1. Fear. It’s human nature to fear what we do not understand. Although many managers proclaim that Innovation is vital to their company’s success, when the time comes to truly embrace Innovation, these same managers hold back. There are many Innovation-related questions they can’t seem to answer. What exactly is defined as Innovation? Who do you hire to “do” your Innovation? How do you evaluate the employees working on Innovation? How do you measure success? Indeed, Innovation is not as straightforward as the core business and its impact can’t always be measured in hard numbers. Still, there are management methods to ensure that Innovation serves the practical needs of the business, while preserving its creative and spontaneous nature.
2. Short-term focus. Most businesses are in a constant race against time. There is so much to do that is due tomorrow that dedicating time to Innovation, which will “pay off” in a year or two years, seems like a luxury. Yes, your Innovation efforts can be dedicated to a big, far-away-in-the-future product launch but Innovation can also serve your immediate business needs. It’s totally up to you. Innovation is not just a process, it is a way of thinking and can be infused into everything – that’s the beauty of it.
3. The intimidating “creativity factor”. Although they won’t admit it, many people, including your managers and your colleagues, believe that they are not very creative. This is why, every time your managers encounter a creative challenge, they outsource is to their agency partners. This is also why, when you ask a peer to attend an ideation session, they try to squirm out of it. However, whether they realize it or not, and regardless of function or tenure, all employees have a lot to contribute to their company’s Innovation efforts.
4. Cross-functional team fragmentation. Nobody said managing Innovation is a breeze. Even after you have gone through the fuzzy front end of the Innovation process, you have chosen an idea and you have assigned a project team, there are still factors that can hinder Innovation. Working in silos is the biggest one. Sometimes, when you put Marketing, R&D, Manufacturing and Finance on a project, instead of collaborating, they begin to compete with each other and are quick to point the finger at their teammates when the team encounters challenges. Helping Innovation cross-functional teams gel is one of the most substantial contributions you will make to your company’s Innovation efforts.
5. Attaching hard-core sales targets to Innovation projects. The main reason companies kill Innovation initiatives, ideas and projects is because their projected dollar contributions are not on par with management’s expectations. This logic is flawed for a couple reasons. Number one, if projected sales are the sole measure for Innovation success at your company, you are unlikely to launch any truly disruptive products or services. Number two, it often takes just a little tweaking to make an Innovation initiative more profitable than it currently is. That’s why a company’s management team should look beyond the core financial targets and appreciate the Innovation projects’ true potential.

If you are a champion for Innovation at your company and you have to overcome these, and many other, barriers every day, kudos to you! We are convinced that your persistence and enthusiasm will pay off. In the meantime, should you need a little advice from Innovation professionals who have been in the field for a decade, register for our free webinar “Top 10 Ways to Get Everyone At Your Company On the Innovation Bandwagon” on February 23rd. We will share tips on how to overcome the aforementioned barriers and begin to create a culture of Innovation at your company. Good luck and we hope to speak to you then!

The advantage of these scannable codes is speed:  instead of reading and typing in a long web address, you just open the code-reader app on your smartphone, hold your phone over the code as if taking a picture.  The app reads the code (which is just a link to a specific web page) and instantly displays that web page on your screen.   Now that we understand how the technology works, let’s take a look at some of ways you can employ QR codes to move consumers through the purchase decision process.

Assist consumers with information gathering, to move them more quickly from awareness to interest – A magazine ad or point-of-purchase sign can generate awareness of the new product, while a QR code can then link an interested consumer to a video that provides more information – for example, a demo on how to use the product, a scientific expert’s view of the product, or user testimonials.  This is an efficient way to educate consumers about highly innovative or technical products.  Here are three great examples that are likely to speed up the buyer decision process significantly.

EXAMPLE 1:  A print ad for Columbia’s new Omni-Heat Electric jackets shows us a fashionable jacket being worn by a skier, which linked to a video showing how you operate the jacket’s heating system.

EXAMPLE 2:  A magazine ad for ArmourBite (Under Armour’s new line of performance-enhancing mouthpieces) grabs attention with the image and endorsement of hot Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, and the QR code links to a video explaining the science behind the product.  An advantage of video links through YouTube:  you automatically see links to related videos, including product reviews by dentists and sports experts.

EXAMPLE 3: At Aveda salons, stylists’ mirrors now carry a sign advertising Aveda’s new Invati solutions for thinning hair, with a QR code linking you to a video of consumer testimonials, describing how they used the product and the results they got.

Convert Intention to a Purchase – Anywhere you display your product, you can include a QR code that links consumers right to an online ordering page for the product.

EXAMPLE 1: A recent US Postal Service ad, for example, promoted their free Flat Rate Shipping Kit with a code that took you right to the online order form – making it super-easy for readers to convert interest to action.

EXAMPLE 2: DERMAdoctor, a specialty moisturizer with limited retail distribution, also took advantage of a QR code to drop interested consumers to their online ordering page.

EXAMPLE 3:  Cuisinart’s Coffee Plus machine can brew coffee and also provided heated water for other beverages.  The magazine ad generates initial interest, and the QR code takes you to a web page where you can choose from multiple next-steps:  learn more about the device, find a retailer, or order the product online.  Whereas most of the QR code executions we’ve seen link you to just a single action, this one gives the consumer more control of their next step in the purchase process.

Drive Traffic to the Store – Ever wished you had the phone # or address of a restaurant handy, to make last-minute reservations or to direct a friend to join you?  You can now scan a QR code off a store ad or signage, and that information will be copied into your smartphone’s contact file.  QR codes can deliver other information as well, such as hours of operation and current specials.  A QR code can even be set up to transmit just a phone #, so it comes right up in your phone’s dialer, ready for you to hit send and make the call.

Make your service easier for consumers to use, increasing consumer satisfaction and repeat sales –

EXAMPLE 1:  You may have already seen a QR code on an airline boarding pass or a concert ticket.  Just save the QR code image in your phone’s photo gallery (so you don’t have to rely on an Internet connection later), and ticket-takers can scan the code right off your phone – no more digging for (or worse, losing!) wrinkled bits of paper.

EXAMPLE 2:  Similarly, Best Buy’s price signs now display QR codes that bring up product reviews and ratings, helping to overcome a common barrier to technology purchasing (“I need to go home and research this some more, before I spend the money”).

EXAMPLE 3: Despite America’s increasing nutrition consciousness, it’s still rare to see nutrition and ingredient information on restaurant menus, and good luck getting correct deets from a server.  Now, a QR code on a restaurant menu can bring up an item’s nutrition facts, a list of ingredients in a specific item, or even a video of the item being prepared.  Or how about this:  since the iPhone has become the latest tool in cranky-child mollification, wouldn’t be great if there were posters in all restaurants and waiting rooms bearing a QR code that provided a free game download?

Next Steps for Marketers:

1. If you don’t already have a free QR reader on your SmartPhone go into your “market” app and download one now.  Think of it like the next generation Adobe Acrobat Reader.
2. A QR code or Microsoft Tag is the latest thing you need to have on all of your printed materials, along with your phone number, street and website addresses, and Facebook link.  You can easily set up your own QR codes using an online provider like QRickets.com.  Once you have the QR code image, you can put it on any printed or electronic promotional materials, even t-shirts.  You can then use Google Analytics to track the number of people who reach a given web page via a QR code scan (just see their site for instructions).  It’s incredibly easy to try this out at very little expense.

Every successful new venture is a triumph of an idea or a series of ideas. It is a celebration of the desire to make life better, easier or more interesting. It is made of fresh perspectives, clever solutions, drive and determination. Entrepreneurs are the ultimate innovators. They play with ideas, create value and drive the business forward. Let’s take a closer look at what entrepreneurs do differently and how it can be applied to the world of corporate innovation:

1. Entrepreneurs see clues everywhere. Entrepreneurs look at reality differently. Hungry for fresh ideas, they see opportunities even in the most mundane daily activities. A city dweller’s occasional need for a car led to the car-sharing concept of Zipcar, and the hassle of lugging groceries after a busy day inspired Peapod. An innovator’s mind functions in much the same way. Often, the most ordinary things can spark an idea. If you and your company are on the hunt for a big idea, perhaps you don’t have to look too far. Instead, look at things from a new, fresh perspective. Ask questions more often. Observe closely. Can a shopping cart better accommodate a baby car seat? Is there a way to instantly track your lost luggage? (Or whatever question applies to your industry.) Once you find your idea, run with it.

2. Entrepreneurs don’t fall in love with an idea too soon. Few ideas remain unchanged in the development process. Usually, as product prototypes are created and the first consumers share their reactions, the original idea goes through many iterations. Entrepreneurs know this process all too intimately. In his book, “The Lean Startup,” the Silicon Valley entrepreneur Eric Ries talks about the process of modifying an idea through many course corrections, or “pivots,” to end up with a final successful offering. Innovators, especially those operating in a large organization, should take notice. Having room to pivot is crucial to the success of an idea, so it’s important not to get hung up on the idea’s original version but to allow it to evolve naturally.

3. Entrepreneurs are scrappy. One thing entrepreneurs often taste is rejection. Most, if not all, startups have been refused funding multiple times before someone finally said “yes.” It is not the best ideas that make it. It is the ones whose owners don’t give up. Rags-to-riches entrepreneur John Paul DeJoria says persistence is key to the success of an entrepreneur: “You have to be able to knock on door number 100 and be just as enthusiastic at that door as you were on the first 100 doors that were slammed in your face.” The corporate reality an Innovation manager faces is just as harsh. Remember that it is much easier to reject an idea than to nurture it, and, unless your idea is very safe, be prepared to meet a lot of resistance. Don’t take the management’s lack of enthusiasm personally. Present passionately and as many times as necessary. Don’t let the “innovation committee” dismiss you and “shelf” your idea. Keep knocking on the decision-makers’ doors until you find the like-minded manager who will champion your idea.

4. Entrepreneurs obsess over execution. Both entrepreneurs and innovators spend a lot of time talking about ideas. Inspiring, hunting for, sharing and championing ideas. Without a doubt, fresh ideas are the fuel of innovation. However, truly unique ideas are extremely rare. Entrepreneurs know that, when it comes down to it, what differentiates a winning idea is its excellent execution. Colorado-based venture capitalist Brad Feld says, “Great entrepreneurs point me to what they’ve done to implement their idea… They quickly move past the idea to the execution of the idea.” The same is true in the world of an Innovation manager. As soon as you feel you have the idea down, focus on execution. The speed to market, the packaging design, the customer service and the price point are all tangible expressions of the idea and they all need to be executed with excellence. A mediocre execution can “butcher” even the most brilliant idea and prevent it from reaching its full potential.

When you need a dose of inspiration (as innovators often do), we suggest you go hang out with a couple of entrepreneurs for a while. Talking with people who have long forgotten what it is like not to spot opportunities is sure to give your imagination a boost.

Do you call yourself entrepreneurial? What is the main challenge to maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset in your company? We look forward to reading your comments.

We hear you. And completely disagree with you. You truly are creative, just like everyone else. There are millions of creative ideas (some useful, some not so much) your mind can conceive. You can tease them out when you are solving a specific challenge or just for fun. Here are a few tips and techniques to help unlock your creative mind:

1. Change your perspective. Whatever challenge you have in front of you, there is more than one way of looking at it. Try seeing the problem through fresh eyes. Clear your mind from the details you already know and from the frustration you have accumulated. Pretend you are an independent consultant. Or your boss. Or your kid. Pretend this is the first time each of these people hears about the challenge. What will they think first? What are the questions they would ask? Who would they call? Scribble down these ideas and make these calls. Chances are, by the time this “exercise” is over, you will have uncovered a new resource and will be down a path to an idea that never occurred to you before.
2. Create when you are tired. No wonder you don’t feel creative during the 9-to-5 grind. Because your mind is so tightly wound during this time— you are juggling projects, taking calls and running from one meeting to another—this is the worst time to produce creative ideas. A recent study by Mareike Wieth and Rose Zacks established that people are better at solving creativity problems at a time when they are most tired. Think about it; where do you usually come up with ideas? In the shower? Right after waking up? Right before going to bed? In the middle of the night? These are all times when you are relaxed and your mind is in sort of a mid-state, perhaps half-asleep. This is when the most peculiar thoughts may occur to you and you may even surprise yourself with your creativity. So stop beating yourself up for having trouble being creative at the office and spend a little more time in the shower instead.
3. Step away. Contrary to what people believe, creativity is not just about having unique ideas and finding brand new solutions. Creativity is also recognizing the charm and the benefits of the simple, most obvious, ideas. Sometimes, when you are faced with a creative challenge, the solution is so intuitive you can’t see it clearly. This is a good time to step away from your creative “hut” and go do something entirely unrelated to the challenge at hand. Whip up a nice meal. See a movie. Go for a run. Anything to clear your mind. When you resume your work, nine times out of ten, the solution will be sitting right in front of you.

So there you go, now you have some of the “secrets” all the “creative” people have. Once you try them out and uncover your creative potential, it’s about time you start calling yourself a creative person. Oh, and next time your boss asks you to “come up with something creative” (which, by the way, is code for “I don’t know what I am looking for, so come to me with various solutions and I will pick one”), instead of running in the opposite direction, prepare to blow them away.

Next, we have to wonder whether this is a trend that will last or fade away quickly.  There are several indicators we can look at for this.   First, as noted above, there are multiple converging factors driving the consumer behavior, and that’s always a good sign of a trend with longevity.  Second, we see retail sales trends involving numerous products across multiple categories – that’s another good sign.  Third, the Home Depot Garden Club website’s monthly poll for January 2012 shows that the number one gardening goal for 2012 is Growing My Own Vegetables with 41% of the votes  (admittedly, not the most scientific research, but still an indicator).  Let’s take a look at some of the new products that are capitalizing on these opportunities.

According to leading seed vendor, Burpee, sales of vegetable seeds and gardening supplies have grown substantially in the past few years, with the trend continuing into 2012.   Whereas tomatoes were the hottest product in 2010, herb gardening was on the rise in 2011.  Burpee offers some interesting new products targeting consumers interested in increasing their vegetable consumption for nutritional reasons, but who don’t necessarily have much gardening experience.  One example is their Healing Hands Lettuce Mix, a combination of four varieties of lettuce in a single pellet, which can be planted in a 10” container (if you don’t have an in-ground garden) and harvested every 3 weeks all summer long.  This salad mix promises 20% more lutein and 30% more beta-carotene than the average salad mix.

Another big success comes from 2009 Direct Marketer of the Year award winner Allstar Marketing, with their upside-down gardening products.  Over 20 million Topsy Turvy tomato and strawberry planters have been sold over the past 5 years, with sales doubling in 2010 over the prior year, thanks to prominent advertising and display at retailers like Wal-Mart and Walgreen’s.  Upside-down gardening doesn’t require a lot of space and it foils pests, fungus, and weeds.  Other companies have jumped on the bandwagon, offering a variety of container-gardening solutions.  Suncast, a Chicago-area manufacturer known for their resin deck boxes and hose reels, has introduced several new raised garden frames as well as a tomato tower.

New service businesses are popping up to help beginning gardeners.  Firms like FarmScape and Suburban Farming will help you design a home garden and then do all the work for you, from building the above-ground planting boxes to seeding, weeding, and harvesting.

Retailers like Tractor Supply Co. are tapping into this growing interest in hobby farming, helping rural and suburban homeowners feel like they’re getting “back to the land,” even if they’re just planting a kitchen garden in their backyard.  Home Depot has a Garden Club (started in 2004) with a website and various membership benefits, and they also sponsor youth gardening programs.

Next Steps for Marketers:

1. Consider which consumer motivation for gardening you want to connect with: saving money, better taste, better nutrition, better for the environment, etc.
2. Seek out cross-promotional opportunities with gardening products that fit with that strategy.  For example, a salad dressing or cheese marketer could do a joint promotion with lettuce, tomato, or herb seeds.
3. Consider possible new gardening-related media and distribution channels for your products, which might help your brand connect with consumers in a new and relevant way:  home gardening retailers, gardening clubs, gardening magazines and blogs.

As consumer interests and priorities change over time, retailers need to update — or even reinvent — their marketing strategy to stay relevant.  In this series of articles, we’ll review the success stories of several retailers in different industries.

In the highly dynamic and ever fickle world of fashion – where popular colors and designs changing as fast as the seasons – Levi Strauss has been a icon for over 150 years.  So — how has Levi’s achieved its status as a top global brand with FY 2010 net revenue of over $4 billion, +7% over prior year?

In addition to maintaining the ever-popular 501 jeans series, the company’s research into evolving consumer segments and their specific needs has led Levi Strauss to create very innovative line extensions that fit both the company image and modern consumer needs.

• For women, the Curve ID jeans system recognizes that women vary dramatically not just in their waist size (the typical basis for jeans sizing), but also in the shape of their hips and seat.   Combining these three measurements places one into the Slight, Demi, Bold, or Supreme curve category.  The side seams and waistband are uniquely shaped to flatter each fit.  Levi’s even created a special measuring tape so that store staff can quickly determine the right fit for each shopper, as well as an online app explaining how to measure yourself at home.  Did you know that more than half of all women try on at least TEN pairs of jeans to find one pair they will buy?  Not only does the Curve ID system make the shopping process easier, the fit is so flattering that women rave about how good they look in these jeans.  Confident in shopping and in wearing – that’s a big win.

• For those concerned about the environment, Water<Less™ jeans are made through a manufacturing process that uses an average of 28% less water.   Who knew that most jeans are washed in industrial washing machines between three to ten times during the finishing process?

• For the most price-conscious consumers, dENIZEN™, which sells for about 40% less than premium Levi’s brand jeans.  First launched in India and China (now also available in US Target stores), this brand is an example of reverse invention – where a product is designed specifically for low-income consumers in emerging markets.  Rather than starting with a developed-market premium product and trying to take costs out, reverse invention starts with research on the low-income consumer to understand their specific needs and what is most important to them, and designing the product from there.

• For men, Commuter by Levi’s^® clothing designed and optimized specifically for the needs of the urban commuter cyclist, with features such as performance stretch fabric, reinforcement in key areas for durability, NanoSphere^®Technology – applied to make fabric water resistant, dirt repellant and durable; and reflective tape on cuffs for visibility.

All retailers can take-away at least one valuable lesson or inspiration from Levi’s sales-driving strategies:

• Make it faster and easier for consumers to find the perfect fit for their needs by providing in-store measuring-tool – and let consumers know that once they have found their perfect fit in-store, how easy it is to buy additional items online.
• Innovate a product line that represents a “return to your roots” – in Levi’s case, creating durable garments suitable for specific tough-on-clothes activities.
• When designing a product for a niche market, make sure your product has at least 3 or more specific features — preferably features you can patent or which use exclusively licensed technology, to make them harder for competitors to copy — that combine to make your product the superior solution for that application.

Or imagine walking through the Colosseum in Rome, first seeing it in 21^st century ruins, and a minute later experiencing it as if you’d traveled back to the year 100 BC, in full 3D glory complete with battling gladiators.

Time travel?  No, not yet.  This type of experience is now possible using augmented reality video, already being used in a number of major tourist sites around the world.  Wearing special video goggles, you can see your own view of the world around you – or a pre-made video of it –  on top of which a computer superimposes additional images; for example, the ruins of a historic building or garden can be overlaid with an image of its original appearance.  Added text and voice-over can help you interpret what you’re seeing, on your own schedule, as you move around.  Imagine how much better this could be than an other-controlled group tour or a prerecorded audio tour.  A similar experience can be had on a mounted device similar to a tourist telescope.

A variety of simpler augmented reality apps are already available for smartphones.  For example, with the Wikitude World Browser, just point the camera at a building or object and the app overlays the camera image with wiki-type information and interactive content such as store locations and bus stops.

Within a few years, augmented reality GPS navigation is expected to replace today’s technology for driving directions.  Today, you have to take your eyes off the road and focus on the awfully-small GPS screen for directions.  With AR GPS navigation, images will be projected onto your windshield without blocking your view of the road.  A 3D line superimposed over the street in front of you will show you the route to follow, with additional overlays for road signs and location-markers for food, gas, etc.  We’ll finally be able read those too-small or obstructed street signs far enough in advance to make the turn.

International supermarket chain Tesco has even tested the idea of grocery shopping while waiting for the subway in Korea using augmented reality.  Onto a wall of the subway platform, they projected a lifesize image of a wall of store shelves containing frequently-purchased food items.  Smartphone users could shop by snapping the QR codes of the desired products, and the items would later be home-delivered.

Introduced in summer 2011 in the UK, BLIPPAR™ is a brand new, free application for smart phones – a magic ‘lens’ enhancing the world around you with virtual, instant information and entertainment. Open the BLIPPAR app and simply hold your phone over the image you want to BLIPP, which could be a BLIPP-participating product package, print ad or anywhere you see a BLIPP logo.  (You don’t have to snap a picture or touch anything on the screen.)  Within seconds, the BLIPP “augmented reality” content will appear, such as a video or game. Blipp a Cadbury chocolate bar and a video game appears.  Blipp a bottle of Heinz ketchup and a recipe book appears along with a chance to win prizes.

Take-Aways for Marketers: Augmented reality is hot now.  Download a couple of augmented reality apps to your smartphone and experiment for yourself.  How could an AR app help shoppers in your product category?

Image courtesy of Ariadne

The United States is certainly facing all these issues – and then some. With the increasing perception of government ineffectiveness, partisan gridlock in Washington, economic stagnation, and the Tea Party and “Occupy” movements reflecting a growing discontentment amongst the electorate with both economic realities and government’s role. However, for the country that almost defines innovation – the land of Benjamin Franklin, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs – a lack of imagination has seemingly stalled our leadership, operations and policies.

The deeper causes and potential ramifications of the current state-of-the-union has been brilliantly framed recently by TIME columnist and CNN international affairs program host Fareed Zakaria in an article entitled “Are America’s Best Days Behind Us?”

In his provocative essay Zakaria questions whether these challenges are more than a simple rough patch, but the indication of an inevitable downward slide. Make no mistake: this isn’t US or capitalism bashing. The piece clearly acknowledges what makes the US truly exceptional, but also examines why those strengths are neither inevitable nor unassailable.

Zakaria sees Washington “tackling problems in a manner that’s shortsighted and wrong-footed… because it is politically easy” and “dedicated to preserving the past, rather than investing in the future.” And, similarly, fostering an economic approach that seems destined to “adjust to the crisis of the moment and move on, but the underlying cancer continues to grow, eating away at the system.” He sees an economic system that is, in many ways, a victim of its’ own successes – becoming both over-confident and lacking the necessary agility and pliability to reinvent policies, practices and procedures in a new and fresh way.

While it might seem presumptuous to suggest that innovation holds the key to struggles that have confounded economists, historians, politicians and business leaders, we would certainly suggest that leveraging key tenets of innovation could bring the necessary clarity and procedures to the challenge. Looking for analogous situations, including multiple perspectives, reaching beyond the expected solutions, balancing creative and strategic thinking, rapid prototyping, etc., could all be most helpful techniques in confronting current political and economic trials. With this perspective – and in the spirit of collaboration – perhaps fresh solutions can be effectively formulated, allowing the bigger brains and discipline experts to drive new ideas into reality.

While Washington may be slow to adopt new approaches, the processes of innovation can be found at the local level. Just east of Austin, TX, in the small City of Manor (pop. 5,800) a recent innovation program entitled, Manor Labs, was launched with the purpose of soliciting ideas from the city’s residents in eight categories, including Municipal Court, Police, Public Works, Utility Billing and Economic Development. “Like all government entities, we have a number of issues to tackle, and we know our citizens have great ideas, knowledge and experience,” explained Dustin Haisler, Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Municipal Judge for the City of Manor, as part of last year’s Gov2.0 Expo. “Through our ‘citizens’ innovation platform,’ we are seeing ideas that would likely not have had any visibility.”

Similar efforts can be found in Evanston, IL (pop. 74,360) – a suburb of Chicago – where the recent Evanston 150 effort began to generate multiple “ideas, plans, hopes and even dreams to move our community forward.” Culminating in 10 visionary concepts to help in defining the communities forward, the initiative has been designed to coincide with Evanston’s 150th anniversary in 2013. The 10-month process began with a community kick-off in March and continued with large-scale brainstorming sessions. Ultimately, top ideas were vetted and dimensionalized, and re-introduced to the community through an on-line voting process. The top 10 were recently announced, but – like all meaningful innovation – generating ideas is just the beginning. The “Get To Work Workshop” begins in January, focusing on team building and getting to work on making the ideas a reality.

Perhaps small-scale successes will migrate up the political feeding chain – starting local, and ultimately reaching the state and national initiatives.

• Bedding made of the latest temperature-regulating fabrics isn’t cheap ($150 – $250 for a set of sheets), but it does promise to help you sleep better at the perfect temperature and objective reviewers generally back up the manufacturer claims.  If hot flashes, night sweats, or hot-to-cold temperature shifts are disturbing your sleep, look for brands like Sleep Number’s In Balance, Outlast, and Sheex for sheets, mattress pads, and blankets.

• The Zeo® personal sleep coach ($150) is on display at Best Buy stores now.  Go to sleep wearing the wireless headband and the base station will record and graph your sleep patterns.  When you wake up, the base will display your ZQ score (a summary of sleep quantity and quality).  Pull the memory card from the base station, upload your data to the Zeo website, and get coaching tips for better rest.  The system will even help you determine your optimal wake-up time.

• Wear the Jawbone UP wristband ($100) to bed, and (combined with an iPhone app) it will automatically track your hours slept, deep vs. light sleep, and overall sleep quality.  Tell it your desired wake time, and UP will wake you with a gentle vibration of the wristband at the ideal moment in your natural sleep cycle.  This device also provides diet and exercise support for an overall healthier lifestyle.

These technologies supplement (rather than replace) traditional sleep aids like ear plugs and sound machines to block disturbing noises; light-blocking eye masks and curtains; and oral sleep aids like Lunesta, Ambien, and melatonin.  Food science offers possibilities as well, with milk, bananas, and oatmeal all cited as sleep aids.

Take-Aways for Marketers and Manufacturers: Lots of opportunity remains for both internal and external solutions to maximize sleep-time.

1. Confronting Fear: Alison Levine, is an adventurer, explorer and mountaineer. Having climbed the highest peak on every continent, and currently the Team Captain of the First American Women’s Everest Expedition, Levine is also an inspiration. She spoke about the intense preparation to reach the summit and the trepidations along the way. “Fear is okay,” expressed Levine, “complacency will kill you.” It’s a tenacity that applies to business as well. It’s okay to be afraid, Levine communicated, but it’s essential to confront that fear, to take action, and move forward.
2. Vision: “Vision without action is a daydream,” says Pablos Holman, world-renowned hacker and futurist – but adds quickly: “Action without vision is a nightmare.” While Holman’s career has taken some curious twists, it has been a strong and unwavering vision that has set his course.  Currently he is working to minimize the impact of hurricanes by modifying ocean circulation patterns, to reduce malaria by zapping mosquitoes in Africa, and to slow global warming. While these challenges might seem daunting, by starting with a strong vision, it creates the platform from which even problem with global impact can be conquered.
3. Resilience: Tim Westergren, Pandora founder and Chief Strategy Officer, knows that the path to success can be unpredictable and treacherous. When initial funding and potential venture partners dried up in the early 2000s, Westergren was left with the brilliant notion of an application that allows listeners to create their own radio stations based on their own musical preference – but no money. “We were in a pretty deep dark hole for a long time,” said Westergren in a recent New York article. Belief and resilience – along with maxed-out his credit cards and employees working for free – allowed Westergren to persevere. He pitched his company 348 times before he got necessary funding. Ultimately emerging as a hugely popular iPhone app helped Pandora turn the corner.
4. Differentiation: The sea of sameness will kill you, explains Paul Kahan, Executive Chef & Partner for One Off Hospitality Group and nominee of the prestigious James Beard award for culinary excellence. When he launched the Chicago restaurant avec Kahan’s goal was simply to appeal to 1/10 of 1 percent of the population in Chicago. “It doesn’t matter if 99% of people don’t like your restaurant” said Kahan – ultimately you just need to appeal to a very small fraction. Differentiation, according to Kahan, is about standing out from a crowded playing field, and doing the things – both large and small – to capture the interest, imagination and loyalty of an increasingly fickle public.
5. Purpose: The critical need for identifying “purpose” – the genuine reason behind the effort – was a recurring theme at the conference. Fran Drescher – actress and a 10-year cancer survivor – talked about turning “pain into purpose.” Her cancer diagnosis and recovery drove her to found Cancer Schmancer – an organized dedicated to the early detection of cancer.  It was a profound event that helped give Drescher greater focus: “I got famous, then I got cancer, and now I live to talk about it. Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages.”
6. Maximizing Potential: While perhaps best known for co-authoring the iconic The Art of the Deal with Donald Trump, it is Tony Schwartz’s most recent book Be Excellent at Anything: The Four Keys to Transforming the Way We Work and Live and corresponding work with The Energy Project that has him most excited these days. Schwartz quotes a recent global study that identified that only 20 percent of employees feels fully engaged at work. The problem, according to the Energy Project site, can be traced to the “false assumption that people operate…like computers do: continuously, at high speeds, for long periods of time, running multiple programs at the same time.” Said Schwartz: “In the absence of renewal of energy, compassion, creativity, and innovation are compromised.” Rather than trying to get more out of people, employers are better served by meeting their employees’ multidimensional needs, so they’re freed, fueled and motivated to bring more of themselves to work.

Indeed, as Mr. Schwartz suggests, being “fueled” and “engaged” helps bring out the best in all us. Whether through conferences, lectures – or even a blog post – finding even a little bit of inspiration can go a long way.