Innovating at internet speed in the modern age

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.”

So said George Bernard Shaw.

And so, in a variety of different ways, did many of the speakers at this year’s Marketing Society Annual Conference. The theme this year was #Creativity4Commerce (with the obligatory hashtag) and a common thread running through all the presentations was that successful creativity in the modern age requires us to innovate at internet speed. As Doug Hall so eloquently put it: “Fail fast and fail often.”

Doug advocates rapid, continuous and systemised iterations of creative thinking with a practical test-and-refine process undertaken at every stage. Eric Whitacre, the celebrated creator of the virtual choir, and Michael Welch, an internet entrepreneur being mentored by Sir Terry Leahy, both demonstrated a similar approach. Nick Robertson, the CEO of fashion retailer ASOS, candidly described how he veered off strategy for a while, but was quickly able to learn from poor business results and get back on the right track.

Adaptability and continuous learning are clearly, therefore, key attributes of the most creative businesses and business leaders. As is a willingness to push things to the point of failure in order to learn what success looks like.

But for me, harnessing creativity for commercial success was only one of many inspirational storylines running through this year’s conference. Look just under the surface and you could find an even more fundamental message. As Lisa Harouni-Boyan from Digital Forming stated at the outset of her presentation: “We may be on the brink of the next Industrial Revolution!”

Lisa gave a masterclass on how “3D printing” techniques can totally transform the way products are manufactured and supplied to customers. It is now technically possible - and financially viable - for brands to personalise previously mass-produced goods to an individual customer’s design or specification – within a matter of minutes. Lisa depicted a world where businesses have little or no inventory, where the bulk transportation of finished goods is massively reduced, and one where creative possibilities are endless.

Paul Kemp-Robertson from Contagious Magazine also described a very different world to the one with which we are familiar. Among the many transformations he talked about, one stood out for me in particular: the demise of traditional currencies. Paul highlighted the rapid proliferation of digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, and an even more interesting concept – companies trading their own products as currencies. As an example, a scheme in Africa offers Vodafone mobile airtime to consumers instead of them receiving coins as change from purchases.

The end of mass production as we know it? The death knell for hard cash? Perhaps not just yet, but there are clearly a lot of fundamental changes on the horizon for marketers and business leaders to think about. And plenty of fertile sources of creative inspiration for commerce in the future.

Steve Walker is former CMO of Sony Mobile. Read more from Steve and see his Two Sides blog. You can also read more blog reviews on our conference, watch videos and more in our Clubhouse.