Fresh Ideas for Economic Growth

What government and business need

When was the last time you had a great idea? Perhaps you have developed a new café concept, a never-before-used plot for the next great telenovela, a more efficient way to do your job, or a fantastically fresh idea that can spur economic growth in the country. Maybe you’ve offered your employer ideas to save the company millions of pesos, or if you are working for a government agency, found a way to eliminate red tape and onerous rules that will make doing business in your department less burdensome. Or you might have discovered a way to improve investments in infrastructure, and delivery of basic education, housing and health services to the masses.

At the moment, there is an urgent need for our public and private sector leaders to build an arsenal of ideas. This much we do know: Ideas can drive the economy, ideas can make people’s lives better, and most of all ideas can transform the country into a better state. So even though we are clueless about how best to put together an idea mill, one thing is clear: If we can get people to acknowledge, seize, revere, and nurture our ideas, we can win. We can win financially, we can gain power, and we can alter the country’s economic and social landscape.

But how can we triumph? What do we need to do to modify the conversation in government and in business, and if we are lucky, to positively change the country’s course? If we are agricultural producers, we want nothing more than a higher price for our rice, coconut or sugar. If we are manufacturers of consumer goods, we aim for competitive displays and facings in major retail outlets. And if we are idea merchants, we desire to unleash an "ideavirus." An idea that stays in our head is worthless. But if an idea moves, grows and infects everyone it touches it becomes an ideavirus.

CURRENCY OF THE FUTURE

Seth Godin, in his book Unleashing The Ideavirus, describes it as "A big idea that runs amok across the target audience. It is a fashionable idea that propagates through a section of the population – teaching, changing and influencing the way we think and do things. And in our rapidly changing world, the art and science of building, launching and profiting from ideavirus is the next frontier."

Ideavirus is a form of marketing. What else is there anyway? We don’t win with better delivery, or better production, or better accounting. We win with better marketing, because marketing is about spreading ideas, and ideas are all we have got left to compete in the world. "The future belongs to the people who unleash ideaviruses," Godin contends.

We have heard of Hotmail. We use it not because it ran a lot of TV ads, but because it did not. It’s because the manifesto of free e-mail got to us. It turned into an ideavirus. Someone we know and trust infected us with it. We discovered Polaroid camera when a friend showed us how cool the idea of an instant photograph was. Do you remember the slogan "Only her hairdresser knows for sure?" That was classic brand marketing and it flew through word of mouth. It was an ad for a product that was supposed to be a secret between us, our respective needs and Clairol.

Ideas are the currency of the future. They can instantly cross international boundaries and change discussions about crime and justice, economics, education or politics. They can even get us to buy something. Ideaviruses help those ideas propagate. And we do not have to wait for them to emerge organically or to hope that they happen accidentally. We can plan for it, optimize it, and make it happen.

Exactly how does an ideavirus manifest itself? Where does it live? What does it look like? Godin relates that it starts with an idea manifesto, a powerful, logical write-up that assembles a bunch of exciting ideas and transforms them into a larger idea that is unified and compelling. It can be a written statement. Just as often, it is an image, a song, a cool product or a slick process. As long as we can use our manifesto to change the way people think, talk and act, we create value.

At the heart of an ideavirus are "sneezers." They are people who, when they tell 10, 200, or 100 other people, they are believed. There are two basic kinds of sneezers: The promiscuous sneezers are members of a hive who can be counted on to try to "sell" their favorite ideavirus to almost anyone, almost any time.

Compare that with the influence of powerful sneezers who can set style and who, with a lot of ease, can motivate people to adopt an ideavirus. This is best illustrated by the story of the hat business in the United States, which during the early part of the 1980s reached the end of an 80-year downward spiral to total irrelevance. Each year had brought worse news, with one manufacturer after another going out of business.

In the midst of all this dismal news, one bright spot emerged. Harrison Ford, with a bullwhip, and wearing a hat. Ford’s Indiana Jones sold more hats for Stetson than any single person since the invention of the Marlboro Man. Why? Because Ford had the power to start a trend. His appearance in the movie wearing a fedora hat coaxed millions of men who wanted to be like him into buying a hat.

STARTING AN IDEAVIRUS

How do we go about concocting the recipe for our own ideavirus? Godin demands strict attention and complete implementation of the following simple steps:

• Make sure our idea is virus worthy. If it is not worth talking about, it won’t get talked about.

• Identify the hive. To get the full benefit of an ideavirus, we will need to infect more than half of the hive.

• Expose our idea. Expose it to the right people, and do whatever we need to do to get those people deep into the experience of our idea as quickly as possible.

• Create our sound bite. We have got to decide what we want the virus sneezers to say to the public. If we do not decide, they will decide for us, and say something less than optimal.

• Give the sneezers the tools that they need to spread the virus. After we have got the sneezers, make it easy for them to spread the virus.

• Get their attention and permission. The goal of the ideavirus is to use the virus to get attention, then build a more reliable, permanent chain of communication so that further enhancements and new viruses can be launched faster and more effectively. It is also under our control.

• Amaze the audience so that it will reinforce the virus, keep it growing. Marketers get greedy and forget that a short-term virus is not the end of the process. It is the beginning. By nurturing the attention we desire, we can build a self-reinforcing virus that lasts and lasts, and benefit everyone involved.

IABC FORUM ON FRESH IDEAS

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Philippine Chapter will hold a forum on "Fantastically Fresh Ideas for Economic Growth" on February 26, 2003 at the Green Belt III Cinema 3 from 4 to 6:30 p.m.. Management and leadership experts who will share their thoughts on the subject include Mayor Marides Fernando of Marikina City, Rep. Francis Escudero of Sorsogon; Gary Teves, president, Landbank of the Philippines; Bill Luz, executive director, Makati Business Club; and Joji Ilagan-Bian, chair, Mindanao Business Council. The discussion will be moderated by veteran broadcast journalist and former Press Secretary Dong Puno.

The forum to be presented in cooperation with Mirant Phils. will hopefully start a discussion on new ideas and solutions for generating sustainable, equitable development and economic growth. It is IABC’s contribution in paving the way for government and business to develop more potent ideaviruses and vigorously respond to the Filipino wish list, which covers to name a few, the:

• Streamlining of processes and building on our entrepreneurial strength.

Cutting of too much bureaucracy that stifle quick expansion and development that opens the door to economic growth.

• Creation of an environment that will support the high technology industry, tourism, finance, among others.

• Implementation of a competitive strategy that is based on the quality of life that comes from a strong health, education, and other basic public services.

• Establishment of an entrepreneurial action plan by putting together experts from appropriate fields to help small and medium enterprises.

• Strengthening of regional economic task forces that will limit, if not totally eradicate barriers to local investment.

• Development of affordable housing programs.

• Immediate solution to the peace and order problems.

• Heightened promotion of our cultural heritage, for when we lose it, we lose our identity, our landmarks, and our tourism opportunities.

• Eliminate obstructions to poverty alleviation.

The forum will be followed by IABC’s 2nd Gold Quill Awards Night which honors excellent communications programs for the year 2002. Keynote speaker is former Education Secretary and Senator Raul Roco. For inquiries, on the forum and the Quill Awards night, call the IABC Secretariat at tel. nos. 8169439 or 09177395435.

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Send e-mail to bongo@vasia.com for comments/questions.