Author Archive

Innovation: Using ‘blockchain’ to extend micro loans in Kenya

The Innovation of the Day from trendwatching.com   Twiga Foods in Kenya, a platform helping farmers distribute produce to food stalls, partnered with IBM to extend microloans to stall vendors. IBM created a system to help these sellers receive credit scores; a machine learning algorithm analyzes their mobile purchase records and calculates a credit...

Earning trust, the essential currency of commerce

What is the most important asset for success in business? A new idea? A strong team? Lean manufacturing? A sales plan? A huge email list or Twitter following? Location? This question is something like the old desert island query: “If you were stranded on a remote desert island and could...

7 new business trends we’re seeing in 2018

Millennials welcome generation Z America’s youngest generation, “Gen-Z” (those born after 1998), are now entering their formative years and rising in influence. At nearly 70 million strong, the eldest of which are now entering college and/or the workforce, this group will soon outnumber their Millennial predecessors. Millennials are not children anymore....

VALCORT® : The hard work leading to an aha moment

One day just a few years ago, the light went on in a conference room at a mid-sized manufacturer in the southeast. The idea kind of light. After hours of discussions with the company’s leaders and frontline sales directors, and dozens of interviews with its customers, we presented a simple...

Striking Innovation in 4 Sectors of Life

Innovation in Charity New Story: American charity New Story partnered with robotics construction firm Icon to 3D-print homes, and establish a community in El Salvador. The organization is raising $1 million to produce its affordable homes. Each home contains a kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms, costs $4,000 and takes 12–24 hours to...

Why Your Next Creative Idea Might Be Doomed Before It Launches

You can be clever in your marketing communications. You can be funny. You can be surprising, shocking if you want to. You can think outside the box…and then burn the box. You can come off sounding smart, savvy, hip. You can do all this, and still miss the point. Sure, you...

The Story Behind 25 Epic Strategic Marketing Fails

Influencing public opinion and behavior is a complicated art, and hitting all the right notes in your advertising and marketing is rarely an easy task. That’s why developing a solid brand and market strategy is so very important. We’ve compiled thumbnails on 25 efforts that haven’t worked out so well....

The 7 disciplines of wildly successful charities

Building the trust that fuels program growth In recent years, about two thirds of Americans respond to appeals from charities for support of projects to meet human needs, create new initiatives, advance faith, and reverse wrongs. Nonprofit organizations received $390 billion in donations and were supported by 7.9 billion hours...

Do you need a strong corporate brand?

Creating and presenting a strong brand is all about establishing value.  This is especially true if you are selling direct to consumers. If you been dealing primarily with distributors or retailers, your brand is important, but to a lesser degree. If you shift your focus to selling directly to consumers,...

Ageless beauty, and other trending innovations

Four trendy innovations from Trendwatching: 1. Twenty-two years after her contract with Lancôme was terminated, 63-year-old Isabella Rossellini has been re-hired by the French beauty brand. In February, the brand launched a campaign starring the Italian model and actress as the face of its Renergie Multi-Glow range, a skincare line...