Marketing Society - Effective Innovation: The Big Idea
(Adam) I thought I would give you an update on this event that I went to last night. Firstly my reason for going was that the title sounded interesting, with the possibility of learning different approaches.
What actually happened was that there were 4 agencies (Advertising, Digital, Media, DM) who gave short talks in a Pop Idol style format about why their discipline would be the next Master of the Universe in Big Ideas! This basically involved showcasing some work that they had done and in the case of the ad agency awards that they had won.
My main problem with the event was not that these people cannot come up with big ideas, they all can to a certain extent, or the fact that there were no brand/ innovation consultancies represented. Rather it was that there was no actual substance to it, for me the interesting thing is how you get to a big idea, not why your discipline is better at it (which is difficult to prove if you don't talk about the how).
Having been to a few of these events now I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that these seem to be a showcase for companies to get more business or individuals to raise their profile, rather than the sharing of learning or approaches. Especially when people are paying to attend.
What are your experiences of events or talks like these? Am I just being pessimistic about the state of the conference circuit at the moment?
What actually happened was that there were 4 agencies (Advertising, Digital, Media, DM) who gave short talks in a Pop Idol style format about why their discipline would be the next Master of the Universe in Big Ideas! This basically involved showcasing some work that they had done and in the case of the ad agency awards that they had won.
My main problem with the event was not that these people cannot come up with big ideas, they all can to a certain extent, or the fact that there were no brand/ innovation consultancies represented. Rather it was that there was no actual substance to it, for me the interesting thing is how you get to a big idea, not why your discipline is better at it (which is difficult to prove if you don't talk about the how).
Having been to a few of these events now I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that these seem to be a showcase for companies to get more business or individuals to raise their profile, rather than the sharing of learning or approaches. Especially when people are paying to attend.
What are your experiences of events or talks like these? Am I just being pessimistic about the state of the conference circuit at the moment?
posted by Adam French at 1:42 AM
4 Comments:
Adam, great point. I have recently begun blogging from my design and innovation knowledge.
Designers and innovators seem to put up a smoke screen to create this big mystery around what they do. I personally think anyone can innovate and design when they are give the right tools. I also think the knowledge on how to do it should be open.
As designers we should educate our clients. They will appreciate it. They are not trying to steal our ideas. The process and results will be better for it.
Adam
I agree with you. I very rarely go to conferences these days that promise innovation, as invariably people like you and me have far more expertise than those presenting.
Presentations that are on the how tend to be be based around one tiny part of the process (like running a quant test that solves all your problems as one RI CEO seemed to promise the other day) when the innovation process is so much more complicated and really involves many different areas of exprtise and passion at different times.
I'd love to set up a business to run effective conferences - they all seem so dire - thinly veiled sales pitches instead of a true sharing of expertise.
The tragic irony in this is that these agencies brag about how they are able to think differently and deliver "marketing innovation". Yet, via these conference pitches, they market themselves in the exact same way (touting awards and secret sauce) that the "establishment" has for decades. In most cases they are not as different or progressive as they would like to believe.
They cannot share their process (the "how"), because it's not different - sharing would expose them. So, to those firms that have something unique, share it openly. You'll stand out.
Interestingly all the speakers at this conference where CEO/ MD's. I am really not convinced that these are the best people to be giving talks as they are often removed from the day-to-day business. How can they share new learning when the actual implementation is not part of their remit.
Post a Comment
<< Home