeaStudio.

Creative wardrobe assembly online: Polyvore

While investigating Pinterest, I came across this interesting shopping and style site called Polyvore.

Polyvore lets you browse their collections of gorgeous clothes and assemble outfits. Like my feeble attempt shown below, or seen on Polyvore here.The brilliance of this site is that I can now actually shop on line for this entire outfit (for a couple of thousand). I can see things that other people have assembled, and shop for their stuff, too.

Not only that, but with their clipping widget I can import items from other sites I might be shopping at, to assemble my virtual outfit online. (Just in case I find a non-Burberry trench for less than a grand).

 

 

This site would seem to have solved the challenge of trying to piece together offerings from different places. I'm guessing it also gives people with a recession budget a way to go virtual window shopping. Like everything else now, it does of course have a social element: you can create outfits (with help from templates to make you look good), you can ask questions, you can browse other people's outfits, you can search for clothing.

It's got simple drag and drop functionality, and is so easy to use, I assembled an outfit within about 10 minutes. I then had options to post it to a variety of social media broadcast sites.

I may not be buying Burberry any time soon, but a girl can dream, right?

Social media analysis simplified

 

Despite what you may hear, there are really only three types of social media "listening" you can do.

Looking for innovation: Expand the context

I was talking to an executive recruiter recently, who was describing the process of hiring people for middle management and executive level roles. [No, I am not looking for a job, we were sitting beside each other at a Strategic Coach workshop].

I learned that the hiring company's on-boarding process - how good it is -- makes a big impact on the likelihood that the newly hired executive will be a success.

"Great opportunity to expand your services", I suggested."Help your clients manage the on-boarding to ensure it is successful".

Many product and service categories present this opportunity, and you should always look for these methods or approaches. It's simple, really, as the diagram shows.

Every activity has a bigger context. The context might be emotional / motivational. But it might be functional. Or both.

Word for the day: Transmedia

Transmedia is the new word people are using to reference the process of telling a story through multiple media.  It's a nice, short, evocative and useful word. Throw it out in a few meetings this week and see what kind of reaction you get.

Dungeons and Dragons may be the original transmedia story, according to Lucas J.W. Johnson at Silverstring Media. Star Wars is also an excellent example. What D+D can tell us about Transmedia

Transmedia is kind of the new convergence.