Fortune Smiles on the Disciplined Innovator

From English 194 Wiki Site

By Taylor Whitmer
00:46, 31 May 2006 (PDT)

1 Abstract
2 Description
3 Analysis and Evaluation
4 Works Cited

Abstract

This research report will analyze Doblin, Inc. Doblin is an innovative strategy firm that has aided many companies in becoming more creative (see definition of creativity). By examining this innovative strategy firm in closer detail, we can get a better idea of what the creativity economy is and why firms such as this one are becoming essential in our society today. (For a more in depth background of the creativity economy, see Knowledge economy to creativity economy). Doblin started their work in 1981, and they have formulated many impressive strategies that make them stand out against their competitors. These various strategies will uncover what our society values as "creative", as they analyze the company's so-called "innovative DNA" to inspire change.

Description

Doblin was originally founded as Jay Doblin & Associates in 1981 by the late, Jay Doblin. Not only was he a designer, but Jay was also a professor at the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Because of his work, Jay was able to set much of the foundation for what Doblin has become today. Doblin is an innovative strategy firm that has aided many companies in becoming more creative (see definition of creativity).

Doblin, Inc. has assisted many well-known and popular companies ranging from McDonald's, to Hallmark, to Xerox, to Alamo Rent a Car. A few specific cases will be examined in order to provide a more round perspective of Doblin as a creativity firm.

Analysis and Evaluation

In the past several decades, the economy has seen a shift to desiring and calling for creativity rather than information or knowledge, as described in the research report, Knowledge economy to creativity economy.

Jay Doblin, the founder

Doblin Inc. is embedded in a strong practice of leadership, which attracts prospective clients, who are in search of benefitting from the firm's advanced and highly-developed innovation methods. This is not new for creativity consulting firms seeking better Innovation. However, Doblin's approach to packaging ideas is distinctive and matchless; they combine design planning, information design, innovation strategy, thorough research after the initial implementations, and written analysis to expand on the intricate stories of their work and to convey motivational insights from these stories. They understand the whole science of innovation better than many of their competitors.

So what does Doblin exactly do as a consulting agency? Well, they do start things off by assessing the company's current innovation capabilities. Without knowing their exact potential, it would be impossible to improve the innovation cycle times and hit rates. Doblin also aims to think beyond only new products, as they believe that you must utilize the other nine types of innovation (see all Ten Types of Innovation). Once these things have been thoroughly thought and planned out, it is then possible to set up a unique innovation direction specific to the company's needs. Doblin will then assist the company in developing, selecting and implementing the innovation concepts. Although these steps may seem similar to those of any average consulting firm, Doblin's proceedures are much more thorough than some of their competitors.

One way in which their overall strategy differs is through their idea of a company's innovation DNA. A company's innovation DNA is finding what a company does best, while simultaneously finding the aspects of business in which they struggle. By examining its strengths and weaknesses, a comprehensive, individual analysis of the company can be created and formed. This is what Doblin refers to as an "innovation diagnostic". This assess the company's innovativeness and identifies the most effective manners for improving it. Once this step is done, Doblin examines the general industry that the specific company is in (ie. the computer industry, the music video indstry, the cell phone industry...etc) through innovative landscapes.

What are innovation landscapes?? Innovation landscapes illustrate a three-dimensional, visual image of the so-called "terrain" or business that leaders need to understand what opportunities or possibilities a field holds for them. Doblin defines innovation landscape as a proprietary diagnostic tool to identify patterns of innovation within an industry. These landscapes display a view over a certain period of time, which allows for simple innovation patterns to stand out. The height of the peaks in these landscapes illustrate how intense an innovation challenge is, and the number of peaks show how diverse it is. If new peaks are seen to be forming or changing, then the innovation landscape displays how innovation challenges are changing in a particular field. In addition to finding specific patterns, the landscapes are also able to predict what a company's competitors will be doing. Doblin utilizes these landscapes, as they find them particularly useful in building good innovation systems for a specific businesses. Innovation systems aid in identifying the correct type and number of innovations that are appropriate for a company.

The green indicates the amount of time that the landscape is observing.

The peaks and slopes indicate areas of high-industry activity and major industry changes.

The formation of new hills in the landscape indicates new activity

The green illustrates no activity, where innovation is 100% possible.

Innovation landscape for the computer industry

After examining the current industry, Doblin can find specific “insights for innovation”. These insights, again, are specific to the company, and the innovation concept development is specifically created for the client that Doblin is working with. Doblin provides both workshops and project protocols to show the company compelling innovation concepts that would be successful in their particular industry, in the hopes of gaining support and enthusaism to implement them. By telling stories in addition to the workshops, Doblin can betterr portray the innovative ideas that they are proposing, and concept development support can be raised. The workshops and stories can create convincing presentations. After this step is completed, Doblin uses concept selection protocols to help the company choose specific innovations for their future development and growth.

Here is a visual breakdown of Doblin's Innovation Discipline Model:

In the article, Mr. Metrics: Larry Keeley, Larry Keeley, the co-founder and current president of Doblin, claims that, "Innovation cannot be done formulaically. Putting the right numbers into the wrong innovation process won't give you results. The goal is to focus on a very few very bold ideas that tend to work, as opposed to many, many ideas all over the place that tend to fail." Keeley believes that there are certain strategies that every company must follow in order to become successfully innovative. However, he also explicitly states that this strategy is not just based on numbers - the system is only reliable 'and' successful if the correct process is implemented with the right amount of changes. To further explain this idea, take the launching of the iPod for example. In the article "The Most Innovative Companies", Keeley claims that to launch the new product, "Apple used no fewer than seven types of innovation. They included networking (a novel agreement among music companies to sell their songs online), business model (songs sold for a buck each online), and branding (how cool are those white ear buds and wires?)." Perhaps this is why Doblin has been an impressive innovative strategy firm for twenty-five years.

Doblin, Inc. has worked with many large and powerful companies from all different industries. One example is the work that they did with Alamo Rent a Car. In 1997, Republic Industries took two of the six major car rental brands including National and Alamo. National car rentals were typically aimed at attracting coroporate vehicle renters, while Alamo usually aimed to attract price-sensitive leisure renters. Previous to Republic Industries taking over Alamo, Alamo had expanded into a new, business-focused markets. This posed a problem to one of their main customer bases of the leisure renter. Many competitors targeted Alamo's leisure renters, because it was their largest source of customers. Alamo was in need of developing a brand strategy that leisure renters and travel distributors would both like and that corporate-focused competitors would not be able to match. In addition, it would need to be compatible with Republic's general proceedures and operations for renting vehicles.

A view of the inside of an Alamo car rental

What Alamo was struggling with was what their brand represented. Doblin was able to help the car rental company shift from a low-price car rental to a new value. This new value represented a great leisure car rental that covered all four bases: cars, amenities, services and support. By analyzing the rapid changes that were taking place at this time, Doblin was able to make specific recommendations for new innovative messages, products, and services that Alamo could adopt, in order to keep up with competition. At the same time, Alamo was also able to work together with their new partner, National. To have additional help, Doblin collaborated (see collaboration) with Jack Calhoun. He was able to focus Alamo's processes more clearly, as well as examine the cost of operations. By doing these things, Calhoun and Doblin were able to give Alamo better costs with a more streamline focus and a larger differentiation from competitors. Lastly, Doblin also collaborated with Landor Associates to market Alamo's new identity.

Although McDonald's has been extremely successful in the fast-food industry, they have not shunned the idea of gaining more innovative strategies. In 1993, McDonald's relied on Doblin to help them when the restaurant found themself in a price war and competition with other restaurants. McDonald's wanted to create new and more efficient ways of providing food for their customers, the revolutionary drive-thru, while simultaneously creating an enjoyable experience for the customers. Although service at the front counter and basic kitchen processes involved were forced to change, the notion of even more immediate service has revolutionized the restaurant industry today. The goal was for McDonald's to have a competitive advantage by delivering better, more efficient services, while also providing customers with a positive experience.

So what did Doblin do in order to fix these problems? Doblin came into the picture by video taping interactions between the McDonald's employees and their clients. By examining the interactions in an in-depth manner, Doblin was able to come up with a model of customer's frustrations and expectations when dining at the restaurant. With this model, they were able to create specific design principles that led to more innovative processes at both the counter and the drive-thru. By discovering exactly what McDonald's clients expect in terms of products and services, Doblin then looked at the actual process that occurred in the kitchen. They were able to re-invent their original standard operations to better suit the needs of their customers. This work resulted in many new restaurant interiors as well as operations throughout the U.S. However, the main focus and implementation occurred in Colorado Springs.

These examples illustrate how Doblin Inc. functions as an innovative strategy firm. Their work is important because it exemplifies the current need for businesses to be more creative. There is no longer an emphasis on getting knowledge, because it is practically accessible to anyone through the technological capabilites of today. Doblin's search for a company's innovative DNA as well as the analysis of the innovation landscape can lead to strategic planning that has been beneficial for most, if not all, of Doblin's clients. Lastly, their motto "Fortune smiles on the disciplined innovator" completely embodies the current economy and culture of creativity. You must use it in a regimented and responsible manner, in order to obtain the end benefits.