April 2007
Spring into Action
Whether it's a novel perspective, a new project, or the latest technology, it's time to mark the change in season with fresh ideas.
By Julie Jares
Just like April showers and May flowers, the idea of spring and renewal go hand in hand. It's a key element of the season, whether you celebrate Passover, Easter, or the spring equinox.
While spring clichés like "out with the old, in with the new" are stale, the messages behind them—the idea of growth and change—are as fresh as ever. So why not apply the tenets of spring to your business? Whether it's a novel perspective, a new project, or the latest technology, you can embrace the season with fresh ideas.
Take on a new project. There’s nothing like a new project to get the creative juices flowing, and it doesn’t have to be a top-priority or high-visibility assignment to spark excitement and garner support. Have you been cooking up a radical new way to talk to customers? Is there a segment of your user base that needs some attention? Google is a great example of an innovative company that’s always adding something new to the mix. Their latest venture is Google Notebook, a tool that lets users clip and save information while browsing the Web.
Dust off an old idea. Like an old knitting project or a plan that was great on the drawing board but a bomb in the boardroom, you may discover that the climate has changed and there’s still some life in an idea that you shelved for a while. Consider the environment. No one was ridiculed more than President Carter in the ‘70s when he donned a sweater to emphasize the idea of energy conservation. Once the kiss of death, the environment and “green” issues are now ubiquitous, from the Beltway to the Academy Awards to the covers of Vanity Fair and Time. Large companies like HP have also embraced environmental causes. HP regularly communicates with its green customers about its global citizenship, and there is action behind the talk: Last year, for example, HP launched Dynamic Smart Cooling, which can reduce data center energy consumption related to cooling by 15 to 40 percent.
Bring in a fresh perspective. Perhaps it’s someone in your office who hasn’t worked on this particular project before, or perhaps it’s time to hire a consultant with specialized skills to help out for a short time. It can be difficult to steer clear of navel gazing and internal company jargon when you’re working from the inside. At Tendo, we find that clients often turn to us when they need an outside perspective.
Embrace a new technology. Would a blog be a good way to communicate with customers? Podcasts? Video? Second Life? Web 2.0 comes with a slew of opportunities, so think about new and different ways to get your message across. Case in point: the Onion and its entertaining fake news. Launched in 1996, the Onion just added a video component called the Onion News Network, which expands its ridicule and satire to a YouTube-hungry audience. And in an attempt to connect with younger, tech-savvy consumers, automakers like General Motors and Toyota are establishing a presence on Second Life, a virtual world with more than 5 million inhabitants. Is the investment worth it? The jury is still out, but kudos to GM and Toyota for exploring new marketing avenues.
Develop a new competency or a new practice area. Whether you’re an individual contributor or part of a larger organization, you can always sharpen your skills or develop new ones, and think about better ways to serve your clients. At Tendo, for example, our expanding metrics services were born out of our clients’ need to measure the success of their customer communication programs.
Consider a new process. Our team is testing out Basecamp and Confluence to see if these Web-based tools will help us streamline project management and collaboration. Our old system isn’t broken, but there’s always room for improvement. Analyze the systems you have in place and explore the solutions that are out there—you might discover a tool or technology that could improve your existing processes.
Lastly, keep in mind that any combination of the above can also lead to better and more effective customer communications—a concept that always remains fresh.
About the author:
Julie Jares is a managing editor at Tendo. She has managed to kill a resilient ficus plant, but she will nurture your good ideas. Email her.
