AbsolutelyNew Blog

Cool new “breakout” ideas

Forbes magazine recently featured 10 “breakout” inventions and ideas of note. We thought the list is so cool we just had to share it. Click here for its full coverage including an online slideshow and videos.

A few highlights to whet your appetite:

1. Moobella ice cream vending machines that mix, freeze and scoop out 96 on-demand flavors in about 45 seconds, at an operating cost of just $400 per month plus ingredients costs.

2. Activeion spray bottles that add an electrical charge to water as its sprayed, which separates the molecules such that the water bubbles lift dirt and bacteria from a surface, for a one-time retail cost of $169 per $12-oz bottle.

3. IdeaPaint paint that makes any wall into a dry-erase whiteboard. This paint isn’t cheap—it apparently sells for about $4.00 per square foot of coverage—but think of all the additional ideas you can come up with when the world is your drawing board.

Domino’s re-invents its pizza

What do you think of Domino’s pizza?

It seems the folks at Domino’s found many didn’t care for the company’s crust, cheese and/or sauce… so they’ve re-invented their pizza in several ways with aim to satisfy more eaters, and of course to be more competitive with arch-rival Papa John’s. Domino’s has also launched a huge advertising campaign to tout its new pizza, and the ads go so far as to put down the old Domino’s taste in order to then talk about the better, new taste.

Only time will tell how this change works out for Domino’s and its competitors. For now, the move is certainly generating a lot of talk in the pizza world, and also in the marketing world. What is for sure, and why we mention all this, is that this development brings up important lessons for every inventor: listen to consumers and be open to change—even really big, scary change—that can make your offering better for the long-term.

Click here for further coverage.

Holiday greetings... and lessons... from Burger King

The smart marketers at BK and their ad agency have invented a fun, new promotion aimed at spreading the word on the burger chain's value-orientation and $1 double-cheeseburgers: a comical greeting card program in which you can go online and arrange for BK to mail people snarky BK holiday cards, each with a real $1 bill inside.

The cards come in a variety of burger + holiday designs, including several for people you barely know... or barely care for. You can click here to check them out.

We mention this promotion for three principal reasons:

1. We appreciate reinvention, and BK has kinda reinvented the holiday card here—they’re normally for people you know well, yet BK has reinvented them purportedly for those people you barely know, or know but barely care for. And what we can say—we find this novel and amusing.

2. This promotion is generating tons of buzz. How can you not be engaged by a card that reads “It’s nearly impossible to put a dollar value on our friendship—but I did” or "People like you make the holiday special for someone"? And the fact that these cards are available for a limited time only, sort of like BK’s Flame burger-scented cologne of last year (yes, they really sold it last year, in select NYC stores), only adds to the discussion. We should all be so successful in sparking such buzz.

3. The cards are entirely on-strategy. Amusing doesn’t matter if it doesn’t support the business. In this case, it completely does—BK is trying to spread the word on its new $1 items in order to compete more vigorously with McDonalds, and this effort fits perfectly with that aim.

What else do you take away from BK's new promotion? And how can you apply this learning to your invention in 2010? Remember, it takes smarts to "have it your way."

The latest not so inventive invention we like

This is the Arkeg. It’s the Grand Poobah of arcade machines, combining 69 pre-loaded games (yes, including your old faves Asteroid, Centipede and Street Fighter) with a kegerator draft system and refrigerated space for 5-gallon kegs.

If you look at the accompanying picture, you’ll see the tap on the left side of the machine.

More: You can load it with additional games, and even plug in additional controllers when more than two people want to play simultaneously (on the off chance that this invention attracts a crowd).

Not the most inventive product we’ve seen lately, but we’re liking this $3,999 gem nonetheless. We’re also thinking that more than a few people out there will spring for it… and derive a whole lot of value from showing it off.

This gets to the point that you don’t need to revolutionize the world with your invention. Sometimes a simple new twist or combination is all you need. What’s more, bragging rights are big—you can make some serious coin if you’re able to establish your invention as a status symbol item.

A not-quite-robotic automatic pancake maker

If a couple of pancakes is good, a large stack is better, right? And if they can be made in large quantities quickly by something of a pancake robot (ok, maybe we're exaggerating just a little), better still!

That’s essentially the idea of the ChefStack Automatic Pancake Machine, an invention that recently reached the U.S. at $3,500 a pop. The microwave-sized machine makes stack after stack of perfect, piping hot pancakes—lots of them, from “silver dollars” to diner plate sized—in under a minute. Just load it up with batter and the ChefStack does everything else but eat for you. So break out the Mrs. Butterworth's!

Realistically, ChefStacks are of course designed squarely for commercial use—cafeterias, convenience stores, the OctoMom’s house, the AbsolutelyNew headquarters (hint hint to our CEO). And in that is a good reminder for all of us: whereas many inventors look to create a household item inspired by something in commercial use, there’s also ample opportunity in creating commercial products for everyday tasks… like making pancakes.

More tasty bits:

• ChefStack batter is also apparently 97% fat free, and the makers appear to be playing up the healthiness is their sales materials. Needless to say, it can’t ever hurt to tie your product to health and life trends like this.

• Tapping into the emerging food cart and truck craze catching on in cities like our hometown San Francisco, the ChefStack people are also emphasizing their invention’s cart-ability. Smart. And a lot more appealing than that new French food truck (frog legs anyone?) that just started parking up the street. 

What's your modern-day AC?

Movie theaters long ago emphasized their air conditioning to draw summertime crowds in search of cool relief. What’s the modern-day equivalent: Barnes & Noble just announced that it’s offering free wi-fi in its bookstores.

The book retailer believes—smartly—that fast & free surfing will lure more people into its stores, and keep them inside longer... where they’re more likely to buy books and/or try out its new eBookstore. Smart indeed, especially when wi-fi set-up and maintenance will cost B&N so very little.

This brings up some relevant questions for you and your invention. What's your modern-day AC lure? In other words, how are you thinking about what you can “give away” to create more value for your target users... such that they’ll be more inclined to buy your invention? And are you looking for ways to grow your sales from your existing customers (in B&N's case, those peope who are already in the store) rather than focusing entirely on growth via new buyers?

(In giving kudos to B&N, we should note that Starbucks has offered limited, free wi-fi for more than a year... but we’re still scratching our heads on why it limits as it does—requiring people to first register Starbucks cards with at least $5 on them, and then only allowing free wi-fi access for two hours a day. Could it be that Starbucks really doesn’t want people to hang out in their “Third Place”—a term for your home away from home & work? Or have the Starbucks HQ folks simply drank a little too much of their own Kool-Aid?)

Sinful invention and the 4th of July

We recently discovered The Voodoo Doughnut Burger at the Original diner in Portland—it’s a juicy cheeseburger served on a glazed doughnut that’s been halved like a bun, buttered and then toasted to perfection. Talk about sinful.

What sparked this invention? Creativity. Curiosity. Perhaps a tired cook playing with leftovers in the kitchen one night.

Whatever the case may be, and irrespective of whether you order it with fries, soup or a salad (yes, you can have it with a salad... although we feel that greatly diminishes the "You did what?" response after you tell people what you ate), we like this invention. Why?:

1. It’s new & different. True to the name of their diner, the Original folks came up with an original idea, and they’re getting credit for it. We advise every inventor to make sure his or her product offers meaningful, differentiated benefits… and it’s nice to recognize those who do so.

2. It’s tasty. Really. Just like salty and sweet work well in Thai food and chocolate-covered pretzels, this combination hits the spot. New & different matters, but an invention also needs to deliver on its primary benefit.

3. The timing is right. With plans to grill on July 4th (aka: the day the U.S. was invented), we might just have to make our own doughnut burger. After all, not every one of us can build a robot or mag-lev vehicle, but we sure can stop at the Krispy Kreme on the way home from the butcher shop. And what better way to celebrate a new product and the birth of a nation!

The founder fathers would likely be proud… after a very big “Ye did what?”