Probably everyone working in innovation knows the story of the invention of Post-it notes, but I came across another sticky innovation story the other day which I hadn’t heard before but which is equally engaging

Wolfgang Zengerling, former head archivist at Henkel AG, says that the inspiration for the world’s first glue stick was an airline flight and a passenger who was putting on her make-up.

The story goes that one of Henkel’s chemists, who was working in the adhesives business, was travelling to a meeting on a plane. Sitting next to him was a woman who, as they came into land, started to put on some make-up.

The chemist was intrigued and was particularly fascinated by the way she applied her lipstick. He watched her twist the bottom of the tube, which pushed the lipstick up and just out of the top, so she could easily apply it. No fuss, no messy colour on her hands and a nice smooth even finish.

The creative leap he made was to ask himself why can’t glue be as easy to handle and apply as lipstick.

Pritt Stick, the world’s first gluestick, was launched in 1969 and is still going strong today.

Which for me poses a question - why is it the glues get all the good innovation stories?

This week we are looking at 5 random facts and figures about chocolate:

-       66% of all chocolate is consumed between meals

-       22% of consumption takes place between 8pm and midnight  

-       Chocolate is consumed more in the winter than any other season.

-       An ordinary milk chocolate candy bar has more protein than a banana.

-       Around 7 billion pounds of chocolate and candy are manufactured each year in the United States.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post on the shop of the future. Inspired by architect Ali Mangera’s talk on Radio 4’s Four Thought it looked at the game-changing impact of digital retail on the physical environment, and the opportunities this might throw up for brands.

To continue in the vein of futurology I would like to take you away from the supermarket and into the airport, with reference to a recent article by architect Bill Hooper on Fast Company’s innovation blog, Co.Exist.

According to a 2010 survey* nearly 25 per cent of UK individuals find travel hub experiences as traumatic as moving home. However, this could all be about to change…it fact, it’s already started!

What was once a sterile, stressful environment, little more than a gateway to more enjoyable times, is evolving into a relaxing destination of choice. Airports around the world are installing pools, golf courses, cinemas, even licensed wedding rooms, all in the name of reconnecting with the distressed air traveller.

Take a moment to consider what your ideal holiday would look like. There’s a chance that sunlight, tropical plants and wildlife, and maybe even a babbling brook might feature – an oasis of calm to soothe away the stresses of everyday life. Well, look no further than Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, where a new, six-level terminal is set to open in 2018. Designed to look and feel like an airborne terrarium it will also include two central parks, a stage for live performances, and even more deluxe shopping at an airport already renowned as one of Asia’s finest retail destinations.

And it seems everyone’s at it. Take Munich airport’s authentic Bavarian wonderland, with its onsite brewery, indoor beer garden and slick Audi showroom. Visit Hong Kong airport and you can enjoy a quick round on the outdoor nine-hole course, followed by a film at the 350-seat IMAX, proud home of the largest projection screen in HK. And in Lagos, Nigeria a planned airport is expected to become the go-to destination for African shoppers looking to buy duty-free international appliances.

With non-aeronautical revenue being critical to airports and airlines, especially in this age of mergers, bankruptcies, and consolidation of flights, there is significant commercial opportunity in ‘aspirational’ airports. And the more retail outlets and other concessions paying for exposure to the millions of people passing through the world’s airports daily, the lower the operating costs for airlines.

We can draw considerable comparison here with the shop of the future, with both environments making the move from functional necessity to social and entertainments hub. With the opportunities this transition presents, what can brands do to attract the ‘new’ airport consumer, with altered objectives and frame of mind? And how might they capitalise on the scale, diversity and interactive potential these spaces offer? It can be all too easy to focus on the digital world as the main driver of change, but with the change in physical spaces and their function continuing apace it is crucial for brands to look in all directions for their next big opportunity.

* carried out by credit card protection agency CPP

Jeff Hansen, the general manager of brand strategy at Microsoft announced the new logo by saying that

It’s been 25 years since we’ve updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change. This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products. From Windows 8 to Windows Phone 8 to Xbox services to the next version of Office, you will see a common look and feel across these products providing a familiar and seamless experience on PCs, phones, tablets and TVs. This wave of new releases is not only a re-imagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning

Like so many ‘new’ updated logos it has been met with a mixed response. Some reviews like its clarity and simplicity; others find it a bit dull. Much focus has been placed on the fact that Microsoft is using the four colours as a means of expressing the variety and diversity of its products.

What I’m glad to see is that the more semiotic element of the ‘window’ remains. I have always seen the four colours as signifying the breadth and depth of their range. And whilst other have focused on them as four tiles, for me the ‘window’ symbolism is key. Of course it has been linked and used by Microsoft Windows but the notion of an eye onto our ever changing world or even a portal in a digital world works not only across the Windows sub-brand but for the master brand as well.

At The Value Engineers, we do a lot of innovation. Because we do a lot of innovation, we see a lot of ideas. And because we see a lot of ideas, we see a lot of bad ideas.

It can’t be helped. Not all ideas can be good ideas, or the balance of the universe would be thrown off. Of course, sometimes bad ideas just haven’t reached the perfect execution, or they need a little tweak to turn them into something compelling and revolutionary. But sometimes they’re just bad ideas.

This is a bad idea.

This is BIC For Her – a range of pens created especially for women, with a slimline body “designed to fit comfortably in a woman’s hand”, and available in a range of pretty pastel colours.

Oh dear.

I could say a lot of things about this idea – however I think the reviewers on Amazon have done a better job than I ever could. Enjoy reading those.

The thing is, innovation is a tricky beast. It is a vital part of any business, and when done well it can be the difference between being a leader or a lagger – Apple or Nokia, Spotify or HMV, Google or Yahoo. But it is 100%, categorically, not about innovating for the sake of innovating.

The instant, viral reaction to this product has been undoubtedly amusing – but from a brand perspective, it’s a dangerous path to tread. Although new launches come and go faster than ever and consumers are used to seeing products fail, in an age where opinions can be broadcast to millions in seconds (and lest we forget, the internet lives forever), even one small mistake can carry a disproportionate blow.

So BIC: Don’t do anything just because you want to do something. Fire whoever came up with this idea. Hire a few women. And then come and talk to us.