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Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Social Media Innovation

Chocolate, Peanut Butter And Social Media Innovation

During talks I often share my insights on creativity and innovation using the line, “A billion-dollar business was born when chocolate collided with peanut butter. For those of you who love Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Reese’s Pieces (remember ET?) you will resonate with the amazing growth in this brand and all of its brand extensions.

But perhaps what is even more interesting here are the lessons that can be learned and the insights leveraged for your own business from a product that effuses feelings of fun and pleasure. Here are two lessons I see in this creation:

  1. Spend time thinking cross-paradigmatically. Yes, this is a big word. For years people have laughed when I use the word cross- paradigmatic. It’s about mixing one product with another or one service with another or even, one experience with another to make new products, services or experiences.  For example, say you love golf. What if you mixed together networking and golf outings? That could be a new business.
  2. Spend time building a network of potential online followers. It’s pretty easy to find people online who like golf, taking the prior example. I just searched LinkedIn today and see there are 374,940 people currently who put the word “golf” in their LinkedIn profile. I added the keyword “networking” in a search and there are almost 40,000 people who have both terms listed in their profiles. And this is just a LinkedIn search. What about Twitter and Facebook?

So the next time you are ready to create something, create something with a cross-paradigmatic approach. Stretch yourself. Go with Einstein’s suggestion to find your true genius through this approach. Please share your stories with me as you create your path to success!

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