Discovery tools, applications that help individuals find, explore and learn, are one of the key battle grounds in the technology sector as Apple discovered to its cost when it ditched Google Maps in favour of its own inferior software.

There is a lot of information out there that can help you plan and enjoy your day, it’s just fiendishly difficult to get to grips with it all.  A well designed discovery app should pull everything you want to know about your location, the weather, transport, news, local restaurants, your diary etc. into one easy to use app.  For example, if you give it access to your diary, it should be able to tell you that the flight you’re about to take is delayed.  As an additional challenge, it needs to achieve a high level of personalisation in a way that doesn’t seem too Big Brother.

Google Now (#GoogleNow) seems to have pulled this off; the feedback to date is overwhelmingly positive.  Consumers have grown increasingly reluctant to share personal data with big companies but Google Now seems to offer enough in the way of useful information to make this trade-off worthwhile.  It’ll be interesting to see if it’s relatively quiet launch in 2012 gives Google the edge over its rivals in 2013.

On Tuesday 6^th of December 2011 (also St. Nikolaus day) the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and the executive chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt inaugurated the French “Googleplex” in Paris.

Edouard Schwebel, ex consultant at The Value Engineers and now working for Google in Paris opened the Q&A session in full class by welcoming the French president and breaking the ice by wishing him charmingly and cheekily a happy name day. And then Edouard went on to ask:

“In 1984 Steve Jobs met François Mitterrand. Shortly after he was asked on French public television: ‘Is France ready for a success like Apple?’ 

Not convinced Steve mentioned cultural, economic and social obstacles that were in his opinion stronger in France than in other more innovative countries.

My question today, nearly 30 years later is the following: Is France ready for a success like Google?”

You can read more about this story in Le Monde online and also watch Edouard next to Nicolas Sarkozy. There is a short intro by Eric Schmidt and Edouard starts talking about 1:24 minutes into the clip.

At the risk of bandwaggoning it was a great shame to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs today. A man described by Barrack Obama as a visionary who achieved so much in a relatively short lifetime will have thousands of anecdotes, stories and myths about his life recounted over the coming weeks.

Whilst it is impossible to summarise the effect Jobs has had on his surroundings in a blog post one key lesson I will take from his remarkable life is the power of a single voice in leadership. Be it positive or negative, where Apple was concerned the buck started and stopped with Steve.

A great example of this approach is documented by adman Jon Steel in his book Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business. To summarise the account of a meeting between Steel and Apple in the late 1990′s shortly after Jobs was reinstated as Apple CEO goes something like this:

• Meeting starts between Steel and two Apple marketing execs
• Marketing execs present chart after chart of market, industry, consumer and economic data.
• Jobs arrives
• Jobs tells Steel to discount everything he has been told thus far
• Jobs draws 17 boxes on a whiteboard and proceeds to draw crosses in fifteen of them, telling Steel: “These are the projects I’m going to shut down, these two are our current focus”

This clarity of vision and single-mindedness focus is a refreshing lesson for any business but especially those engaged in marketing to a mass audience, where the relationship between vision and expression risks differing interpretation both internally and externally at all times.

So whilst there are so many things we can take from Steve’s successes one is surely that when iAmincharge things often run a great deal smoother.

Introducing the fifth in our blog series of eleven innovation and branding precepts for 2011.

TAKING BABY STEPS

Innovative products and services often require that consumers learn new behaviours, or modify existing ones, and often this can be a barrier to adoption. By focusing on making the whole consumer experience intuitive and simple, this barrier becomes much lower as consumers are happier to make the small and easy change to use your product or service.

ANGRY BIRDS
As mobile phones increasingly become entertainment devices, and mobile gaming attracts a broader appeal across age demographics, what better way to capture an audience and over 50 million sales than with a basic, yet addictive platform game that combines physics, skill and a comical storyline. The imminent expansion into consoles is a great example of how simplicity can help build a brand.

IPAD
Never a brand to rest on its laurels, Apple has done it again with its 2010 launch of the iPad, and recent launch of iPad2, setting a new standard for technology usability. The advertising says it all “You already know how to use it”, andeven a four year old can figure it out in minutes. Setting high
consumer expectations for intuitive user interfaces, other brands will be running to catch up and compete with the iPad with their tablet PCs.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…
What are the barriers to behaviour change in your category? Brainstorm ways to overcome them – then simplify, simplify, simplify.

If you can’t wait for the next blog in the series, or you missed the earlier ones, all eleven precepts can be viewed here.

Introducing the third in our blog series of eleven innovation and branding precepts for 2011.

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
 
Even unique products have the potential to be replicated, and increasingly brands are realising that a key area to differentiate and innovate is around service and customer experience. This is particularly relevant for brands selling services or abstract products, but it is also increasingly important for product brands as well – as we’ve seen for global icons like Apple and Nike.
 
METRO BANK
As the UK’s first new retail bank in over a century, Metro Bank has had to offer something very different. Focused primarily on the customer experience, including having retail-based opening hours, relaxed branch layouts, and even treats for customers’ dogs, MetroBank has set its sights on turning the entrenched lack of consumer trust in banks into loyalty for their new generation of bank.

VICTOR CHURCHILL
This high-end butcher in one of Sydney’s richest suburbs has taken the standard consumer butchery experience to a whole new level. In a city where high quality meat is the norm, Victor Churchill has realised that it needed to find another way to differentiate. Starting with the amazing fashion-store interior design and product wrapping, through the impeccable service from knowledgeable and experienced staff, to the butchery masterclasses that sell-out almost immediately, this really is a stand-out customer experience in a retail category not known for its innovation.

APPLE
Everyone knows Apple makes beautifully designed, easy-to-use products, and that for its fans the brand is bordering on cult status. Having mastered the art of producing market-shifting technology offers, the wonder-brand has now focused their attention on their retail presence. Taking their already-high customer engagement to the next level, Apple retail stores include training zones with workshop offerings for every level and segment of user (much of it free), highly knowledgeable staff who know the products and services inside out, and are equipped with the very latest point-of-sale technology – all focused on enhancing the customer’s experience. And of course, being Apple, the stores are beautifully designed and easy to navigate.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT…
How could you differentiate yourself from your competitors on customer experience or service? What are the ‘pain points’ for your customers that you could turn around to surprise and delight them? How should or could your brand manifest itself in a retail or service environment?

If you can’t wait for the next blog in the series, or you missed the last one, all eleven precepts can be viewed here.