Toyota launches their "Ideas for Good" program

On November 8th, Toyota Motor Sales, a division of the most successful auto maker in the world launched their "Ideas for Good" program. The rules are simple, between November 8th of 2010 and February 28th of 2011 everyone can pick on of the five technologies invented or perfected by Toyota and come up with a creative way of using that technology outside of automotive industry.

The technologies are as follows:

• T.H.U.M.S. (Total HUman Model for Safety)
• Solar Powered Ventilation System
• Hybrid Synergy Drive^®
• Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS)
• Touch Tracer Display

After the submissions end, the community voting will begin and on May 9th, 2011 the winners will be announced. One of the ideas submitted by community was, for example: "Wandering Endangerment Avoidance Program" based on the Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS). This innovation would help with people that have special needs (autism, Alzheimer, etc.) from wandering of and potentially getting hurt.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.toyota.com/ideas-for-good/

Harley-Davidson Picks Victors & Spoils (crowd sourcing) Agency

Harley-Davidson, one of the greatest American brands, is making advertising history...again. About 30 years ago a struggling Harley-Davidson went to Minneapolis based Carmichael Lynch and asked them help them regain market share they had lost to Honda and Triumph motorcycles through advertising. Carmichael said yes but required Harley to fix some 'issues' that had spoiled some of the brands reputation over the years. The results were better than either party probably ever anticipated as Harley grew to be the brand of choice for many American riders.

The economy was not been kind to the motorcycle industry who's new bike sales have dropped as much as 24% over past years.  Harley's been lucky to maintain better shares over other brands but it still is feeling the effects of the downturn. As a result of this they have branched out and found other lower cost options to fuel its advertising needs.  This ultimately lead Carmichael Lynch to walk away from the brand they resurrected so many years ago.

So the real news here is Harley-Davidson has just named the controversial, non-traditional, agency of sorts, Victor & Spoils its new lead agency. Victory & Spoils' creative department is all crowd sourced so you can imagine that this is a very unique and risky move for a premier brand to take.  I have too many words running through my mind to even start to suggest all the possible scenarios that could take place with such a monumental event as this in advertising and crowd sourcing history. 

All I have to say is Good Luck and God Speed!

Winners Announced in the "ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid"

GE & Partners announced five $100,000 award recipients in the "ecomagination Challenge: Powering the Grid". The Open Innovation opportunity asked for people to submit smart, clean power grid solutions. A panel of judges from inside and outside of GE, including Wired Magazines editor Chris Anderson, reviewed almost 4,000 entries and narrowed it down to five winners.

Find more information on the winning ideas visit:www.ecomagination.com/announcements

While I found many of the entries amazing ideas, I wanted to share one idea I can't wait to hear more about.