Change of Address

We’re moving!  Okay, to be more precise, the Insights and Ingenuity blog is moving. 

We can now be found at:  http://insightsandingenuity.com/

The blog is moving to allow more maneuverability with widgets and plugins and other cool stuff I don’t personally know how to do but know how to ask (bribe) (coerce?) someone else to do.  My only job is to write about the random and seemingly disparate thoughts that rush around in my head and occasionally collide.  Thoughts that, hopefully, readers have become to enjoy (even in our short tenure) and will update their iGoogle page and blogroll with the new URL.

So thanks for your readership and occasional posts.  Hope you join us at the new site!

Heather

Innovation or Expiration

Achieving a balance within the business place is critical. Tempering research, review, evaluation, test cases, focus groups, and various other litmus tests (all important, mind you) with a less formalized or regimented assembly of secondary or institutional knowledge, intuition, and aggressive growth strategy can help establish a zone where drivers and testers can reasonably cohabitate. But don’t wait too long!

Resistance to Change: The Way to Obsolescence

How might subscription-based service companies (like newspapers) with deep traditional roots in print format develop a growth strategy that would leverage the Web as a channel for reaching targets, rather than deny the swell and interest? When resources are limited, how might a newspaper with two distinctly separate audience bases rise to the opportunity to better serve each of them in a relevant and authentic manner?

12 Step Program

User-generated content is powerful and pervasive. Studies show that consumers filter many of their decisions through their relationships with trusted – or otherwise endorsed – sources. If vehicles like blogs have the potential to reach everyone, and the messages communicated therein can be crafted to resonate strongly, how can marketers harness this potent power for our clients in a way that adds value, relevancy, and authenticity to the proposed relationship?

Surface Texture

A recent article featuring agency Digitas Health caught my eye with their claim “We don’t work the way traditional agencies work.” Near the end was an innocuous quote “We build and manage a brand surface over time. . .” and I believe I had a lightbulb moment right then and there. The word “surface” in context with the entity brand really intrigues me, because I believe it implies a length and width, a continuous plane that can surround. The sheer scope lends itself to conforming to varying situations and needs, doesn’t it?

Top Workplace Tips

Consider this my Pet Peeve post. I’ve amassed a few months worth of irritants, suggestions, observations and wanted to make my voice heard. One can only hope a few people from the office are listening.

Succession Plan

Rather than allowing a workplace Green-Eyed Monster create a communications barrier between you and another capable, talented team mate (you really don’t want 2nd stringers on your team, now do you?), embrace the strengths and skills they lend to the dynamic and accept that you don’t own the patent on superstardom.

Fail to Succeed

Holy cripes, I thought it was only me who worried about falling flat on my face. Certainly not Mr. Accomplished. But his revelation made me think about innate fears and vulnerbilities we all have, and how glorious it would be if we could all just let it hang out.

Banana Clips and Troglodytes

Consumers are a unpredictable bunch (well, somewhat). Smart marketers have to invest in due diligence and due process to intelligently quantify prime segments and qualitatively ascertain the attributes and benefits that will resonate strongly enough for them to make a commitment.

Oh! The Places I’ve Been

Let the places you’ve been, the situations you’ve visited, and the people you’ve seen mold, shape, influence, and build you into someone best suited for the job. Channel the examples from the Best, and behaviors from the Worst into learnings that will affect what you have to offer and give.