The100: Tactical levers, beer mode and going client side

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Someone who might say something a bit silly

We’re fortunate enough to have been involved in more launches than a 1960s dockyard here at Watch Me Think. And whilst not one that we worked on directly, the new coffee bag from Taylors of Harrogate has always stood out. Just as brilliant is the story behind the ad campaign.

It can be helpful, at the early stages of a project, to get a completely naive perspective. The view of someone who doesn’t know (or care) about all the technical details. Someone who might not even use the category. Someone who might say something a bit silly—that you can then pick out and turn into something clever.

And what about this recent piece of genius from Kraft Heinz? Absolutely love it. Talking to real people. Taking a step back. Smashing it out the park.

A Petri dish near an open window

To help stoke the discovery of such ideas you need to be fuelled by coffee.

And also beer.

Nice. I’m taking that literally.

In beer mode, you find inspiration. And in coffee mode, you harvest that inspiration. If you only spend time in coffee mode, you’ll shut yourself off to transformative ideas because the fruits of genius are sown with the seeds of beer mode wanderings.

In more brain training, undisputed overlord of the anecdote, Dave Trott, has been reminding us of why we should be different, rather than better.

Peak Bay Area

Once you’ve harvested the fruits of genius and had that idea, where do you set yourself up? Well, according to an assessment from Kim-Mai Cutler, it’s no longer the Bay Area of San Fran. All change isn’t it?

“Hang on a minute: we make food”

Kellogg’s head of R&D and Innovation, Nigel Hughes, did a rather interesting interview with Mckinsey (McKinsey? Interesting? It really is all change) on the challenges CPG companies face within innovation.

I have enough gray hairs that I can pretend to have an innovation philosophy. I would call it a solution-based innovation philosophy. I picked it up by spending time on the west coast and observing big tech companies. Although their models are constantly evolving, fundamentally big tech are design aggregators, with technological components that come from other places. I see that as the best way to handle the uncertainty and opportunity of the future.

That stuff is so 20th Century

Boy was it knives out, beaks bloody from the good Professor of Ritsonia. Lest we forget that the 4 P’s of marketing are far from dead and to stare down other frameworks with the most skeptical of eyes:  

Marketing has to do a better job of defending a century old discipline against digitally induced nonsense masquerading as insight that obscures the value of proper marketing to businesses very much in need of it.

Huge kudos to Zoe Cayetano for the way she handles Ritson’s post and her response in the comments.

The Maroni River, French Guiana

I thoroughly enjoyed this GIF about going client side. Funny.

And if it’s all getting a bit much, how about some slow TV from around the world to cleanse the soul? Sailing Up the Maroni River, French Guiana is a personal favourite.