In another era, a big part of my creative work as a writer and designer was in corporate and investor related communications. Every year my office produced a dozen or more printed annual reports.

Of course nowadays, you’ll find Annual Reports as pdf downloads on corporate websites. Not the lavish productions that were common back in 80’s and 90’s when my office was creating them. Designing corporate annual reports was an amazing process back then. When I speak to design students about the process, many look at me with blank stares on their faces. “You mean you didn’t use photoshop” they ask. That always makes me smile.

The printed annual report is indeed ancient history. In a recent conversation with a former colleague, we were fondly reminiscing about all the care, craftsmanship and money that went into producing this important annual communication extravaganza. We were marveling at the development process working with the company CEO, the storytelling, the design, the art and photography, not to mention the middle of the night press checks with our blurry eyed clients. Seems rather romantic looking back.

I once had four different annual report press checks going on at the same time at the same printer. Those were the days. Sometimes I miss the energy and the smell of ink standing at the end of a giant press with loop in hand.

Alas annual reports are not completely dead in print form, many companies still actively publish and distribute their annual reports in printed form.  For the life of me, in our digital age, I can’t imagine why? So I went back into the archives to share some of the lost annual report work I am still proud of. These examples are all from the mid 80s. Trouble is I can remember all the client companies and the specific year of publication.

To our clients, colleagues and friends, on behalf of PULL Brand Innovation, we wish you a joyous Holiday Season and much prosperity and success in the coming New Year!

Every marketing executive, brand manager, marketing consultant, industrial designer, package designer and manufacturing engineer should sit down for 20 minutes and learn about the Story of Stuff.

I came across this sobering Story of Stuff video a few months back. It had a profound effect on me. I can’t imagine that it will not have a likewise effect on you. Being that the sole purpose of my / our profession is to figure out ways to sell more stuff, I began to realize the truth we all face– mainly our global consumer culture may be killing at an exponential rate the very system required for our survival. Perhaps it might be a good idea for all of us with a vested interest in the continued dominance of a sustainable consumer-based economy to think deeply about what we are really doing.

Your comments welcome.

On behalf of the PULL Brand Innovation Team, we wish our clients, partners, colleagues, and loyal readers a joyous Holiday Season, and best wishes for a prosperous New Year!

Collaboration is required component for innovation. Thinking about challenges and opportunities from different points of view is absolutely necessary.“Six Thinking Hats” developed by Edward de Bono, is a powerful tool for masterminding a problem or opportunity. For those who may not know, de Bono is regarded by many to be the leading global authority in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill.

We use the Thinking Hats technique in our group creative sessions when we are seeking to validate ideas. When diverse people are all thinking in the same room at the same time, there can be tension and a tendency to go with the strongest voices in the room. Six Thinking Hats is a powerful tool because it inspires transparent and inclusive parallel thinking. Next time you have a group problem solving session, try using the Six Thinking Hats to improve the quality of your thinking and decision-making that follows. Each “Thinking Hat” is a metaphor for a different style of thinking:

White Hat:

With this thinking hat, you focus on the raw information at hand. It’s about the facts and nothing but the facts. Look at the data and see what you can learn from it. Look for gaps in your knowledge, and either try to fill them or take account of them. This is where you analyze past trends, and try to extrapolate from historical data.

Red Hat:

Wearing the red hat, you look at the decision using intuition, gut reaction, and emotion. What are you afraid of? Also try to think about how other people will react emotionally, and try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not fully know your reasoning.

Black Hat:

Black hat thinking is cautious and defensive. It’s our common tendency to be the devil’s advocate, pointing out the flaws and why an idea won’t work. This is important because it highlights the weak points in a plan or course of action. It allows you to eliminate them, alter your approach, or prepare contingency plans to counter problems that arise down the road. Black Hat thinking helps you spot fatal flaws and risks before you embark on a course of action. Black Hat thinking is one of the real benefits of this technique, as many people tend to think too positively and under-estimate complexity, leaving them under-prepared for difficulties.

Yellow Hat:

The yellow hat helps you to think positively. It is the optimistic viewpoint that helps you to see all the benefits of an idea and the value in it, and spot the opportunities that arise from it. Yellow Hat thinking helps you to keep going when everything looks dark and difficult.

Green Hat:

The Green Hat stands for creativity. This is where you can develop unbridled creative solutions to a problem. It is a freewheeling way of thinking, in which there is little criticism of ideas. Green hat thinking is about possibility and potential with no limits and no logic.

Blue Hat:

The Blue Hat stands for process control. This is the hat worn by whom ever is facilitating your discussion. When ideas are running dry, or there a blocks in your process, the Blue Hat referees and can decide to move the conversation into any other thinking hat mode that keeps the thinking alive and moving.

Try this technique out. We have a good deal of fun every time we use it.

When I established my guidelines for writing and developing the voice of our Influence By Design blog– I declared I would share only information that adds value to my marketing colleagues on the client side, and never make it about me personally.  I’m in flagrant violation of that guideline with this post. As I look out my office window, I’m hell bent to share my musings on this new year/decade ahead, forgive my indulgence.

In light of the current state of affairs in our economy, for many business people, this down-turn has been a perfect opportunity to refocus, regroup, make new plans, and generally ratchet it up a notch.  Many businesses are well prepared for opportunity when things get cooking again. My business is no exception.

As I thought about how I would grow the business this year, I discovered myself connecting more deeply with what I really love about my work and my business, beyond the making-money part.  Each year I ask myself the all important question  ”why am I doing this?”.  Here are my answers and not in any order of importance:

I love contributing to growth and expansion

I love when my expertise contributes to the success of others

I love to creatively express useful ideas and bring them into form

I love the diversity of my client’s businesses

I love putting a face on things that influences positive perceptions and experiences

I love design

I love to be around smart and talented people

I love to create value through the venue of my business.

Pure and simple, after 30 years, love continues to keep me going in the face of today’s challenging business environment.  I love doing what matters to me and serves others. We created PULL at the very beginning of this downturn.  My colleauges and I felt strongly marketers would highly value the deep expertise and specialized talent we provide them helping them be more confident in the business decisions that drive their brand marketing initiatives. And delivering these outcomes in a “cut to the chase, no BS” process. It turned out to be good timing.

As marketers begin to see a glimmer of light at a turnaround, more are preparing themselves for new opportunity and reconnecting with their brand heritage discerning how it supports or hinders serving customers in a crowded marketplace.  I see more opportunity on the horizon to serve people and share the love than ever before.  That’s what it’s all about.  Like Bob Dylan says “ you’re gonna have to serve somebody”.  After all the marketing theory, buzz-words and industry hype about fragmented media channels, and social media emergence, a successful brand simply begins by serving people well.

If we find ourselves having a conversation about your business growth, it will because we share this same point of view.  I love my work! My wish– 2010 becomes a year of prosperity for all of us. Happy New Year to you!