Leading creativity and innovation
Chivas Brothers operates within the highly competitive premium spirits market. The company’s goal was to ensure that as many people as possible from across the company could contribute to the innovation effort by fulfilling their creative potential.
A small number of internal Innovation Champions were trained on the GENIUS YOU approach. They were provided with support so that they could in turn coach and train others to embrace the spirit of creativity and innovation within Chivas.
Under the supervision and guidance of the Champions, over 100 people from different corporate functions better understood their creative strengths and how these could be maximised to help deliver the innovation goals of the business.
Creating a common language around creativity
The Marketing Foundation programme is a flagship initiative in Unilever’s marketing capability curriculum.
This 6 month blended global programme teaches the fundamentals of how Unilever carries out end-to-end marketing in a hyper-connected world. Our partnership with Unilever started in 2019. Our role has been to help lubricate the various marketing processes taught across the programme with the range of creative behaviours.
The approach also enables participants to work more efficiently and productively in teams when addressing tasks that require fresh thinking.
Collaborating and creating more effectively as a team
HSBC Technology & Services (HTS) ran their annual Innovation Forum in China in order to generate a number of strategic ideas using cross-functional teams. Senior management wanted to maximise the creative output of the session.
In advance of the Forum, a virtual classroom was held, the facilitator based in London and all 40 delegates located in China. The purpose of the session was to establish the creative strengths of each individual and the group as a whole.
During the Forum itself, the delegates were grouped together in creatively balanced teams so that they could best leverage their collective strengths when tackling the business challenges.
Becoming a one-person powerhouse
Jardine Matheson is a diversified conglomerate, based in Asia, with unsurpassed experience in the region. It employs over 450,000 people across the world.
Each year the company recruits a cohort of young trainee managers, the Jardine Executive Trainees (JET’s), with the expectation that they will become managers within the next three years. This group is selected from the most able graduates from some of the most highly regarded universities globally.
Working in partnership with MTP, a UK based learning consultancy, GENIUS YOU provides each of these individuals with applied training in the areas of creativity and innovation, strengthening their personal and interpersonal toolkits. This takes place both face to face and virtually.
Lubricating the creative idea development process
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a science-led global healthcare company with a special purpose: to help people do more, feel better, live longer. Oral Health is one of the categories in its Consumer Healthcare business.
In 2019, one of the challenges for the category team was to find a common language that could be used to lubricate their creative idea development process . This would make it easier for the brand teams to work together more effectively and productively with their agency counterparts from WPP.
Managers from both client and agency completed the survey and then took part in an experiential session to better understand how and where they might play a role in the creative process.
Collaborating and creating with greater confidence
Boden is a British clothing retailer, selling primarily online and by mail order and catalogue. It operates mainly in the UK, USA, Germany and Australia.
The company’s small team of graphic designers were under continual pressure to develop new campaign ideas and promotions for each of the four seasons. The GENIUS YOU approach not only provided them with a new framework for brainstorming, but it also gave them the ability to engage with senior stakeholders with greater confidence when pitching new ideas.
“I really liked how it gave us a useful tool and process to follow when creating and developing concepts. It related so well to our day job and it was really ideal that the whole team got to learn this new technique together.”