Cheeky Monkey Business Solutions » NPD

Would You Live Here?

Michael Ryan — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:40:18 +0000

Mrs Monkey6 and I decided that the start of a new year was a perfect opportunity to move on and start looking for a new place to live. I’m an obsessive hoarder and I’d filled our little flat with stuff so it was time to move and get ourselves a house. Unfortunately, we are still a little bit away from the illusive first buy so onto the rental market we go.

So our first month of 2012 was spent scouring the internet and visiting every property that we could find that was within our price bracket. We were initially excited about our new adventure but after only a handful of viewings that started to dwindle.

It’s amazing to think that some landlords, who are so keen to keep their properties in use to cover the rent, present them in the way that they do. Over the month, we saw places that seemed so run down that it’s difficult to believe that anybody would want to live there. One place in particular was so full of polyfiller that it felt that a strong wind would have raized it to the ground. It was hard to get any other impression because the electricity had been cut off!

The one question that I kept coming back as we were being showed round by confident estate agents in sharp suits is, ‘Well, would you live here?’

Surely, a sensible landlord or agent would be thinking about who they wanted to let the property to and what would make them want to move in. As a tenant, I don’t want a fixer upper or anything that I have to do work on. I want the finished item.

After a while I was getting so frustrated that I started to ask them the question directly. In response I got, ‘We’ve had bad experiences with tenants’ or ‘It’s just had students in’ – While I’m sure that there are bad tenants out there it’s hardly surprising that their properties are damaged when they themselves obviously show no pride in the houses they manage.

The one question that I kept coming back as we were being showed round by confident estate agents in sharp suits is, ‘Well, would you live here?’

I am pleased to say that after our bad experiences, we have found a place. It’s not fussy … just clean, tidy and fully functioning. Exactly what any prospective tenant would really expect. It had only just come on the market and we were so excited that we went for it straight away and we move in three weeks.

So what’s the lesson to my rant? Thinking like your consumer is a great asset. It’s not difficult – it takes a bit of thought on what you would expect if you had to part with your hard earned cash.

Neither is it just about making a quick sale. I’m excited about our new house and I want to maintain it. And I’m the same way with the products that I buy; if I see that a brand is thinking about what I want and expect then I will stick with it.

How hard does that sound?

What Could Monkey Behaviour Mean For Your Products?

Michael Ryan — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:42:16 +0000

I recently read a report on ScienceDirect about the way friendship affects gaze following between macaque monkeys. Their studies showed that the macaques followed their friends line of sight to see whether there was something worth looking at; either an early indication of danger or the possibility of food.

It reminded me of a conversation that I had with a friend who told me that they used social network sites like Twitter to get reviews of products they were thinking of buying. Instead of trawling through the various review sections of websites, they searched by the make and model or even tweeted to their followers to get some honest feedback. I must admit that I hadn’t thought of this before but it makes perfect sense.

What does this mean for businesses?

Everybody knows the old line that if a customer receives good service they tell one person but if they receive bad service they tell seven. If an average person on Facebook has 130 friends, how does it affect that number? Can you afford to make mistakes with your products?

Cheesy Innovation

Hannah Whittaker — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:30:59 +0000

A story I recently read about an American entrepreneur who left the US to make cheese in a Russian village called in to question the idea of business innovation and spirit as a science that can be taught. Expectedly, the fellow in question possessed many of the traits that are widely recognised as native to entrepreneurs. A hard worker, risk-taker, adaptable, resourceful, all of the things that many university lecturers and MP’s think can be replicated and reproduced. However, one thing that Jay the American Cheese Maker has experienced is something that for many intelligent aspiring entrepreneurs may have been absent from their lives- struggle. After running away from home at the age of 14 to avoid being sent back to school in the UK, he slept in the stairwell of an apartment building while he washed dishes in a restaurant across the road. Despite a rough start, he worked to later become a chef, after stints in construction and an abattoir also brought experience which came in useful in setting up the cheese farm.

Jay began his operation 18 months ago, as part of a move to establish a rural life with his new wife Valentina, in a village an hour’s drive from the capital, Moscow. But what began as an experiment fast became a business, with an estimated turnover of 30,000 euros in 2011. He started with one cow. Now he has five plus eight goats, buys extra milk from nearby farmers and employs a worker from Tajikistan. The operation has taken over the entire downstairs of the farmhouse he built himself.

Although maybe not a stellar success story (yet) like the Richard Bransons of this world, the tale of the cheese man threw light on the role that raw hardship and difficult decision making plays in business innovation. There is frankly no education like adversity, and challenging times often bring about the most dynamic ideas. So, the next time you face a challenging decision and fancy taking the easy road, think how much it may benefit your business if the challenge is faced, not feared.

Sustainable PLM & the $1 project?

Nina Dar — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:24:23 +0000

For those of you that don’t know Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the art of managing your products from idea all the way through the development process to the point of changing it or killing it with “crystal ball” ability to getting the biggest bang for your buck.

PLM may sound simple, the art is all about science and magic. Ensuring that you understand what is happening in the world, in terms of the environment (where the stuff to make everything comes from = science), knowing as much as you can about the people who could buy it and what they need and want (even if they don’t know it yet = science) and putting something together that talks to you and me in such a way that we want it (magic).

This article focus on the start of any PLM journey WHO, WHAT, WHY…How could Reebok sell trainers for $1?

So, what is this really about?

Generating employee loyalty?
Creating and innovating projects in poor and developing areas of the world?
A chance for people to feel good again?
Corporations doing good, really? Just think about what Coke did years ago. They went to the far flung places in the world and sold their product at a price point that area could afford. Where ever I went with my backpack in the world I could share a coke with a local it was awesome and created world domination because of brand loyalty, people have grown up with that brand – it’s a fundamental part of their lives and has kept Coke at number 1 – creating brand loyalty is what this is all about isn’t it?
Even if it is it’s a slap on the back all round because economically this is what developing areas need. Source the materials locally so the people involved in that get money to invest in looking for better materials, get the local workforce to make them, so they have money to buy them (and educate their families which will lead to lots of other ideas) – it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sustainable PLM is still finding its feet in industry and I think this is a great example of just what can and needs to be done by companies who want to future proof what they do and how they do it. They say it’s a social project which is interesting and I assume a nice PR angle. Social is just one aspect of work that is being addressed adidas are creating projects that address the future needs of doing business, finding new markets and ultimately new consumers.

Interestingly the article focuses on the price point and how they are having to go back to basics to figure out how to make this work and what the price point is, it may not be a $1…this is fantastic and a exercise every business should be doing right now. Forget the term recession, our world has changed and we need to know how to work within the new rules.

How are you looking forward to see who your future customers are and how you are going to reach them no matter how unrealistic that may sound? May be everyone should start a $1 project…

‘Great’ Idea?

Nina Dar — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:07:36 +0000

The marketing campaign backed by David Cameron to put the ‘Great’ back into Great Britain, plans to send out a positive message about the UK during the lead up to the 2012 Olympics. The PM, speaking of the launch, hopes that the GREAT campaign will attract an extra four million visitors to the country next year:

“In 2012 there will only be one place to be. There are so many great things about Britain and we want to send out the message that this is a great place to do business, to invest, to study and to visit”

A month ago, the world caught a glimpse of ‘broken Britain’ (Dave’s words, not mine) as a result of the anarchic havoc brought on by the national riots, prompting Newsweek, the influential American magazine, to dub Britain “Grimsville UK”. The speed and ferocity with which the riot images travelled to every corner of the global online community surely raises questions though; how effective is traditional advertising when counteracted with negative social media? Is it worth spending over 100 million pounds on an initiative that no one notices or worse, believes?

The campaign firstly will be seen mainly on TV, in an age where consumers have every tool available to pick and choose what to watch and when to switch off. It will have to fight with cut-throat online comments posted by cynical viewers, and will have no formal way of measuring the conversion of viewers to tourists. On top of this, the campaign will have to battle the ‘broken Britain’ message that has enabled the world to see a completely different reality of the UK in recent months.

For a message to be effective, finding the right mix of channels to satisfy how customers want to be reached is crucial in bringing a value proposition to market. When this has been found, the natural cynicism felt by todays empowered consumers has to be overcome, and in this case the way to do this might just be achieved using some basic Great British human emotions understood by all; honesty and humour.

You can visit the campaign at www.visitbritain.org

Back to school

Michael Ryan — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 13:35:37 +0000

I read this article this morning about how a school in Oxford are involving students in the selection process for new teachers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12883110 The school have created a student panel of over 13 year olds who form part of the interview process for potential new teachers. The school has taken their lead from businesses and feel that the students’ involvement is a form of market research. Their input is not taken lightly: “It’s a poor candidate who comes to this school and thinks the student panel is a push-over and whose opinions aren’t taken into consideration.”

If schools are taking their student’s opinions so seriously, how are you getting your employees involved in your organisation?

“The more input we get from students the more likely we are to make a good decision.” Traditionally, Marketing and Sales have been the key drivers for delivering what the customer wants but everybody in your organisation is a consumer and therefore has a valid opinion on what makes an attractive product. By helping everybody to understand that they all responsible for product development and have an active role to play outside of their specific role or function, you can generate feedback on your own products. This insight will help you ultimately help you to create better products. The school have also seen other benefits that last longer than the selection process itself. “Not only does it give the students a sense of leadership and responsibility … but if they can see the strengths and the qualities of the teachers they will appreciate them more.” Likewise, including everybody your new product development creates a dialogue between the senior team and the rest of the organisation. Showing people that their voice is important makes it easier to communicate your business strategy and develop widespread personal accountability for the delivery of your other company goals. Are you thinking of your employees as consumers?

1991: The Year That Punk Broke

Michael Ryan — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:36:57 +0000

It’s here. The moment I’ve been looking forward to and dreading in equal measure. The Nineties revival is coming. The recent issue of MOJO is marking 20 years since the release of Nirvana’s Nevermind; an album that made a massive impact on me when I was a teenager. Coincidentally, a podcast that I listen to also had a special 90s edition. The starting point for their discussion was the release of Nevermind.

Nevermind has had a lasting impact on my music taste, even though I haven’t really listened to it properly in over 10 years. What it really demonstrates is the way that innovation happens. Kurt Cobain was heavily influenced by the music that he listened to; The Vaselines, The Butthole Surfers, Iggy & the Stooges, Mudhoney, The Pixies. These bands were never going to really make the mainstream because their ideas were pretty far out and didn’t really appeal to the masses. Sure some of these have had some commercial success but never to the level that Nirvana went on to achieve. Kurt Cobain made all these things easy for the mainstream to digest; he made them pop. In these circles this is not a cool thing to say but it’s true. What made Nirvana special was they were fans; they knew what was happening and created it from a love of what they heard. The other key factor in the album’s success was timing. Mainstream rock music had turned into a pastiche of itself through over-produced, over-indulgent ‘hair metal’ bands. Nirvana swept through in a wave of raw noise and ripped jeans. Nirvana were exciting!! So what does this approach mean 20 years later? If anything it should be easier to create a Nevermind. The world of social networking makes the world of what new things are happening and what people want transparent. The interesting question is, “Who or what is going to be your Kurt Cobain?” Or, how are you going to make sense of all your ideas and focus them into to something that will change somebody’s life?

Radiohead – great band but even better example of a brand

Michael Ryan — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:17:30 +0000

I am so excited I can hardly concentrate. It’s not because it’s Valentine’s Day and I going out with my fiancée later. It’s this ….

This is Radiohead announcing the release of their new album, “The King of Limbs” on Saturday 19^th February. So what have they done to make me so excited? My passion for Radiohead’s music has increased with every bold and innovative move they’ve made. And let’s make this clear. I didn’t just hear Radiohead and decide they were the best band in the world immediately. They won me over. Here are three things that made me love Radiohead.

Kid A and Amnesiac

It takes a very brave band to risk the huge commercial success of albums like The Bends and OK Computer by releasing two very different sounding albums. Apparently unhappy with the sound they had created, Kid A and Amnesiac embraced the electronic music that the band had been listening to and created something that was not only different to anything they had done before but also quite different to anything that was around at the time. The guitarist Ed O’Brien said at the time “If you’re going to make a different sounding record, you have to change the methodology. And it’s scary – everyone feels insecure. I’m a guitarist and suddenly it’s like, well, there are no guitars on this track, or no drums.”

The release of In Rainbows

The album In Rainbows was released through their website with limited press and with no record company support. And, if you wanted it, all they wanted in return was a donation … and you could pay what you wanted. The average donation was £4 showing that, despite the opportunity to get the album for virtually nothing, their fan base was still prepared to pay for a reasonable price for it.

The In Rainbows tour

The band set their production team the challenge of making their world tour carbon neutral. As a result the team worked with their suppliers to create a lightshow using LEDs that used 50% of the energy of their previous tour. The light supplier i-Pix have an interesting case study available from their website about the development of the lights. The company had only 5 months to design and manufacture 206 units for the tour and they made it with 4 days to spare. They put their success down to “down to an exceptionally good team, some serious planning and pushing their subcontractors to the limits!” The case study is at http://www.i-pix.uk.com/gallery/case-studies.htm. There is also a great document available that gives other examples of the how they planned to reduce the environmental impact like using locations with good public transport and changing the way they moved the equipment. It is also available at http://www.i-pix.uk.com/downloads/RadioheadLSIJune2008.pdf. I saw them at the LCCC ground in Manchester and the effect was breath taking. I recommend that you watch it all but, if not, start at the 2m 45s mark. The lights are great and it puts pay to the myth that they are miserable sods who hide behind their guitars. There is a PLM story here. Radiohead are fearless in the products that they create and the way that they create them. They are prepared to innovate at the creative stage and they are not afraid to look sideways at other genres of music to create their unique sound. They also look forward; Kid A bemused a lot of fans when it came out but since it release it’s been hailed as one of the best albums of the Noughties by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and The Times. They understand their fans and know that it’s not just what they sell that it is important but it is how they appeal to them. Radiohead have made a conscious effort not to follow the typical record company approach and have used technology to help them do that. But they still retain the elements that make them who they are. They do all this with a wider sense of responsibility and their approach is echoed in everything that they do and in the people that they work with. There is an argument that rock stars shouldn’t do this kind of thing but I disagree completely. Radiohead understand that people look to them as examples and the way they act is as important to their fans as their music. What these things typify to me are Radiohead’s innovative approach to artistic integrity and social conscience; an approach that in itself generates loyalty and excitement in their fans. Needless to say, my copy has been ordered and I am waiting impatiently for Saturday to come so I can download the album. I have to wait until May for the physical product to arrive. The decision to not buy it just didn’t enter my mind. So how about your brands? Are people craving your next move or just reacting to your launches?

Ready for kick off

Michael Ryan — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:28:33 +0000

This weekend is the Manchester derby

If I knew anything about football, I would write a long metaphor about a team talk in advance of the big match. The manager would walk in as the team are getting ready. He’d talk about their opponents and say something inspiring about how everything depends on this game. The team would talk about what they were going to do. The manager would draw some sweeping lines on a chalk board and everyone would show that that they understood by saying “Yes Guv”. As you can probably tell, I don’t know anything about football strategy apart from what I’ve seen in films or TV programs. I have been involved in a few project kick off meetings though. The project kick off meeting should be first team activity once your project has been approved. In yesterday’s blog, I gave you some of the questions to ask:

Do we know what we are doing this for?
Is what we are doing it for measurable?
What needs to happen for it to be success (or what would we stop the project for if it wasn’t happening)?
Which individuals are going to do deliver what and by when?

So why is this meeting so important?

It gets everybody focussed on the goal (pun?) as well as the process. It’s not just about them delivering something; it’s about them delivering something that creates a benefit.
It makes sure that everybody understands what they are doing before the game begins. The manager can still guide from the side lines but the team has a focus to carry them through.
It also helps the team understand how the game is going to be played. As well as agreeing the goal and the steps to deliver it, the kick off meeting should also help the team understand how they are going to communicate with each other or what to do if they see a risk or issue.

Here are some common reasons why they might not happen:

Who needs any more meetings?
That sounds like it would take a really long time
Not everybody involved will attend

If the excuses look familiar remember that it might take a change in behaviour but it is an important step in getting your product development process working, especially if it is new to some. Do you hold a meeting like this? If so, do you find it useful? If not, would it help?

How can you engineer success?

Michael Ryan — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:25:50 +0000

Human beings have evolved over millions of years through a process of natural selection. It’s a pretty cruel process when you think about it; those fortunate to have been born with a particular genetic makeup survive while others don’t.

Only kidding! I’m not saying we’re the next evolutionary step. I just think the monkey gets a bad deal sometimes. Now think about your product development process, are you trying to following the process of evolution or do you need something more? Evolution implies that you are constantly launching products that may or may not fail, when in fact what you need to do is to breed for success. Your process needs to help you to define and measure success as you develop your products. But how can you do that?

Hold a kick off meeting to define your project

In simple terms, get everybody together to define what success is by asking:

Do we know what we are doing this for?
Is what we are doing it for measurable?
What needs to happen for it to be success (or what would we stop the project for if it wasn’t happening)?
Which individuals are going to do deliver what and by when?

Document the answers to the above

Make sure that everybody leaves the meeting understanding the project and their actions. Here are some suggestions how:

Project definition document
Time plan
List of actions

Get agreement from the top that what you are intending to do meets their requirements.

Measure your development against the output

If you are using a stage and gate process, make sure that each stage review aligns to what you outlined originally. Your project might change but it needs to align to what you set out to achieve. Sometimes, everybody needs a reminder of what they set out to do.

Measure risks and issues against your outline

If you are not going to deliver one of those critical areas of success, you need to take action; even if it is stopping everything. It can be hard to be objective about something that you’re passionate about. You might need a reminder of why you started.

Review the final product against the initial definition

Remember, you’re only trying to play God. You still need to learn.