GSB’s been like a roller-coaster ride for the last few weeks:  papers, exams and recruiting on one hand and a Global Strategy class with Condoleeza Rice on the other.  We’re actually very fortunate to learn from the POWERFUL women of business and politics…more on that on Tim’s blog: (link).

Then we’ve had an amazing Thanksgiving road trip across California, Nevada and Arizona with a rockin’ D2R CREW. We saw the world’s biggest thermometer, bottle ranch, ostrich farm, the biggest firefighter’s helmet…among many other mainstream attractions:)

but this post is about sth different. about MARKETING….ekhm…sorry, about IDEAS. Among the abundance of all the great things that happen at the GSB, I kind of miss the excitement of talking about big creative ideas that move people, evoke emotions, and eventually drive business growth.

Good thing though is that every talk or interaction with a fellow GSBier can lead to a discovery of a BIG IDEA. I was taken aback by two: NIKE+FUEL LAB and GOOGLE’s Project Re:Brief

nikefuellab.com

After introducing last year its flagship wearable tech product: FuelBand and updating it this October with the SE version, Nike continues to push the innovation in this area by ensuring the ecosystem around the product is wide and rich enough for the product to be not yet another gadget, but rather a true improvement in the way we exercise. After the success of the 2013 nike+ accelerator, they are back with even better way to drive the innovation and hype around its FuelBand.

What I love about this initiative is the Nike’s conscious decision to, as FastCompany put it: ‘boldly position itself as the technological hub and allow in other innovators to serve as the spokes. They’re making Nike+ the platform…’. I sense a DSIR market here:D

How can you not love INNOVATION! check out the website.

projectrebrief.com

P&Gs great achievements in advertising were its ability to build the critical mass around radio and TV advertising and capture the value of the money spent there. Hoever not even P&G (:D) has managed to build the critical mass around the digital advertising (with few lucky exceptions)…and the digital advertising has been around for more than 18 years now. This is where Google comes in with its project re:brief. The idea is so beautiful because it is so simple: how do you recreate iconic pieces of advertising of the 60s and 70s into an effective digital campaigns. Was it successful? Find out. Here’s the trailer and the documentary. Enjoy.

BIG IDEAS are SEXY. I love BIG IDEAS:) …now back to studying.

M.