Summary
The economic crisis, rise of new advertising technology and the need for enhanced creativity to reach consumers are three disruptive processes that have largely developed in tandem. This article discusses how leading agency- and client-side executives are tackling these trends. Coca-Cola is one primary example, with Jonathan Mildenhall, its vice president of global advertising strategy and content excellence, outlining the firm's mission to inspire "moments of optimism and happiness", and the changes being made to its agency relationships as a result.

Summary
This article discusses many of the core trends which defined South by Southwest Interactive 2013. Wearable technology, exemplified by Google Glass and Nike's FuelBand, was one notable hot topic, working alongside the advent of voice-recognition tools like Apple's Siri and motion-sensor technology such as Leap Motion to close the gap between the digital and physical worlds. The crowdsourcing initiatives of PepsiCo and Lego, and personalisation efforts of platforms like Foursquare, also show consumers are becoming more empowered, and that these companies are starting to find innovative ways through the chaos unleashed by the forces of digital.

Summary
In this article, executives from LEGO discuss its successful Cuusoo online crowdsourcing platform, which has helped the company create several new products by successfully engaging with the community it knows as AFOLs - or "Adult Fans of Lego". Digital leaders at PepsiCo and Frito-Lay also outline their own strategies in this space, including attempts to prepare for any undesirable repercussions resulting from attempts to connect with consumers in this way.

Summary
In this article, Denise Morrison, CEO of Campbell's Soup, discusses how the company built a new culture of innovation. This required "thinking outside the can", most specifically in the form of attempting to more closely understand the wants and needs of consumers. This was especially the case among millennials, an audience with vastly different tastes and needs than regular Campbell's customers. In response, the organisation made innovation much more of a process and less of a hobby, and also openly embraced the freedom to fail.

Summary
This study investigates the choice of consumer research methods in the fuzzy front end (FFE) of the new product development (NPD) process. First, it delivers an up-to-date overview of currently available consumer research methods for use in the FFE of NPD. Second, using an online questionnaire, we obtain insights into the use of these consumer research methods by B-to-C companies based in the Netherlands (N = 88, including many major multinational companies). Third, these companies provided the major reasons for choosing these methods, and specified the types of consumer information that they aim to gather using these methods. Finally, we investigate the influence of company size, type of products developed (durable/non-durable) and product newness on the use of these methods. Based on these findings, we build a contingency framework that helps companies to improve their choice of consumer research methods in the FFE, where consumer insights are most important for new product success.

Summary
An efficient innovation process calls for a stage known as concept screening. If innovation is to deliver value to the bottom line, then it is essential to get concept screening right. Traditional concept screening evaluates ideas among 150-200 target consumers across a selection of metrics (purchase intent being the most common). But potential take up for a product actually has a weak correlation to the level of growth that product is likely to deliver. Using the example of Kodak Funtime Film, the article explains how the incremental value that a product will deliver needs to be examined during concept screening if major cannibalisation is to be avoided.

Summary
This Speed Read summarises the book Creative Genius by Peter Fisk, which explains how to generate ideas, get them ready for the marketplace and take them into commercial reality with real impact. The book addresses topics and concepts such as White Spaces, Future Scenarios and Contagious Ideas, using examples from Ronseal, Barack Obama and Whirlpool.

Summary
A report from the UK DMA's Innovation Summit, featuring presentations from brand owners including Marks & Spencer and Procter & Gamble. Various aspects of innovation are discussed, including how people define innovation as a concept, how innovative practices can be embedded in corporate culture, and how companies are putting innovation into practice - often in their NPD units. Presenters agree that innovation is essential for social and business growth - but it requires companies to implement attitudes and practices that support it.

Summary
Conference report discussing two seminars organised by agencies at the 2011 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. A speech at the Ogilvy seminar by Sir Ken Robertson strongly defends creativity as a human virtue and as the ultimate source of practical solutions to the enormous problems facing society today. A joint presentation by Publicis and Contagious shows how innovative creative solutions can solve everyday business problems; firms are urged to join the 5% club - giving up 1/20th of their budget to experimentation. Cases from brands including Heineken, Cerveza Andes, P&G and Kalula are then discussed.

Summary
This paper describes a project by British Gas and Virtual Surveys to create a platform in which to engage consumers and to gather feedback on new products and services.It outlines how the organisers recruited customers to join a community and provided them with tools for interaction and feedback. The community was then used to test reaction to a new on-demand product for customers not contracted to British Gas, with the idea being withdrawn based on customer concerns.