Perspective # 30 – Ideas from the Cloud

Ideas from the Cloud: As the craze now is ‘Wisdom of the Crowds’ and ‘Open Innovation’ many firms have started scouting ideas over Internet. This concept has not caught up in India yet. Looks like many firms have now given up on their own employees to come with ideas :) Though many corporate websites seek ideas, two good examples are Procter and Gamble and Campbell Soup.

They all start with a nice pep welcome address “Dear Friend of Campbell, Campbell Soup Company has a passion for innovation. We continually seek to improve the quality, convenience, and value of our products. We are always interested in ideas for new products, packaging, marketing, and production technologies that will help us meet the needs of our consumers and customers better, faster and more completely…. etc.”

Though Campbell soup idea website is very creative they have put too many clauses to protect them from accidently picking ideas with IP implications.. Unlike the simple Obama website, Campbell site have lots of mistake proofing over its 5 step elaborate idea submission process built in so that only qualified ideas show up -- which is a good practice, if not tons of junk ideas will land up and sifting through them will be a pain! Looks like their legal eagles are very cautious - It says "The evaluation of submitted ideas can take up to 3-6 months" -which is bit too long...Also the money is not exciting enough :)) “If the idea is adopted by Campbell, in its sole discretion, may award you an honorarium. The amount of the honorarium, if any, will be determined solely by Campbell, based on the Company’s reasonable judgment, but will in no event exceed $5,000.”

Comparing with this Procter and Gamble is a world leader.. They pioneered open innovation branded as connect+develop™ under their iconic CEO A.G. Lafley. The idea website has a section on ‘current P&G needs’ (so that an idea to build a flying car does not land here!) – For example now they are looking for ideas in ‘Odor Control’- The Problem Statement says "We are looking for technical means to reduce odiferous compounds (eg, aldehydes, butanoic acid, indole) of an extruded food product. Solutions could include, but are not limited to:

1. Nutritionally active compounds that are embedded in the product to control odor.
2. Nutritionally active compounds that are applied to the outside of the product to control odor.
3. Modifications to the process to reduce the amount of odors produced.”

The website also provides at your disposal the ‘execution tools’ -- for example it gives details about the ‘Absorbent Fibrous Material’ technology developed and commercialized for use in sanitary napkins, which is supported by 13 patents.

Only the sky is the limit for a serious innovator as the tools are available.. A brilliant site .. At P&G ‘innovation’ is not lip service but a true business enabler. No wonder they have an annual report on innovation!

Also checkout the beta ‘Ideas for All’ website – A Chennai based science teacher has given a interesting idea to save the water which is flushed/wasted in trains. Ideas from clouds are amazing!