Innovation Engine Blog

The yearly Google Zeitgeist (translation "the spirit of the times"), is the summation of the most popular searches in all of Googledom—a sampling of what was on the minds of millions of Americans and international Web searchers. Let’s examine the top ten from 2009 more closely. What can we learn from this information—what are the insights—what’s at the core of it all?

First, let’s look at the top ten searches in 2009 in America:

1. twitter
2. michael jackson
3. facebook
4. hulu
5. hi5
6. glee
7. paranormal activity
8. natasha richardson
9. farrah fawcett
10. lady gaga

 As you can see, search terms like “foreign policy” or “cholesterol” are not on this list. Americans searched for social, entertainment and celebrity topics with extremely high frequency...But what does this say about Americans? We think it may have something to do with this:

We’re curious.

You might be thinking, “well, that’s obvious,” but let’s dig deeper. Millions took to the Web to find celebrity information—the stories to match the headlines. But is the basis of that curiosity just tabloid fever—an obsession with the idea of celebrity? We think it might be something more: interest in the stories and lives of other people. Interest in the human story—and that goes beyond celebrity gossip—drives conversations online and off. But for many, social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Hi5 give people a faster, easier way to communicate ideas, ultimately facilitating the conversations. People flock to social networks to connect with others and search for the details of celebrity life to get more personal—perhaps all we want is to get beyond the introductory small talk—faster.

As demonstrated by Google Zeitgeist, curiosity is powerful. And at Maddock Douglas, we empower curiosity and celebrate our "sense of wonder". Where we find ourselves curious, we often find value and insight. And for us, insights are an essential part of innovation.

So what makes you curious? Are you using curiosity to drive innovation?

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?

Let's start with some numbers: in the first 24 hours of it’s release, Modern Warfare 2 sold 4.7 million units, or 310 million dollars in the US, Canada and the UK. Within the first 5 days, MW2 took in US$550 million worldwide. And yes, these numbers beat out music, book and movie releases during the same period. For some people, this shift in popular media might seem ludicrous. But for Maddock Douglas, it’s an event among many that continues to confirm a future innovation trend:

My Life is a Video Game.

Today, video games are becoming less ancillary and more integrated within our daily lives. As Mike Maddock said at Future Trends 2009 (video link) we use a Wii fit to get in shape—and to build on his point, we already are using video games to:

• Test and improve our logic
• Delve deeper into history and war
• Build our vocabularies
• Train for jobs

And the list goes on.

As Maddock Douglas thinks about the future of many industries, we understand that consumers are becoming less and less passive. They want to be immersed and involved.

As the definition of “video game” becomes broader, individuals continue to utilize gaming for not just entertainment, but also for functional purposes.

Consider foursquare, the mobile app that allows you to “check-in”, tells your friends where they can find you, and recommends places to go & things to do near your current location. Foursquare openly credits a gaming component to their success, as every foursquare check-in (when users find new places—i.e. restaurants, stores, bars etc. in their neighborhoods) earns them points. And, after accumulating a certain amount of points, they’re awarded badges or even made “Mayor” of that location, which may qualify them to earn freebies.

It might seem silly to some, but to foursquare’s investors—the likes of Jack Dorsey, creator of Twitter, Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, and SV Angels LLC, The angel group founded and backed by Ron Conway, it’s a seriously fun way to “make your city easier to use.”

As demonstrated by many forward thinking companies like foursquare, where function and gaming mesh together, the chance to innovate is far beyond maps or joysticks.

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?

If you’re still looking for a costume idea and you’re 36, you’re in luck. Show up tweeting from your mobile device and instantly be: the driving force behind Twitter's success. Although recent studies have shown that younger folks are warming up to Twitter, it’s the age 35 to 44 year old demographic in 2008 that catapulted the micro-blogging service into mainstream consciousness.

You can’t watch TV, read your RSS feed or even have a conversation without tweet-infiltration. It’s everywhere. DM’s, @’s, RT’s, hashtags and now listing. The subculture that comes along with being one of many “tweoples” has even penetrated advertising and packaging. This Twitter explosion and Twittification of language really got me thinking: why the 35 to 44 demographic? I’m sure I’m not alone in this question. So here’s an idea:

#CommandLineInterface

The age 35 to 44 demographic might remember a little thing called DOS. Yes, the Disk Operating System. DOS operated on a Command Line Interface, on which you’d enter a command, combined with characters like these: $, %, #, :, > and @ . A few of these same characters form the framework of the “Twitterverse.” Yes, the hashtag. Not to mention the “@.” Some CLI users, depending on the operating system, could type in the “@” character to specify users. Sound familiar? It’s pretty simple to see the connection: The age 35 to 44 demographic might have a leg up navigating Twitter due to previous CLI usage. If this same demographic began using CLI in their first computer interactions, it’s not so crazy to think that adopting Twitter seemed more natural—more intuitive.

Some might deem this hypothesis misleading because of Twitter's simplicity and ease of use, regardless of CLI experience, but place yourself in an outsider's shoes. Navigating Twitter would be confusing with the many functional symbols and site-specific verbiage. Getting oriented takes time. Having CLI experience may have made it a little easier for a specific demographic to become acclimated.

Have you seen the new Maddock Douglas homepage?

Follow Maddock Douglas on Twitter