Going on agency visits is probably one of the most exciting parts of the M-School program. We get to meet incredible people who produce amazing work for the different agencies they work for. As a returnee to the M-School program, I had a little idea of how our first visit was going to go. We visited Deloitte Digital which is located in Manhattan Beach around twenty minutes from campus. The first thing I thought about when I heard about Deloitte Digital was the Big Four Accounting firm that all accounting majors strive to get a job with. How can such a huge accounting firm also be a marketing agency?!
To my surprise, Deloitte Digital is just as amazing as it's accounting partner. They are a "new model for a new age", helping businesses transform. Some of their major clients include Fox Sports, Target, Showtime, etc. Thanks to Danny Ledger, Derek Powell, and the Deloitte Digital Team, we learned more about innovation to help fuel our ideas for our Marketing For Good project.
Doblin, an innovation practice part of Deloitte, helps companies innovate. But what is innovation? "Innovation is the creation of a new, viable business offering." Okay...so what? Innovation is about discipline and structure something that Doblin's Ten-Types of Innovation teaches companies and individuals. Their "Holy-Grail" discovery divides a company's offerings into three distinct categories, configuration, offering, and experience. Using their table, we explored how a particular brand checks off some, none, or all of these boxes. And how we can find solutions to better innovate the business on what it is lacking. Read more about Doblin's Ten-Types here.
So why is this so important? I think that a lot of our initial brainstorming was centered around what kind of "new" and "innovative" product could we make that no one has ever made before. But truthfully, all good ideas come from old ones. The best thing I learned in our session was to innovate based on what you know. You can break apart company practices and offerings to see what it lacks. And you can make your company or offering better to fill in those gaps. You don't have to invent something. You just have to find a way to differentiate your product to be the best. I think this technology is what makes Deloitte Digital so unique. It's a part of their company identity which helps them to secure major clients and ultimately create innovative solutions.