Creativity & Innovation

Creating Value
Class 2
August 19, 2009

Innovation
Business has always been about ideas that can
generate a profit
These ideas represent innovation
Innovation is the soul and spirit of a successful
organisation
Innovation can take place in every sphere: in
products, services, communications, distribution,
administrative processes, in logistics. The list is
endless. And so are the possibilities
Manu Parashar

Innovation Process

Idea
Evaluatio
n

Will the idea work?

Does the team have know-how to make it work?
Does the idea represent value for customers?
Is the idea congruous with company strategy?
Is the idea cost effective?

Creativity
Expose yourself to creative outputs great projects,
good design, music, the arts, enlightened talks
Brainstorming alone and in a group
Take notes on the spot
Appreciate restrictions of the canvas
Define your problem in writing
Work out
Avoid TV
Question everything
Read a lot
Exercise the brain read, debate, travel, think
Have fun doing what you do

Creativity

Set goals and objectives

Define parameters
Stay intensely focused
Meditate immersively on the task,
mindless of self let it flow
approach the task entirely for its own
sake
Give it time

How Does it Feel to Be in Creative

Flow?

Completely involved, focused, concentrating - with this either due to

innate curiosity or as the result of training
Sense of ecstasy - of being outside everyday reality
Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done and how well it
is going
Knowing the activity is doable - that the skills are adequate, and
neither anxious or bored
Sense of serenity - no worries about self, feeling of growing beyond
the boundaries of ego - afterwards feeling of transcending ego in
ways not thought possible
Timeliness - thoroughly focused on present, don't notice time
passing
Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces "flow" becomes its own
reward
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Value Proposition
Companies around the world devote
extraordinary time and resources to
developing and fine-tuning the product
delivery chain (sales, marketing,
distribution, customer service, etc.), but
FAIL to assess the most fundamental of
business success factors: their value
proposition.
So how do they survive?
Actually, most of them do not.

Ineffective Value
Propositions
We offer the latest
fashion garments in
town
Ours is a state-of-theart showroom in the
swankiest mall
We take fashion
communications to new
heights
The number one rated
visual communications
company

So what?
Nobody believes this
Doesnt get the
decision-makers
attention
Dont describe benefit
to customers

An Effective Value
Proposition
Is financially oriented
Clearly defines one or more benefits to the
potential buyer of your services, for example

Increased revenues
Faster time to market
Decreased costs
Improved operational efficiency
Increased market share
Decreased employee turnover
Improved customer retention levels

Support the proposition by documented proof

Value Proposition
You can get started developing your value
proposition today. Just remember that an effective
value proposition describes what you do in terms of
tangible business results.
Value proposition is the same as competitive
differentiation. Its the reason why customers would
buy one companys product or service as opposed to
anothers.
Put simply, the value proposition is what the
customer gets for his money/time.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
Warren Buffet

Creating Value for the

Customer
Innovative
creation of
product/
service
responding
to the need

Articulating this in
terms of costs and
benefits becomes your
value proposition

The purpose of a value

proposition is to identify and
satisfy an unmet need that your
target market possesses. An
effective value proposition
describes what you do in terms
of tangible business results for
the customer. However, it's
more than a statement of offer
or a buy-line. It's a commitment
to deliver a specific
combination of resulting
experiences, including a price,
to a group of target customers,
profitably and better than the
competition.

Should a company focus on a single value

proposition?
It can be difficult to create a single proposition that
appeals to all customers and prospects.
It is essential to recognize that the proposition should
reflect value that is important to individual customers.
You could have one value proposition for your
company. But because different customers needs
vary, you have also to create value propositions that
match individual needs as part of your marketing
strategy.

http://www.bnet.com/2410-13241_23-168342.html?tag=content;col
1

Deliver on Value
Propositions!

Just creating great value propositions will not win and

retain business. You must deliver real value
Failing to deliver on the value the customer thought
they were buying will destroy a relationship over time.
Your value proposition must be reflected in product
and service definition and development. This assures
that real needs of customers are addressed.
Getting marketing, sales, manufacturing, research and
development, and customer service operations to
align their activities to customer value propositions
can be challenging. Internal communications play an
important part in building that company-wide
commitment.

How she made her pile: Rosalia

Mera, Clothing entrepreneur
Who is she?
A Spanish entrepreneur/philanthropist who owns 7% of Inditex,
parent of the hugely successful Zara chain of stores. This and
her other holdings are thought to be worth $2.6bn (1.6bn).
How did she make her billions? Born in 1944, she was married
to Amancio Ortega, Spain's richest man (the secretive 'Mr
Zara'); they divorced in 1986. They started clothing business
Inditex at home in 1974 - she designed and made dressing
gowns and lingerie - and it's now one of the world's largest
clothing firms, with 4,000-plus stores and sales of more than
$12bn. When it went public in 2001, she received $600m, and
she invested the cash in businesses ranging from film to
biotechnology. She is president of the Paideia Foundation,
which helps people with disabilities.
The secret of her success? Alas, it looks like hard work. The
company that made her fortune started out as a cottage
industry in her home. And even now, at retirement age, she
remains an active businesswoman and award-winning
philanthropist.
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/922334/how-she-made-pile-rosalia-mera-clothing-entrepreneur/

Workshop: Prepare a Value Proposition

for a Graphic Design Firm: