Innovation Starts at Home

In digital culture, we must not be afraid to fail; it's a well trodden mantra but must be re-emphasised to retain its clarity, importance and prominence in the way that we look to solve complex problems or connect with our audiences.

London's startup scene has exploded over the past 18 months. Where before the US was leading the way in terms of innovative thinking, creative solutions and a market resurgence, the UK is now starting to lead.

Silicon Roundabout, the informal nickname for the area most associated with this regeneration in East London, has shaken off its previously shoddy image to become the epicentre of a revival in UK tech. Heck, even Google want in on the action.

With many new platforms being built, communities created and people engaged, the Shoreditch revolution means that innovation is on our very doorstep, peering through the frosted glass of our front door, waiting to be invited in for coffee and a slice of cake.

With many brands looking still to the likes of Facebook and Twitter to position themselves as being digitally innovative, there are a wide range of other social networks, tools and people with whom they could look to partner.

The opportunity this presents for UK based brands is however, yet to be fulfilled.

The explosion in new ideas means that there has been no better time in recent history to try to be the first brand to 'do something' that nobody had, until that point, thought possible.

There is a great opportunity for a brand to partner with one of the new brigade and make people who shape the direction of brands think "that's a great idea, why didn't we think of that?".

In digital culture, we must not be afraid to fail; it's a well trodden mantra but must be re-emphasised to retain its clarity, importance and prominence in the way that we look to solve complex problems or connect with our audiences.

It would be great to get a group of digital brand managers together and let them go about their work in a TechHub environment for example, to see how a different dose of creativity could be applied to their brand. Just being in that type of environment can spark new ideas, let alone be conducive to a cultural change within an organisation.

Next time you're thinking about developing a digital communications programme, take a look on your doorstep and see who could make the perfect working partner, they might just be your neighbour.

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