"Beta"

In the digital age, when marketing is a constant conversation between product makers and consumers, a new approach to product development has taken shape. Those in the software industry are familiar with this concept: the beta version, the work-in-progress that does a basic task but calls upon its users to suggest improvements, fixes and new directions. A beta version is a signal and a call to action for those who encounter it.

Jeff Jarvis most recently wrote a book called "What Would Google Do" in which he looked at the company's business methods and found a way forward for many other industries. Building on the work in his book, Jeff lectured in January 2010 (as part of the Berlin School EMBA program's USA module) on the subject of Beta. There are principles in the permanent-beta philosophy that can help any business get better at what it does, moving away from finished products to more open, collaborative methods.

As Jeff noted during the lecture, his editor and agent were in the crowd. There's another book idea in here somewhere, and this was Jeff's first public attempt to articulate his main thesis. In other words, if this becomes a book, you heard it hear first. As a beta version.

Jeff is a member of the Berlin School's Board of Governors, and shortly before this public lecture he sat down for a tent talk with the school.

He also writes a well-known blog, Buzzmachine about changing media in the digital age.

The lecture was delivered at the Art Directors' Club in New York City.

Please note, we had some technical problems with the video feed for the last minutes of the lecture. But Jeff's lecture was so good that we hope you can bear with us and enjoy just the audio stream for the last part.

Claudia Langer tent talk

Shortly before her President's Lecture at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership (March 4th 2010), Claudia Langer sat down with Berlin School President Michael Conrad for this fascinating Tent Talk. Claudia shares her views on the environment, sustainability and cause-oriented social networks, focusing the discussion on the building and managing of the online community, Utopia.de.

About Claudia Langer:
Claudia Langer is a creative leader at heart. Well before she graduated from high school she set up her first company, Avantgarde, which organized fashion shows, events and promotions. In 1992, Claudia and her husband, Gregor Wöltje, founded .start advertising. Looking for new challenges, she sold .start in 2004 and fully devoted herself to her family. During this sabbatical the idea of Utopia surfaced. Utopia AG launched the website Utopia.de in November 2007 and quickly evolved into one of the biggest and most influential communities for sustainable lifestyle and strategic consumption. More than 60.000 people have registered at Utopia.de since its start. “We have a maximum of 10 years left, if we want to change the world, so we better get started” is Claudia Langer’s motto. The Utopia Foundation is home to some of the best thinkers in science, public life and the green economy. Politicians, corporations and the media seek the advice of Utopia.

Berlin School Graduation 2009

Impressions from Berlin School of Creative Leadership 2009 Graduation Ceremony and Events

Iphone testimonials

Testimonial iphone interviews with Berlin School class of 2009 participants by Michael Conrad. During the demanding thesis presentation week, August 2009.

The question:
"When we were developing the concept for this program, Sir John Hegarty said that this has to be a life changing event for the participants.

What was it for you?"

Fear Factor - Fear to Differentiate

Lucia Tarbajovska

Lucia's thesis was awarded best Berlin School thesis research project of 2009. This 20-30 minute presentation with slides summarises the themes central to her thesis, 'Fear Factor - Fear to differentiate'.

Thesis research projects at the Berlin School are an integral part of the global Executive MBA in Creative Leadership program and represent the culmination of extensive research and background work conducted individually by each EMBA program participant.  Each thesis is aimed at challenging the status quo of communication, provoking and inspiring new thinking - leading to new expertise, practices and tools. Thesis topics reflect an individual participant's fresh, practical, provocative, and radical ideas and are built around a theory, argument, assumption, premise, postulation, concept or contention that has the potential to refresh and renew communication as we know it in the fields of advertising, design, entertainment, journalism, marketing and media. As a general rule final EMBA theses are judged according to their potential to inspire new ways of thinking about the future of communication as well as their ability to encourage higher leadership standards in the creative industries.  Topics can focus on issues specific to a participant's company or general issues that relate to the creative industry as a whole.

Rishad Tobaccowala tent talk

Rishad Tobaccowala is the CEO of Denuo and the Chief Innovation Officer of Publicis Groupe Media which is a management board that oversees two of the world’s largest media companies: Starcom MediaVest Group and Zenith Optimedia. Rishad also leads SMG Next, the first and most comprehensive futures practice in the media services industry. He was a founder and president of SMG IP, a digital communications agency that specializes in Internet contact strategy, execution and measurement.

Tobaccowala’s vision and expertise played a central role in shaping SMG IP into one of the largest digital communications agencies based on IP media in the US, selected by Media magazine as the 2002 and 2004 Interactive Agency of The Year. Additionally, he serves as a board member of Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) - the parent holding company of SMG IP - and is a member of its executive committee.

Tobaccowala brings 21 years of marketing and strategy experience across a wide spectrum of clients and companies. From 1996 to 1998, Tobaccowala was the president of Giant Step, Leo Burnett's interactive subsidiary. Over the course of his career, Rishad has worked with many marketers including Network Solutions, U.S. Army, Allstate, Kellogg, Miller Brewing, United Airlines, Maytag, Procter & Gamble, and General Motors. His other experiences include founder and director of Leo Burnett's Interactive Marketing Group, director of Direct Marketing, as well as nearly a decade in account service roles on a range of clients from Heinz to Procter & Gamble.

Tobaccowala serves on the advisory boards of many companies including Yahoo! and MSN, and is on the Board of Directors of Revenue Science. He was named to Advertising Age's Interactive Hall of Fame and was selected as Adweek's 2000 Media All-Star for Interactive Media.