| Issue 71 |

OVP ( Other People’s Views )

Any type of innovation management, especially strategic innovation – requires leading change processes. And the greater and more fundamental the innovation change is, the more difficult it will be to lead, because it is expected to encounter numerous and stubborn opposers both inside and outside the organization. OPV (Other People’s Views), a thinking tool developed by Edward de Bono, makes it possible to lead such changes by minimizing the anticipated resistances. et

Using OPV to lead changes is simple – you assemble a thinking team that is supposed to lead the change, and conduct the following stages:

1. You make a list of people inside and outside the organization that may object to the change you are trying to lead, especially those that can jeopardize it.

2. Next to each name in the list, write the specific objections that he may have to the proposed change. When you do this – you try to get inside the opposer’s head , and guess exactly what will bother him, and what his reaction to the change will be.

3. Formulate a response to each such objection , in a way that you believe will appease the opposer, minimize his objections, and clarify the advantages that the proposed change will have for him. It is important to get into the opposer’s head, and understand what advantages and benefits the change might have, through his eyes.

4. The responses that you developed for all the objections can be incorporated into a presentation and in additional propaganda that present the proposed change, and also as part of one-on-one discussions and meetings with anticipated opposers.

When OPV is used, you can provide a response to objections that arise, ahead of time. This is how you can show opposers that they have been taken into consideration and that you value their opinion – even before they have an opportunity to express an objection. Also, your chance of successfully leading the change also increases significantly. In this context, it is important to know that when you try to lead a fundamental change in the organization - the stats are against you: two out of three attempts to lead such a change fail because of employee and manager objections. Therefore – if you want to succeed in most of the changes you lead – use OPV, and develop responses to the anticipated  objections, ahead of time.y Edward de Bono, makes it possible to lead such changes by minimizing the anticipated resistances. et

Marketing on social Networks

Freddy Belhassen, one of our top lecturers, has recently developed a lecture on Marketing on Social Networks . This lecture teaches how to utilize social media in order to tighten ties with your clients, improve service, handle complaints effectively, strengthen your brand, and the bottom line – increase the demand for your products. This lecture was given, inter alia, to various managers at LAHAV (as part of the Tel Aviv University’s Faculty of Management), and in other frameworks, and has received excellent feedback. Additional recommended lectures that Freddy recently developed and gives focus on B2B digital marketing, marketing for women, branding, and marketing strategy.

Freddy has  great deal of experience in advertising in general, and digital advertising in particular. He was formerly the Creative VP and VP of Planning at Yarkoni Advertising Agency, and he currently has his own advertising agency called Frederic, which focuses on lifestyle clients, where Freddy assists, inter alia , with the online business of various fashion firms, including Castro and Glick swimwear. More information about Freddy and video clips of his lectures can be found here .

• More information about our other facilitators and consultants can be found here.

• More information about our workshops can be found here .

Creative Technique

 
Technical products are usually advertised in a boring manner: a photo of the product package alongside a list of its properties and advantages. Because most advertisements for technical products look like this, it is relatively easy to surprise and stand out when you advertise such products in a more creative manner.

 

This example is an advertisement for a new super adhesive glue that can be used on many substances, including metal. In order to persuade the customers that the glue is really strong, they attached an enlarged model of the glue tube (2.6 cm long) to a metal cable supporting a busy bridge in China, where approx. 155,000 cars pass every day.

 

The logic behind this advertisement is “extreme exaggeration of a property”. According to this logic, the product’s prominent property must be presented in an extreme and exaggerated manner. In this advertisement, the glue’s adhesive property is apparently so strong that it is even capable of reinforcing the bridge’s cable , enabling it to withstand the bridge’s heavy traffic.

 

This out of the ordinary advertisement definitely paid off in this case. This unique (and inexpensive) ad persuaded the bridge passengers that it is an especially strong glue for metal, and it also resulted in a lot of exposure in the printed and online press. Thanks to this ad, the new product’s sales surpassed the planned goal by 120%. Moreover, surveys showed that the manufacturer, Alteco, benefitted from 96% unaided awareness thanks to the campaign.

 

So, if you have B2B products, the time has come for you to try to develop creative and out of the ordinary advertising. After all – not only customers that buy consumer goods, but also your corporate clients have a brain, which better responds to prominent and out of the ordinary advertisements. Also – know that a creative campaign works when your clients are engineers (even though they are usually portrayed as squares). In actuality, engineers are known for their sense of (childish) humor, and their tendency to like “technological toys”. Therefore, most of them will respond wonderfully to an advertisement with an amusing and surprising message.

 

  

• We would be happy to receive more interesting advertisements. Please send them to ari@zooz.co.il .

• Information about Creative Advertising workshops appears here (page 18 of a Hebrew PDF booklet).