Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly

Early on in the process, we are so focused on ideation and creation that we forget to think about the story we will ask the customer to believe when the product launches, and so we miss an opportunity to make the product or service better.

Marketing has gone from this… It turns out that affinity that is earned, not attention that is bought and paid for, is what’s powering business growth now.

But IKEA’s extensive research can influence product development only so much. Because IKEA’s business model depends on volume, they can’t change their products for different markets. It’s essential, therefore, that the in-store room displays fit each country’s culture. A bedroom in Japan might feature tatami mats and the earthquake beams that go th

Because car ownership is not common in China, IKEA stores are built in city centres. ‘And in a region where “do-it-yourself” furniture concepts were practically unheard of prior to IKEA, the company offers far more delivery and assembly options than it does anywhere else in the world.’

When we encourage people to believe that something matters, we attract the kind of people who care about that something. Soon buying from us becomes part of their identity—their story. The experience—our posture and products, and the story the business owner is inviting the customer to buy into—is what creates the customer.

As I worked with clients, I kept hitting on this same problem over and over again. They were working hard to bring ideas to market and enlisting my help with the storytelling part after the idea was fully formed; their first focus was almost completely on the idea itself when it should have been on the prospective user or customer. In fact, it woul

size or legacy, faces four massive challenges. They are: Clutter Competition Commoditisation Consumer consciousness Faced with unlimited choices, savvy customers are becoming more discerning, and more companies are lining up to respond to their wants and needs.

What companies and entrepreneurs sometimes forget is that the purpose of innovation is not simply to make new, improved products and services; it is to make things that are meaningful to the people who use them.

The solution lies in following a principle that management consultant Peter Drucker spoke about decades ago: ‘the purpose of business is to create and keep a customer’. Drucker goes as far as to say that the customer is the ‘starting point’ of a business’s purpose.