March 11th, 2010

Design Thinking: A Powerful Means to Create Real Business Value

designthinking_cropFor those who are unfamiliar with the concept, design thinking might be a misleading phrase since it has little to do with color, photography, illustration or typography. Design thinking is a creative process that innovative companies like Apple and Method use for creating greater business value. Here at BNO, we’re passionate about working with companies looking to inject right-brain creativity into traditionally left-brain processes.  By applying design thinking to business challenges, we’re helping develop meaningful solutions that delight customers and form deeper connections to a brand.

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February 12th, 2010

Our Latest Infographics: B2B and B2C Social Media Usage and Spending

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Most of the corporate world will now likely admit that social media has shifted from a buzzword to a valuable channel for connecting with customers. That being said, the question now focuses on location and quantity. We’ve taken a look at where B2B and B2C marketers are investing their efforts in social networks, as well as how future spending may get allocated among existing social networking sites. Take a look at the infographics we developed, and feel free to share them.

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February 1st, 2010

The Case for Flash

flashSteve Jobs did an interview session after the Apple keynote last week where he covered, amongst other things, his attitude to Google and Adobe Flash. The man didn’t mince with words, branding Adobe as “lazy” and Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra as “bull****”. I have a lot of respect for him, but I must admit to being disappointed with his comments.

Apple’s enmity with Google is somewhat understandable, what with Apple firing Eric Schmidt from their board of directors due to conflicts of interest, and Google entering the smartphone market with the Android OS. But their problem with Adobe is considerably more unfathomable – it can be argued that Adobe saved Apple when they were at their lowest ebb.

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January 28th, 2010

The Apple iPad – Changing the Game?

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So, yesterday was the big day. Mr. Jobs came out, did his “reality distortion field” thing and announced the Apple iPad. On the surface, it’s a typically technolust-worthy Apple device with a ton of cool features. But is that enough? I must admit, I’m somewhat on the fence about it. It’s certainly a beautiful object, as is almost everything designed by Jonathan Ives, but what will be its niche?

There are a bunch of missing features that the blogosphere has exploded in a paroxysm of discontent about – namely, the lack of ports, the lack of Flash support in the browser, the lack of a camera, and the lack of multitasking. Will these things cause the iPad to be stillborn, or is it not even aimed at these people? Did we set our expectations too high?

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January 27th, 2010

Finding the Value in an Employer Brand

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Whether or not you choose to manage it, your company DOES have an employer brand. That brand represents the cumulative reputation that prospective and current employees associate with your career opportunities. What that ultimately means, whether your business is a global enterprise or a small emerging business, is that people are thinking (and maybe even talking) about what it’s like to work for you.

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