Beat accelerating customer expectations with

TREND DRIVEN

INNOVATION
Henry Mason, David Mattin, Maxwell Luthy, Delia Dumitrescu

Foreword by Alexander Osterwalder, lead author of the

international bestseller Business Model Generation

[CONTENTS]

1 2 3

06

WHY NOW

FOCU

SC

Welcome to the Expectation

The Overwhelm is the

What to Run With, When,

Economy

Opportunity

and How

The Expectation Economy

44

Trends 101

124

Post-Demographic

Why your customers are

Where to start with

Consumerism

(almost) impossible to

consumer trends.

A license to focus on

please.

60

Customers Second

86

144

Evaluating Trends for

The counter-intuitive

Opportunity

secret to customer-

Drill deeper into the

centricity.

opportunities offered to
you by any trend.

Trends in the Wild

Four trends and how we
identified them.

98

surprising things.

Watch Businesses First,

Building a Trend Framework

Why you need one; how to
build it; sharing ours.

VI

172

The Consumer Trend Radar

Prioritize and visualize
application of the trends
youll run with.

4 5 6
RA

te

EXECUTE

GE

The Consumer Trend Canvas

264

Realize Your Ideas,

Unlock an Opportunity

or Realize They Are Useless

Machine

The First Yards

Your Trend Department

Make those first steps

Get your colleagues to see

generating compelling

count.

around corners.
302

ideas.

Trend-Driven Ecosystems
Tap into and harness

The Consumer Trend Canvas

external networks too.

in Action
Practical examples to learn
from.
244

282

A simple tool for

trend-driven innovation

224

RE

Turn Insights into Ideas

200

TU

NE

CU

Trend-Driven Ideation
Sessions
Run workshops that
deliver winning ideas.

VII

IN
N
O
TI
VA
O
N
S

DRIVERS OF CHANGE

BASIC NEEDS

XII

6
282

CULTURE
UNLOCK AN OPPORTUNITY MACHINE

283

[CULTURE]

Successful organizations dont win by spotting

a single trend, no matter how big or gamechanging it is. From ever-present behemoths
such as General Electric, to recently emerging
giants such as Google, organizations succeed
by recognizing and acting on multiple trends, in
ways small and large, time and again. In short,
they win because they build a trend-driven
culture that can sense the direction of travel of
customer expectations on an ongoing basis.
This section will show you how to kickstart and
develop trend-based initiatives within your own
organization, and how to leverage the power of
external networks, too.
284

[6.1]
Your Trend
Department
Get your colleagues to
see around corners.

[6.2]
Trend-Driven
Ecosystems
Tap into and harness
external networks too.
285

6.1

[CULTURE]

YOUR
TREND
DEPARTMENT
Get your colleagues to see
around corners.

286

The most powerful cultural

As this book has shown theres

customer service team will know

dimension of a trend-driven

no mystique to spotting trends

what expectations you face as a

organization is its inclusiveness.

(despite what umpteen gurus

business, as they will regularly hear

Which tells you though youve

would have you believe). Most

what your customers expect to be

probably realized already that

people dont think about trends

able to do with your products!

the idea of a Trend Department

because they dont know what

is a misnomer: trend watching

they are looking for, not because

This chapter will show how to

shouldnt be limited to a select

they are unable to. Yet people

few within your business. To stay

are innately attuned to spotting

ahead of accelerating customer

the places where tension and

expectations, everyone in your

opportunities are emerging. Unmet

organization should be a trend

expectations lie beneath peoples

watcher: empathetic to peoples

statements of frustration with the

needs, alert to moments of tension

products they use on a daily basis,

and aware of the opportunities that

such as: I cant understand why?

will come from resolving them.

and why cant I...? Certainly, your

287

strengthen the trend muscles in

your organization by stimulating,
unlocking, and harnessing the
natural insights and impulses
relating to customer expectations
that your team have inside
themselves.

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

INSPIRE
Give a trend
presentation your
audience cant stop
thinking about.

There are few better ways to

WHEN AND WHY?

People should leave the session

kickstart your trend-driven

Trend presentations are a great

in no doubt that trends arent just

innovation efforts than with a trend

presentation. It sets the agenda,
shows people what you mean
by trends and most importantly
communicates the value placed on
trend-driven innovation.
That being the case, you had
better make sure that your next
trend presentation is a good one.
Weve given hundreds of trend
presentations over the past decade,
to audiences of all descriptions.
Heres how we structure them.

addition to company town hall

meetings, strategy and planning
sessions, inspiration sessions and
away days, project kick-offs, lunch
& learn events and more.
But ultimately wherever and
whenever you deliver it, your trend
presentation should ultimately
inspire your audience to take
immediate action and empower
them to spot upcoming future
trends themselves.

288

nice to know or interesting, but

contain actionable insights that
they need to deploy, and soon. You
should constantly challenge people
to not just understand a trend, but
think how they will apply it to their
vision, business model, products
and marketing campaigns.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

TREND-LED INNOVATION

289

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT:

INSPIRE

BUILDING THE
PERFECT TREND
PRESENTATION
The detailed step-bystep guide.

[1] OVERALL STRUCTURE

[2] TREND SELECTION

Of course, your presentations

As well as using the Consumer

structure will depend on its

Trend Radar (see FOCUS), you can

purpose, but there are a few we

select relevant trends by working:

use again and again:

Top-down: from the company

The Future of X: 3-10 trends

relevant to your industry,
company or market.
3-4 key mega-trends: with each

mission statement, strategy or

project objective.
Bottom-up: analyze a selection of
recent innovations in a region or

big theme illustrated by an

industry, and present the trends

actionable, relevant, smaller

they relate to.

emerging trend.
Mega-trend deep dive: 3-4

Outside-in: proactively present

trends other sectors or markets

trends that illustrate the future

are experiencing, in order to

direction(s) of a single big idea.

provoke new perspectives.

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TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[3] TREND NARRATIVE

[4] INNOVATION SELECTION

Each trend you present should tell

Which innovations to include?

a compelling story:

Again, the examples you show

Open with an intriguing trend

should tell a story:

name to arouse curiosity.

Open with a well-known (if

Remember FLAWSOME?

slightly older) example, to

What basic human need does the

orientate the audience. The

trend satisfy? What are the key

examples that follow will then

drivers of change that make the

show how the trend is evolving.

video, or if a digital innovation

trend relevant right now?

Feature at least one example that

prompt them to visit the site or

Present supporting data and

saw unarguable success such

download the app.

Make sure to include an example

statistics to keep the left-brained

as crazily large sales or download

members of the audience happy.

numbers to hit home the reality

from your audiences market/

Rapid movements or surprising

and impact of the trend.

sector, to show that their peers

data points work best.

Show 3-6 innovations that

Use examples from a wide range

of industries and markets

are already acting on the trend.

Feature a very novel or cutting-

illustrate the trend. Ask people

especially less obvious ones

edge example, and use it to

to consider which new customer

to show people the breadth

demonstrate where the trend

expectations these will create.

and consistent presence of the

and customer expectation is

underlying customer expectation.

headed in the future.

Close with a lightbulb moment.

Challenge people to think how

Choose at least one example that

to adapt the examples and apply

the audience can experience for

the trend for their customers.

themselves. This could be via

291

Head online to
download a trend
presentation template.

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

INFORM
Share the information
that matters, in ways
that inspire.

Giving a trend presentation is just

and also where new opportunities

one way to get people up-to-

to delight customers might lie.

speed. Strongly customer-focused

There are endless ways to

cultures dont just look at what is

happening at the annual strategy
session. They establish regular
practices that help them continually
sense the direction in which
customer expectations are headed.

disseminate trend information

around your team. Try creating
an internal newsletter; create
innovation screensavers to display
on screens in your office; use
social networks (see the case study

Indeed, simply by finding ways to

on the PHD Source platform in

make people more aware of game-

the next page); put up physical

changing innovations (and talking

posters. Or get physical, as in the

about the trends that underpin

KILN IdeaKeg case study opposite.

them), youll inspire a culture where

Some of our clients even hang

people start to think about trends

trend posters in the washroom!

292

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY]

KILN IDEAKEG
While virtual information is

included seed bombs (that can

easy, quick and cheap to share,

be planted by throwing onto

encouraging people to get hands

overlooked urban areas), tea in silk

on with trend-based innovations

tea bags, Sugru putty that can be

is a great way to ensure that the

used to repair household objects

underlying insights really resonate

and a keyless padlock.

and develop.

The boxes are designed to be used

As Kate Hammer, KILNs cofounder

One of our favorite approaches to

in a workshop setting. Objects are

and commercial storyteller says,

disseminating trend information

accompanied by a short summary

if you only tell people things,

is innovation advisory boutique

of the underlying trend, while

their minds draw a blank. When

KILNs IdeaKeg. Subscribers

a facilitators manual suggests

you create an environment where

receive regular deliveries of a box

questions to ask about each object.

people can ask questions, creative

containing seven cultural artifacts,

These help participants assess the

thinking comes alive. Trends are a

each one illustrating an emerging

objects and connect them to the

trigger to get people to ask better

trend. For example, objects have

challenges the business faces.

questions.

293

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

COLLABORATION
Many minds make
light work.

Successful trend-driven cultures do

Its not always easy to encourage

more than just share information;

your team to share their insights

they share ideas about how to act

on the innovations they see

on that information.

changing customer expectations

Just as our approach to trend

and suggest ways your organization

watching encourages you to

use innovations to tap into the
collective intelligence of the
business crowd, you should also
ensure that your internal approach
to trend analysis is equally diverse.
Varied perspectives and inputs all
increase the potential that you will
make the novel connections that
others are less likely to spot.

294

can respond. Most people are

(rightly) focused on successful
execution in their daily activities,
not innovation. However a culture
of trend-driven collaboration will
ultimately make your teams work
lives more meaningful, enjoyable
and effective, as PHDs Source
platform opposite shows.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY]

PHD SOURCE
One of the challenges identified by

To encourage contributions, the

employees, although these focus

global media and communications

agency introduced a gamification

on intrinsic peer recognition rather

agency PHD was how to service

element. People receive Pings

than tangible rewards such as cash

and manage multinational client

for each action they take on the

prizes.

accounts while remaining agile and

system, whether that be suggesting

innovative.

a new idea or helping to advance

Incredibly, after three months of

Its solution was to create an internal

or optimize an existing one. Public

online collaboration platform

Source, as a place to conceive,
design and implement the media
planning and buying strategies for
its clients and to not only involve
staff assigned to those specific
clients, but anyone in the entire
company.

leaderboards allow employees to

see how their contributions rank
relative to others (for the past
day, week, month and year; on
a local and global level). These
encourage usually friendly
competition between the various
participants and offices. There
are annual awards for leading
295

full deployment 75% of PHDs

3,000 staff were using the platform,
1,500 doing so daily. The agency
attributed the input from a diverse
range of local offices as being
critical in winning a $3 billion
Unilever global account.

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

TRAINING
Create a crack team
of trend-driven
innovators.

Clearly your team is not going

if they deliver meaningful value

to a real-life business issue facing

to become expert and active

and development to individual

Vodafone Netherlands. To that end,

practitioners of trend-driven

participants. Here are two

participants came together for four

innovation overnight. It takes time

innovative innovation (!) training

two-day modules over a six-month

and commitment to ensure that

programs worth learning from:

period to learn the process behind

a culture takes root and while

presentations, workshops, away

[1] THNK & VODAFONE

days and other one-off activities

The Vodafone Navigator program,

help, they will not be enough in

launched in Spring 2015, saw the

isolation.

telecoms giant partner with THNK

Training programs are a powerful

School of Creative Leadership.

creative thinking.
Vodafone executives not only
developed their innovation skills
during the six-month program; they
also solved a material business
issue facing the company. As a

way of signaling to employees that

The custom program was designed

result, the programs return on

trend-driven innovation is a priority

around applying THNKs four

investment was quickly quantifiable

for your organization. Theyre

innovation steps sensing,

in terms of business performance

also a great staff retention tool

visioning, prototyping and scaling

indicators.

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TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[2] STRATEGYZER

One of the key objectives of the

Strategyzer is a business software

program was to enable colleagues

and online training company set up

by the team behind the Business
Model Canvas, a popular one-page
framework for analyzing business
models that inspired our own
Consumer Trend Canvas.
Tim Murphy, then Chief Product
Officer at MasterCard, engaged
Strategyzer to deliver a training
program that covered both the
Business Model Canvas and Value
Proposition Design (the follow-up
framework).

to have better conversations

around new ideas by giving them a

to team members globally via an

set of tools, frameworks and most

online course that combined self-

importantly, what Strategyzers

directed learning and live remote

co-founder Alexander Osterwalder

video classroom sessions.

calls, a shared language with

Following positive feedback from

which to discuss innovation

and value creation (from the
perspective of both the business
and customers).

participants, the program had

been taken by 10% of the global
workforce and 50% of the product
team after one year, with the tools

The pilot started in late 2013, when

now forming part of the formal

training was initially delivered in-

process of innovation planning and

person to the executive team, and

assessment within MasterCard.

297

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

EMPOWER
Unleash staff to
conceive innovations
of their own.

Inspiration, training and discussion

at scale in most companies

or competitions where staff can

mean nothing if you dont also

(especially larger ones), means

propose, pitch and ultimately

establish a culture that both

that innovations spawned during

launch new innovations themselves.

encourages and actively enables

business as usual moments will

The organizational benefits are

people to practice trend-driven

often be limited to sustaining or

many: intense bursts of focus and

innovation for themselves.

incremental ones at best.

excitement, a sense of recognition

In a perfect world, organizations

Yet the relentless forces of

and engagement, and diverse

would be filled with people who

creative destruction mean that

spontaneously spot, suggest,

every organization must also seek

design and implement new

to generate truly novel or even

innovations, and have the

disruptive innovations (however

processes in place that allow

much of an overused business

them to do so. However, the very

clich that concept is now!).

focus and structure that allows

One compelling way to do this

consistently successful execution

is to initiate specific programs

298

perspectives on where new

opportunities lie.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY 1]

MONDELEZ
FLY GARAGE
Snack brand Mondelez launched
its Fly Garage innovation incubator
initiative in Argentina in 2012.
The now five-day program (each
iteration has seen this reduced,
from its original three-week length)
brings Mondelez employees
together with agencies +Castro

Mujica, Mondelezs Latin American

generate project briefs.

and Contagious, entrepreneurs,

Marketing Director and Fly Garage

students and external agitators

lead observes, the garage is like

After rapid prototyping, the

to inspire innovative digital

a social smoothie, with trends an

experiences.

essential ingredient. To innovate,

The process contains three

we expand our perspectives by

stages: creation, prototyping,

going out of our category, and

implementation. Interestingly,

without trends we cannot start.

participants are introduced purely

To ensure buy-in at the

in 2013. Each artist would play

as individuals; their positions

implementation stage senior

three tracks, before the lighthouse

are not disclosed to reduce

executives outline the overall

would randomly shine its light to

preconceptions. Teams rotate

strategic themes in advance,

announce which band would play

every three hours during the

however teams are encouraged

next. The show was attended by

idea generation phase so there

to explore a broad spectrum of

10,000 fans and streamed to a

are no owners of an idea. Maria

consumer culture and trends to

further 250,000 people online.

299

brand looks to implement the

ideas with the most potential.
One such initiative was Beldents
Random Fest, a music festival
with four stages centered around
a lighthouse, which took place

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT:

EMPOWER

[CASE STUDY 2]

ADOBE
KICKBOX
Adobe VP of Creativity Mark
Randall heard employees cite the
same obstacles preventing them
from being innovative: no time
alongside their day job, difficulty
in securing resources, and lack of
clarity about how to launch ideas.

Participants are challenged to

and guidance to continue its

work through six stages (Inception

development.

Ideate Improve Investigate

Participants reported that the

As a result, the company launched

Iterate Infiltrate). During the

its Kickbox initiative to address

Ideation stage, participants are are

these head-on. Any employee can

instructed to scan trend websites

request a Kickbox and managers

as one of the external sources

cannot veto a request. They receive

[that] are essential to spark new

a physical red box containing an

observations and questions about

innovation toolkit: a chocolate

the world.

bar, a $10 Starbucks card, Post-It

notes, a notebook, a step-bystep innovation manual and, most
importantly, a pre-paid credit card
with $1,000.

pre-paid credit card (No receipts

required! No approvals!) suddenly
transformed the companys talk of
innovation from a management
clich into something that
employees were being trusted
expected even to deliver.

If participants complete the final

stage and successfully present
their tested and validated idea to
executives they receive a follow-up
blue box with additional resources

300

In January 2015, Adobe released

the program and supporting
materials to the public, enabling
anyone to download and access
the materials for free.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY 3]

AVIVA
CUSTOMER CUP
Multinational insurance company

and business. Colleagues can

pitch to members of Avivas group

Aviva launched its Customer Cup

comment and vote on submissions,

executive.

competition in 2008; since then

which encourages people to build

over 1,300 internal teams have

support among their peers.

Andrew Brem, Avivas Chief

participated.

Local CEOs select promising ideas,

competition has generated nearly

The competition encourages any

and around 100 are advanced

75 million in net benefits to the

employee to submit an idea via

to the semi-finals. At this stage,

company to date.

the companys idea management

proposers have to recruit five

system. Richard Wilkinson,

additional people to form a small

Customer Cup Innovation Manager

team, develop the idea further and

says, trends are stimuli for idea

submit a business case. A judging

generation. They offer context

panel then selects ten entries to

and insight that helps people

progress to the three-day Grand

focus upon developments which

Final, held at a prestigious venue

are desirable for our customers

where teams present their final

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Digital Officer, estimates that the

YOUR TREND DEPARTMENT

LABS
Separate,
accommodate and
experiment.

Another method of encouraging

Labs also make sense for

commitment, and half-baked

and supporting trend-driven

customers, whose expectations

attempts to inject startup thinking

innovation within larger

towards national and multinational

and agility into a lumbering parent

organizations is to create

corporations are stratospheric

organization will fail.

separate, specific units which have

and unremitting: indeed, if a

innovation as their ongoing focus,

major retailer releases a new

However, when done right,

and are explicitly positioned as

service and it breaks or flounders,

labs, skunkworks or similar. Being

the backlash will be public and

separated from the core and

immediate. Setting up a lab unit

granted a mission of creative

allows organizations to deliver

destruction enables these units

new products and services to early

to experiment with, execute and

adopters in a (very slightly) less

deploy new ideas at a faster pace

pressured environment.

than the corporate structure allows

Labs are not a quick win, though.

but at that which customers and the

market demand.

You need strong executive

302

labs can help attract and retain

inventive, ambitious people
who wouldnt tolerate working
in a more confined corporate
setting, as well as helping you
produce the meaningful, trenddriven innovations that offer new
opportunities to delight customers.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY 1]

[CASE STUDY 2]

@WALMARTLABS:
WESTFIELD:
SAVINGS CATCHER DINE ON TIME
Founded in 2011 after the worlds

Mall operator Westfield established

largest retailer acquired online

its San Francisco-based lab in

search and discovery platform

2012. The 70-person division is

Kosmix, @WalmartLabs employs

headed by Kevin McKenzie, the

over 3,500 people (not your

companys Global Chief Digital

average lab!).

Officer, and targets innovation at

One project is Savings Catcher,

the convergence of digital and real-

released in March 2014. Shoppers

world retail.

scan their Walmart receipts with

One of the projects piloted by the

the smartphone app, which then

lab is a food-ordering app, Dine

checks if local competitors offer any

on Time. Users can pre-order food

of the purchased products for less.

from restaurants in the Westfield

If the app finds lower prices, the

San Francisco Center to avoid

difference is automatically refunded

waiting in line, or arrange to have

within 72 hours onto a Walmart

meals delivered to their home or

gift card. The retailer reported

office. Users can also use the app

in September 2014 that it had

to order off-menu special dishes.

returned $2 million to customers

via the app.
303

NEXT

Having read this chapter, you now:

[1] Can deliver a killer Trend Presentation and inspire
your team.
[2] Know the main activities a Trend Department should
be focused on.
[3] Have seen some real-world examples of how other
organizations are conducting trend-focused activities.

Next, learn how to extend these outside the boundaries

of your organization, in order to tap into the wider
ecosystem of ideas, inspiration and opportunities.

304

305

6.2

[CULTURE]

TRENDDRIVEN
ECOSYSTEMS
Tap into and harness external
networks too.

306

The accelerating pace of change

patterns of activity, we have found

companies. However, they are just

means that even the most attuned

that organizations with strong

as relevant to smaller companies

of organizations cant hope to keep

external cultures consistently

too. Indeed, large companies

up by relying purely on its own

participate in and support certain

often seek to engage with smaller

resources. As Sun Microsystems

activities, too.

startups in their attempts to foster

cofounder Bill Joy observed,its

This chapter analyzes the most

trend-driven innovation.

powerful methods that companies

Wherever you sit, this chapter

like Unilever, GE, Barclays,

should give you ideas as to how to

Telefnica and others use to

connect with those on the other

connect, challenge and work with

side and unlock growth.

better to create an ecology that

gets all the worlds smartest people
toiling in your garden for your
goals. If you rely solely on your own
employees, youll never solve all
your customers needs.

outside actors, and show how you

can use these strategies to stay

And, just as organizations with

ahead of customer expectations.

an effective internal trend-driven

At first glance, the activities in this

culture follow certain similar

chapter appear focused on larger

307

TREND-DRIVEN ECOSYSTEMS

NETWORK
Building connections
beyond your walls.

The last chapter looked at how

from which we recruit trend

ability to build and engage with

sharing information among the

spotters to TW:IN (TrendWatchings

communities on a global scale, at

members of your team is critical to

Insight Network). We rely on

low cost. These can be organized

obtaining a better understanding

this network of passionate trend

around a theme (such as consumer

of trends. In the same way, sharing

enthusiasts to help inform us about

trends), or even around a specific

information and learning from

new innovations and the direction

trend, as Crowd Companies

those who are not part of your

of customer expectation. Once we

(opposite) is.

organization allows you to benefit

spot a potential new or evolving

from others experiences and

trend, we turn to the network with

Whichever is the case, being part

insights.

questions: are similar innovations

Indeed, the idea of a porous

happening in their markets and

network of external collaborators

industries? Does it have broad

is central to how we operate at

appeal?

TrendWatching. Our free trend

Digital technologies offer

publications give us a platform

organizations an incredible

308

of a vibrant network enables you to

benefit from a diversity of opinion,
experience and insight that your
internal resources cant match.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY]

CROWD
COMPANIES
Crowd Companies is a network with

[1] Brand council: to enable

Founder corporate members

a mission to bring Empowered

corporate members (typically

included Barclaycard, Ford,

People & Resilient Brands together

Chief Innovation Officers) to share

GE, Nestle and Walmart, and

to collaborate for Shared Value.

experiences and challenges with

membership doubled in the first

It was founded in late 2013 by

their peers at private physical

year to 48 companies across a

ex-Forrester social media analyst

events and via an online platform.

range of industries. Collaborative

Jeremiah Owyang, to reflect

[2] Educational services: to give

his view that the Collaborative

members the chance to learn from

Economy represented a more

startup practitioners and access

meaningful and long-lasting trend

research data on the Collaborative

than social media. The network

Economy.

connects large companies with the

disruptive startups active in shaping
the Collaborative Economy, and
has three main activities:

[3] Partnering: to bring both sides

of the network (corporate and
startup) together to explore new
business opportunities.

309

Economy innovator members

include crowdfunding platform
IndieGogo, makerspace TechShop,
ridesharing platform Lyft and job
marketplace Elance-oDesk.

TREND-DRIVEN ECOSYSTEMS

CROWD-POWERED
INNOVATION
Building connections
beyond your walls.

The notion that no matter

Certainly, the past decade has

[b] Communities: the open source

how large or compelling your

seen profound changes in both

software movement is a great

organization is, most of the

companies mindsets and abilities

example of where an unmanaged

smartest people will still be working

in this area, and a 2014 Haas

crowd community can outperform

for someone else is what underpins

Business school study showed that

directed, top-down efforts.

open innovation a term coined

78% of large companies were now

by Haas business school professor

engaged in some form of open

[c] Platforms: technological APIs

Henry Chesborough in 2003.

innovation.

Open innovation encompasses

Typical open innovation approaches

managed platforms such as

many concepts and approaches,

include:

mobile app stores, allow third

but the central idea is that

[a] Competitions: contests

parties to extend or build on core

companies need to seek external

inputs when innovating, in order
to source new ideas and to deliver
novel solutions.

that enable data to be integrated

into third party services, while

can engage diverse crowds to

solve problems, often with fresh
perspectives and in a fraction of the
time and cost of internal efforts.

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functionality.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY]

EYEKA &
UNILEVER
eYeka is a global crowdsourcing

A powerful example of an open

German dancer, which was then

platform founded in France in 2006

creative process can be shown

adapted into a TV commercial for

that connects brands and creatives

by Unilevers Dirt is Good 2012

Unilevers Breeze Active Bleach in

through online challenges.

challenge. The global campaign

the Philippines. The global brain

The platform now has over 300,000

was designed to reassure mothers

indeed!

that allowing their children to

Other brands that have used

registered creatives from over 150

countries. They have submitted
over 85,000 ideas in response to

play in less-than-totally sanitized

environments is beneficial to their

the platform include dental care

brand Oral B (which sourced ideas

the 750 brand challenges posted,

personal development.

in return for over 5 million in prize

The month-long contest saw 88

Citron (which sourced designs for

money. Challenges typically target

ideas submitted from 29 countries,

personalization options for their

product development and design,

with the most coming from France,

DS3 model) and Carrefour (which

brand positioning and specific

China, Indonesia, Russia and India.

sourced concepts for its campaign

campaign ideas for consumer

However, the winning idea was

celebrating 20 years since it

product brands.

a 3D-animation submitted by a

entered the Turkish market).

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for a connected brushing app),

TREND-DRIVEN ECOSYSTEMS

HOUSE
Share physical space
to get exposure to new,
on-trend ideas.

Despite the digitalization of so

of trend-driven initiatives that may

are now provided or sponsored by

much of our daily lives, and the

otherwise never be considered.

corporates, with the Hatch example

ability the online world offers

On the demand side, the changes

opposite showing how these

organizations to tap into external

networks as weve seen, the
power of physical proximity and
interaction remains strong.

in working habits and resources

spaces can even be created from

required to start a business mean

under-utilized corporate assets.

that entrepreneurs and small

However, while coworking spaces

teams can come together quickly

and coffee shops are suitable for

One thing that larger, incumbent

to test an idea. Indeed, since the

those who simply need a laptop to

organizations frequently have is a

term was first used by freelance

advance their ideas, innovators who

surplus of physical space, or at the

product engineer Brad Neuberg in

require more heavy duty hardware

very least, the resources to provide

San Francisco in 2005, coworking

will be willing audiences for

space. Sharing space with smaller

spaces have exploded in popularity,

organizations who can offer them

startups, creative communities

roughly doubling every year to an

physical space and exposure to

and even individuals can lead to a

estimated 2,150 spaces globally

such equipment as in the case of

sharing of ideas and development

at the end of 2012. Many of these

GEs Garage initiative, opposite.

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TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY 1]

[CASE STUDY 2]

BARCLAYS: HATCH

GE: GARAGE

As part of its efforts to support

Over the past decade

entrepreneurs and small

conglomerate GE has made

businesses, financial services giant

building a strong externally-focused

Barclays has launched a number of

innovation culture a strategic

space-based initiatives. In addition

priority. Its Garage project started

to opening traditional coworking

in early 2012 in Austin, Texas with

spaces in London and Manchester

an objective to stimulate interest

the bank partnered with nonprofit

in domestic manufacturing and

3Space to open Hatch in late 2014

invention. Garages are GE-funded

a co-working space focused on

makerspaces where people can

social enterprises and community

come to learn about and use

groups in a vacant ex-Barclays

advanced manufacturing hardware,

bank branch in Oxford. Qualifying

including laser cutters, 3D printers,

users can use the coworking

injection molders, and Arduino kits.

space for free, while the unit also

In 2014, GE launched a global tour,

hosts mentoring sessions and a

establishing pop-up Garage spaces

makerspace with sewing machines,

in Lagos and Algiers, and in 2015

workshop tools and access to a 3D

visited Brussels and Berlin.

printer.

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TREND-DRIVEN ECOSYSTEMS

VENTURING &
ACCELERATION
If you cant beat
them, fund and
scale them!

The final alternative method of

is that they can invest in, work

(opposite) shows.

building a strong external trend-

with, and even help scale those

driven culture, for larger incumbent

companies that otherwise might

However, as we saw in the

companies especially, is to invest

threaten them.

directly in the very startups that

Especially in the non-digital world,

Not when smaller and newer

where production and distribution

organizations enjoy many

at scale pose serious operational

advantages: both in terms of their

challenges, partnering in some

agility and responsiveness, but also

form or other can be very attractive

because as CLEAN SLATE BRANDS,

for smaller organizations. However,

they are also often perceived by

These larger companies are well

even startups with a digital

customers to be more ethical and

aware that they might struggle

product can often be seduced by

trustworthy.

to meet emerging customer

the resources and large existing

expectations as quickly as newer

customer bases of incumbents,

The reality is that, as always, finding

organizations. However, the hope

as Telefnicas Wayra program

threaten to disrupt them. Indeed,

the growing awareness of the
threat from new startups has driven
a doubling of corporate venturing
units in five years to 1,100.

introduction, venturing and

acceleration is no silver bullet.

314

the right partner is critical for

both sides.

TR EN D - D R I VEN I N N O VATI O N [ 6] C U LT URE

[CASE STUDY]

TELEFONICA
WAYRA
Facebooks $19 billion purchase

program had expanded to 14

of WhatsApp, the messenging

Wayra Academies in 12 countries,

service that at the time had

including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,

only 55 employees yet served

Colombia, Germany and the UK.

over 450 million monthly users

Successful startups sell between

symbolizes the severe threat

of disruption facing incumbent

7-10% equity to Telefnica in return

move out of the physical spaces

and seek additional funding.

for up to $50,000 in cash funding

By 2015, the program had received

and the same amount in services.

nearly 30,000 applications, with

In response, multinational provider

Startups get housed for six months

438 being accepted. Telefnica

Telefnica has established a

in a physical Wayra coworking

reported that 61% had gone on to

wide-ranging open innovation

space, gain access to Telefnicas

receive an additional $99 million in

program. It includes Wayra, a

technological expertise and to

funding from third party investors,

startup accelerator program which

executives to whom they can pitch

while 80 companies also piloted

launched in Latin America and

their products and services. After

or trialed projects with the core

Spain in 2011. By early 2015, the

six months, the startups have to

Telefnica business.

telecommunication providers.

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NEXT

Having read this chapter, you now:

[1] Understand the opportunities that reaching beyond
the limits of your organization can unlock
[2] Have witnessed a number of examples of practical
initiatives you can pursue.
A culture of trend-driven innovation is one that allows
you to build and leverage both internal and external
resources. Critically, this turns trend-driven innovation
from a one-off activity into an ongoing process, and
one that will keep you ahead of customers accelerating
expectations.

This brings us almost to the end of our guide to trenddriven innovation. Turn over for a final wrap-up and
summary of the end-to-end journey!

316

317

OUR TEAM

AUTHORS

DESIGN

CONTENT

HENRY MASON

MARIA ISABEL REYES

VICTORIA LOOMES

DAVID MATTIN

DANIEL BARCZA

VICTORIA FOSTER

MAXWELL LUTHY

LUCIANA STEIN

DELIA DUMITRESCU

REBECA DE MORAES
ACACIA LEROY
LOLA PEDRO
TW:IN (our trend spotter network)

336

HENRY MASON

DAVID MATTIN

Henry runs TrendWatchings global activities on a

David Mattin is our Global Head of Trends &

daily basis and is a sought-after keynote speaker.

Insights. Across a 12-year career spent thinking

In the past 3 years, he has given over 50 keynote

about technological, social and cultural change,

presentations in more than 25 countries across 6

David has been a journalist at The Times, presented

continents. He is regularly quoted as a trend expert,

documentaries for the BBC, and appeared in a

including in the Financial Times, The New York Times,

wide range of international publications, from The

Fast Company and The Economist; as well appearing

National to Google Think Quarterly. Today, David is

on television networks such as CNBC, the BBC and Al

a court jester to twin toddler sons Jacob and Leo, a

Jazeera. In a past life he was a qualified accountant,

columnist for BA Business Life, and an accomplished

and is responsible for introducing flawsome into the

keynote speaker, appearing regularly at conferences

business lexicon.

and brand events.

MAXWELL LUTHY

DELIA DUMITRESCU

Maxwell Luthy runs our North American business,

Delia Dumitrescu is our Lead Innovation Architect,

regularly delivering keynotes and workshops.

developing and delivering workshops that help

Alongside spotting trends himself, Max also oversaw

participants throughout Europe and the Middle East

TW:IN, the companys trend spotter network until

become innovation-ready. Born in Romania, she lived

2013 and hosted trend meetups everywhere from

in Perugia, Barcelona and Berlin until she decided

Johannesburg to Manila. He now lives in the future

to put down roots in the worlds most livable city,

trend hotspot of New Jersey, where he knows its only

Vienna. This is Delias fourth book since she wrote

a matter of time until he is discovered for his unique

Road Trip to Innovation How I Came to understand

singing voice and lyrical flair.

Future Thinking in 2012. She was featured in Forbes

Romanias Top 30 Under 30 in 2014.

337

Trend-Driven
Innovation
Released October 2015

PRE-ORDER NOW!