The Surprising Path To Innovation – The path to innovation is rarely a direct line, but that circuitous route is often necessary for true innovation.

Think Like A Child To Achieve More – Kids often have a clarity to their goal setting that adults can learn from.

Three CEOs Who Get Innovation –  A handful of CEOs aren’t solely focused on next quarters numbers. Meet three of them.

Six Questions That Lead To Innovation -  How do true innovators actually make the leap from status quo to full-on disruption? Asking questions.

How To Improve Your Creativity – It’s all about improv.

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Innovation And The Art Of The Story – The art of storytelling is nothing new. Storify co-founder and Hacks/Hackers founder Burt Herman discusses the next generation of the centuries-old craft.

A Running Shoe Inventor Shoots Himself In The Foot - How hard is it for an independent inventor to sell an idea to a multinational? Try running a mile in Lenn Hann’s shoes.

Social Technologies Speed Innovation – Research by McKinsey indicates that open innovation will only improve, as porous company borders increase external participation.

Creativity Is A Gamble – Whenever we start a project or pursue an idea, we’re risking our time, energy, and potentially money, on something that we can’t see the outcome of. It’s a gamble to try something new, to be creative.

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The Rise Of The New Groupthink – Creativity happens to a single person working alone, not in a group.

January Brainstorm – A few ideas to get your little gray cells percolating as we jump into 2012.

How To Maintain A Creative, Healthy Perspective – A change of perspective is what invokes new ideas.

Culture And The Climate For Creativity –  Organizations that invest in a climate of creativity create conditions for dealing with risk and develop an environment of trust.

10 Creative Ways To Use QR Codes –  Here are some of the most creative, fun and interesting examples of QR code marketing that show QR codes have the potential to enrich the product experience and offer the customer real value.

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Here’s a shout out to all guest bloggers. This is a new year and I want new voices here on THINKing.

You may be asking, “why would you want to write for this blog?” We had about 200,000 visitors to the site last year. So, it is a decent sized audience for your writing. We covered a variety of marketing related topics, ranging from advertising, PR and social media to creativity,  branding and writing. So, you will find a receptive audience for those topics.

Convinced? Read on.

If you have an idea for a guest post, here is what I want from you. First, send me a brief outline of your idea with reasons why your post would be a fit for our blog. This should include an explanation of who you are and why you are qualified to write the piece.

Let me know if this is a single post or part of a series of up to three posts that you propose. Final posts should be no more than 750 words, so point me to examples of pieces you have written in the 350 – 750 word range.

Oh, and I don’t want commercials for your company or yourself.

That’s it. Easy, right?

Times a-wasting. Send the information to me, harry at my-creativeteam.com.

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OK, it’s 2012 and like a caterpillar, it seems, marketing is completing its metamorphosis. But really, it’s only the tactics that have changed. At least in my view. We’ve talked a lot about this. Back in 2009, we addressed this subject,

Technology may have changed, bringing us blogs and social media, but people haven’t changed since we came out of the trees and onto the African plains. Marketers need to remember that no matter what vehicle you are using to deliver your message, you should set strategy first, then tightly define your audience. It is, after all, the people that matter most in the marketing equation. Once you clearly understand your target audience, the message almost crafts itself. That hasn’t changed and never will. End of sermon.

But what do others in the field think? I asked a few. Let’s check in with them.

According to Scott Hepburn of Media Emerging,

The fundamentals remain the same, but there are more plays in the playbook. Will you try to use every play, or will you focus on soundly executing a handful of effective plays? I say focus on fundamentals and a few key plays, then expand.

Kathy Rowan of Rowan Communications says,

The essence of effective communications – telling your story and building goodwill through relationships – remains the same.  Now, however, we have a toolbox filled with new equipment and devices that  allows us to hammer home messages and construct meaningful relationships via social media.   The gates are open; we are not constrained by traditional gatekeepers of the communications channels.

Says Jason Falls – author, speaker and CEO of Social Media Explorer,

I don’t think marketing has really changed … yet. While there are some one-off examples out there, most companies are just doing social for social’s sake, checking off a task list and looking for the easy button. Few are really taking social technologies and the shifting consumer habits to heart … and they’re feeling the pinch as a result. But I’m optimistic that more and more companies will see how holistic adjustment to the market — that which companies like Dell and Southwest Airlines have led us into — and really begin to evolve. I hope it happens sooner than later, but beating traditional thinking out of marketers takes a while.

Nathan Richie, who heads up NR Creative Group, says,

 I believe when the tide subsides it is just about how to integrate new tools in the toolbox. Albeit a more human approach. We’re more sensitive to “in your face” vs the softer “Oprah” touch. People want to feel warm and fuzzy first it seems.

Bob Taylor from Social Wave weighs in,

In my opinion, marketing has not systematically “changed”, in fact it would be smug of us to think that somehow in 2011/12 we changed our historical, fundamental marketing rules & realities. We are (by virtue of changing/evolving technology) given new tactical tools to use in our marketing efforts. But the core audiences for the tools are fickle & scattered just as the radio listeners, and tv viewers were at the beginning of their proliferation. Brands and marketers still need to build trust, gain market share, and promote their goods and services. Consumers are still influenced by the messaging, and the word of mouth affinities of others within their communities. With social media we may be able to have two-way engagement like never before, and some new consumers may demand it, but traditional service, quality, and trust, are just as important today as ever-no matter the delivery.  None of these things have changed.

An aside however, is the change that is required by companies to react to the new tactics/tools. For instance, never before have we had the transparency and velocity of reaction as we do in social media and digital marketing. The recent Lowe’s, Chapstick, etc., dust ups show us that our new tools have removed the barriers between projected image and perceived image. Instant public reaction and how it is dealt with are mixing PR, Marketing, and perhaps Legal, like never before. But if you think about it, back in the small town public square, this kind of dust up (albeit a smaller square) was very possible. So new? Not so much.

So, what’s your view on this topic? Let us know in the comment section below. Or, drop me an email at harry at my-creativeteam.com. Look forward to hearing from you.

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We’ve posted on a wide variety of topics in THINKing this year, and based on what you have been reading, you must like the variety. Let’s take a look at the Top 10 posts from 2011. You might find something on the list that you missed.

Creativity Boost #3 – Dictionary Excursion – This was far and away our most read – and commented upon – post. It’s an exercise to boost your creative writing skills.

Top 11 Free Resources To Improve your Blog’s Content - As part of a continuing series to help you in developing compelling content, this post provides you a list of the top 11 online resources to help you improve your writing skills.

How To Write Tweets That Get Noticed – This guest post from David Murton says you need to consider and understand two important rules: readability and retweetability when writing your tweets.

How Is Social Media Like A Mullet - As Joe Dirt said in the movie by the same name, a mullet is “business in the front, party in the back.” And that is how social media is like a mullet: it’s both business and personal.

LinkedIn – Branding – In our series on LinkedIn, we talked in this post about how to use the social network for branding purposes.

Top 19 Free Photo Sites For Bloggers -  This post outlines some of the best places to find free photos and images for your blog.

Creativity Boost #1 – The Mindtrip - A mindtrip is a way to find a novel solution to a problem by looking at it from a different perspective.

Pump Up Your Brain - According to Nobel prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling, the best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. In this post, we discuss brain exercises to help you generate more ideas.

Creativity 2011 Week#12 – Our weekly series of creativity links produced one of our Top 10 posts.

Top 15 Uses For QR Codes – QR codes were much discussed in 2011. We posted on some ways we think marketers should be using them.

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Start Thinking Like A Reality TV Star –  Reality shows offer us many parallels into the world of innovation.

5 Free Tools For Quick Online Brainstorming - The five services mentioned in this article are free and don’t require users to register.

Want A Creative Boost?-  Whenever you’re feeling like you shouldn’t stop working: stop. Stopping when you’re feeling in the prime of a work of art or a project can do a lot of good things for both you and the work.

How To Be Creative While Following The Rules - Knowing your constraints can help with your creativity.

Learn From 10 Creative Business People - Here are 10 bold thinkers who tell us how they use creativity at work, and the lessons they learned along the way.

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Raise your hand if you get a lot of emails from – or send a lot of emails to – “professionals” trying to sell the latest marketing and advertising answer to all your lead generating and new business problems.  Yeah, about that. If your “solution” works so damned well, you wouldn’t need to send me your email to let me know about it.

Your email tells me that you are desperate. You are shotgunning emails randomly, hoping that you will hit something. You haven’t done the heavy lifting. You have not identified your target audience. You haven’t crafted a compelling message, and you haven’t determined the best way to reach your audience. HINT: it is not initially through email because email is a permission-based medium.

Here’s the deal – marketing is all about building a relationship with prospects based upon their needs, not yours.

I’m going to help you, if you happen to be one of those desperate marketers who sends me your random, desperate emails.

First, stop sending me the emails. I am not going to read or respond to them.

Second, I’m an open networker on LinkedIn. If you send me a note from here, I’ll connect with you.

Third, now that we are connected,  learn about me and my company and my needs. And, don’t immediately start trying to sell me something. If you do, I assure you, I’ll delete every email you ever send me and will not answer your phone calls.

Fourth, provide good, solid information on your topic of expertise and I might subscribe to your email.

Fifth, remember, marketing takes time. You must nurture your prospects.  Just as you don’t ask the girl to marry you on your first date, you don’t start selling the first time you have contact with a prospect. I know this is not what you want to hear but it is what you need to hear.

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Creativity Apps For iPad – The iTunes store is crammed with apps. Here is a list of some very good ones to help boost your creativity.

20 Ways To Encourage Creativity In Children - If you want to encourage children to use their imaginations, to not be afraid of a blank page, to think for themselves, and to try new things; give this list a look. Some of the activities are for older children who already can read.

Solving Problems The Soviet Way – TRIZ was developed in the Soviet Union over 2 decades by a man named Genrich Altshuller who studied 40,000+ patents in order to reveal how invention runs in patterns. It teaches you to look at problems in a different way.

The Answer Is In Your Dreams - By thinking about specific dilemmas before bed, we can increase our chances that we will dream a solution.

17 Ways To Be More Right Brained - For all those who feel stuck in the left-side of their brain, and who desperately want to create something and begin to awaken their right-brain hemisphere, here are 17 resources–some free, some not–that will help get you started.

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How To Innovate More – Like the old joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice.

6 Ways Social Networks Can Boost Creativity - There are six important things to look for when evaluating a new social network for its creative thinking potential.

Why Education Without Creativity Isn’t Enough –  To compete long term, the US needs more brainstorming, not memorization; more individuality, not standardization.

Mashup Culture Gets Innovative - Sometimes innovation is as simple as turning a ketchup bottle upside down. But what about putting bug repellent in clothing or carbonation in milk? It’s convergence culture gone wild.

The Six DNA Strands of Innovation Leaders –  The traits of innovation leaders can be acquired; none were born exceptional innovation leaders, rather, many have adjusted their skills, communication styles, work disciplines and cognitive capacity to get to where they are today.

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