Effective Storytelling:Best Ads from TED !

'30 seconds to 3 minutes - time given to tell a story and establish an emotional connect ' - Welcome to the life of an Ad maker.
Storytelling is now an common topic that is now featuring in the training strategy of many corporations; There is an growing consensus that there is no other better way to teach a subject on 'communicating ideas' than to use the principles behind making an advertisement.
Ads indeed provide a wealth of ideas that could be applied in different spectrums of life.
TED has taken the lead and have started promoting the best Ads through their AWS initiative (Ads Worth Spreading).
Take a glimpse of the Top 10 Ads selected by TED.
http://blog.ted.com/2014/03/14/ads-worth-spreading-2014/
The pick of the lot for me Guinness Basketball Commercial

Uber Taxis:Smart Pricing as distruptive innovation channel

In my last edition of Resonance Newsletter, I had written about the growing popularity of Bitcoin.Similar to Bitcoin's principles of determining the currency value based on the market transactions, I spotted the innovation from Uber Taxi.
Uber Taxis is a taxi service offered in Newyork and now present in 50 countries including Australia.In a established and crowded industry like the Taxi Services,Uber has found its market share by using smart pricing + app based technology+ great customer service as their foundation for their operating model.
Uber uses a pricing model called 'surge pricing' where the prices are set based on the demand for taxis at any point in time.
Based on the demand ,Uber's algorithm sets the price and many times it has been found in off-peak hours it turns out to be cheaper than normal taxis and during special events/ peak hours the prices are astronomically high.
Though there are laws against such pricing models which in US is referred to a 'price gouging',I believe it is an interesting model to creative disruptive innovation.End of the day,customer pays is she is willing to use the service at high price.
Share Markets,Airline Tickets,Last Minute hotel offers are other industries which adopt similar approach.
Closer look of this model is definitely a Resonvate pattern to think and resonate.

Resonvate : Innovation thinking propagated by Resonance which is based on the  premise that innovation can be enabled by looking at concepts, practices and industries from dissimilar disciplines

Resonance Newsletter : Issue 25

Click here to read the full edition.

Books for Colombia:Innovation through Pizza !

'While returning from classes,can you pick up a bottle of milk from nearby store ?' -for many it is a familiar day to day scene in households. Utilising the return travel and optimising it for productive effect starts from home and has been effectively used by many organisations especially those is logistics business.
Few of them have become more responsible and are doing their bit for the society.
One such innovative project comes from Spanish airline carrier Iberia and pizza chain ,Telepizza.

The concept was based on the suggestion of a Telepizza employee who saw the potential of the empty-handed drivers on their way back from delivering pizzas. Aiming to put that potential to work for good, the effort invited delivery customers in Madrid to donate unwanted books for delivery to the needy in Colombia. Telepizza drivers used the empty space in their vehicles to transport the books to the local Telepizza outlet; from there, they were sent via Iberia aircraft to Colombia. These books are collected by a NGO and distributed to libraries.
With every pizza you help someone read !

Source : www.airlinetrends.com,www.telepizza.es

Report lost items, gain good karma !

'Real value of a item is known only when one loses it ', was a line which I read recently in one of the books.The real value of that line can be appreciated if one has been in that situation !


A recent SITA Baggage report 2011 stated that mishandled baggage cost the airline industry an estimated US$ 2.94 billion and other survey indicated about 50,000 laptops are lost in US airports every year and 65 % of them not claimed or returned to owners.

This is where the innovative service provide by Turly Tag caught my attention.
An anonymous tagging system has been developed to prevent the permanent loss of personal possessions when they go missing.By registering online with Turly Tag, customers receive several tags and stickers with a personal ID number. If they lose an item that has been tagged, honest finders are given the opportunity to go online or call the Turly Tag hotline and find a solution for the owner to be reunited with their lost possession.

What impressed me the most about it was the tagline used to market it ,"Good Karma,a little easier '.
Can't this be used beyond just finding personal posessions ..I can think of many more uses of this concept !

Converting unused dollars: Ideas for Social Innovation

Every day there are thousands of public transport travellers in cities across the world who have unused fares in their travel cards or equivalent tickets.
Is there a way to monetise these unused small currencies and use it for a noble cause ?
Recently I came across this article where few students from New York university have designed a system which can be used to convert unused dollars for social causes.

MetroChange has designed a kiosk to be placed at busy subway stations throughout the NY city — “especially those where tourists and occasional users of the subway transition out of the subway system, transferring to an airport or regional train service”. Commuters and travelers who have a small amount of unused value remaining on a card can swipe that card at one of those kiosks, where the value will be recorded and transmitted to a central fund .

MetroChange from Genevieve Hoffman on Vimeo.

For me this is a brilliant idea which could be shaped up from this basic level to several interesting applications .
My ideas on we could use this in other areas:

Sure, lot more could be achieved with things we waste !

Resonance Newsletter:Issue 19

To read Click Here

Nalaga'at Theatre :A touching tale of deaf-blind drama troupe

When it comes to innovation few countries which get top of mind recall are - Japan,Singapore,Kenya,USA.
But slowly I have been fascinated by the innovation stories from Isarel.While they are pioneers in advanced technological innovations , the story of the world's first deaf and blind drama troupe was indeed a touching one .I never expected this troupe to be on par with professional theatre artists .
Hats off not just to the differently abled artists but the translators, trainers and the director of the troupe who have made this possible.
Nothing better to explain how passion and commitment can make things happen..
Worth spending three minutes of time ...Don't miss the video !

Courtesy :http://www.israel21c.org/

Resonance Newsletter : Issue 17

Click here

Think fresh: Sewage Infoway !

Its no more just food,clothing and shelter that matters ;in today's world Internet too is a necessity for most of the educated folks.
Don't agree with me ?
Try living your life without internet for a day,a week or a month.
If you are bold enough and trythe experiment for a month, soon you will find that you are living in a prehistoric world with information explosion just sweeping you away.
Backbone for all connected world today is the infrastructure to obtain high internet speeds.But given the population explosion , cramped spaces and chaotic cities , how does one sustain and grow the internet connectivity !!

This is when I came across an amazing fact that the intenet in most parts of France is carried through its 'Sewage system'.
Wow,this is engineering and innovation at its best!
SO how does it work ?
In France, tunnels meant for sewage is also utilized to carry fibre optic cables and the complete process of laying cables and managing them is backed with excellent technology .
This is not just in France, Japan,UK to are catching up to leverage the power of their sewage systems!

No digging of roads , amazing speeds ,shared resources and effective way to meet the objectives - what more do we need !!
For me this is fascinating work and really has made me realize that even trivial,small and insignificant things could be leveraged to do wonders.
Most of the times we think in a narrow traditional way looking for solutions that are time tested and 'just meets my needs'.Creativity and willingness to experiment is what distinguishes the best from the rest..
How many countries have thought about things in different way or have the ability to execute such acts !
Every small thing in world has a story ...Inspiration is everywhere...!
If in France, don't miss out the Paris Sewage system visit from your itinerary !
Definitely , I am waiting for it ...
Sewage System Photo courtesy:Roy Tennant

Stop Talking,Start Doing !!

One of the recent TV Commercials which attracted me was the
"Stop Talking,Stop Doing" theme from IBM.
I realized it was such a powerful message well shot into a TV commercial.
Today in every corporate strategy,Innovation related topics are a 'MUST-BE' line item.But reality presents a different picture altogether.
Many fail to pull up their investments on innovation and translate them to competitive advantage.
If you are interested in comparing orgnaization's performance,have a look as to how successful organization's have been in the area of INNOVATION.
Dynamism is business makes INNOVATION a quintessence !
IBM commercial triggered in me ,lot of thoughts;
Really much more needs to be done to differentiate oneself, rather than just talking.
Actions speak louder than words !
Its time to 'Stop Talking and Start Doing', atleast for me!
For commercial and related news check out IBM website.
Also have a look at this blog on INNOVATION by one of my colleague Pavan Soni.