Fredrik Härén's Blog, page 5

The Creativity Suite. Episode 144: The Unknown Need

Interview with Dave Harrison, former Sr. VP and Chief Marketing Officer at GAF.

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We are all aware of the Rumsfeld Matrix. That is: “Known knowns, Known unknowns, Unknown knowns and Unknown unknowns.”

 

But have you heard about the Harrison Matrix? Probably not, since I just invented it following a discussion with the very innovative Dave Harrison, former: Sr. VP and Chief Marketing Officer (among other things) at GAF, the world’s largest roofing manufacturer.

 

The Harrison Matrix is a variation of the customer and her needs.

 

Known needs – what the customer thinks she needs.

Known “unneeds” – what the customer knows she doesn’t need.

Unknown needs – what the customer doesn’t know she needs.

Unknown “unneeds” – what the customer doesn’t know but she doesn’t need.

 

Most marketeers and salespeople focus on the “known needs”, trying to convince people to buy their product by appealing to a need the customer thinks she has.

 

But Dave Harrison talked to me about the importance of also appealing to and primarily focusing on the “unknown needs” of the customer. When you get that message right, you’ll find your gold treasure.

 

Here is an example of leveraging the “unknown needs” from the roofing company GAF:

 

Most roofing companies promote their product as a great way to protect the house from extreme weather (rain, wind, snow, etc.) because that’s the customer’s known need.

 

And while it’s true that customers are looking for products and installation services that protect their home from extreme weather, Dave and his team at GAF went beyond promising solutions to known needs and added a primary focus on the “unknown needs” of roof buying customers.

 

What is the unknown need for people buying roofs? In the past, warm moist air generated from showers, sinks, and washing machines escaped through drafty windows, doors, and siding. Now, homes are energy efficient, and therefore that warm moist air is not escaping; it is going up into the attic.

 

Warm, moist air in the attic creates unknown but significant risks and problems. First, the attic becomes a perfect breeding ground for mold with added warm moisture and therefore puts your family’s health at risk, especially for asthma. Second, warm, moist air degrades the effectiveness of attic ventilation, resulting in higher energy costs. Third, heat trapped in the attic fries out the roof prematurely. Fourth, 90% of homeowners think they have a manufacturer lifetime warranty plus insurance coverage, but these protections are void the day the roof is installed. That’s because manufacturers and insurance require that the roof system is built according to attic ventilation roofing codes. Surprisingly, nine out of ten roofing contractors are not following ventilation requirements.

 

Do roofing customers know these tremendous risks? No! However, when marketing and sales share the reality and importance of this “unknown need” they are very keen to find a solution to it. And of course, that is just the solution that GAF’s roofing material and their aligned Master Elite roofing contractors are uniquely providing.

 

Under Dave Harrison’s leadership, GAF went from a weak #5 roofing company in North America to #1 and from $600 million to over $3 billion.

 

In summary, every other roofing company is selling “known needs” of protection from the weather,” but that approach doesn’t help you stand out. With that focus, there is no difference because all roofing material and installation are perceived as the same. You need to stand out and you do that by demonstrating you meet their known needs but are a much better option because you also uniquely solve their “unknown needs.”

 

Dave: “If people trust you, they will give you credit for delivering what they expect, which is their known need. But when you help customers understand the solution to important ‘unknown needs’ you both emotionally and logically reach deep into their ‘awareness blind spot’. By providing this insight, customers will be grateful and rewarded as loyal customers and proactively recommend you to family and friends.”

 

Another example Dave shared of a strategic focus on “unknown needs” was from years ago with the development and launch of REACH toothbrush while at J&J. The “known need” expected with a toothbrush, of course, is that it helps you clean your teeth to prevent cavities and assures healthy gums to prevent tooth decay and eventually dentures. The “unknown need” was that people were unaware that most cavities are in the BACK teeth.

 

So, REACH toothbrush created a difference that delivered both the expected known need but highlighted the unexpected unknown need. How? Reach toothbrush has bi-level bristles that both remove debris to prevent cavities and gets in under gum line to avoid decaying teeth. But, did you know most cavities are on the back teeth? That’s why REACH is angled like a dental instrument to reach the back teeth where most painful cavities develop.

 

What’s the lesson? Ask yourself what is your customer’s “unknown need”? How does your product or service help solve it and how will you communicate it effectively?

 

The Harrison Matrix concept is simple: Aim for the awareness blind spot and you will see your sales and profits soar.

The post The Creativity Suite. Episode 144: The Unknown Need first appeared on The Creativity Explorer.

A reflection about AI and creativity (Episode 238)

Today I want to send you to my LinkedIn Post for today where I show why I think AI is the 6th way to be creative – and why we should think of AI as the greatest creativity tool that we have ever invented.

 

 

Would love to hear what you think. Please do leave a comment with your views.

 

 

The question is not if AI can be creative or not. The question is: Are you using AI to become more creative?

 

 

Please see the LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fredrikharen_ai-and-creativity-activity-7269653345475174404-V5bv?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

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Should an archivist be creative? (Episode 237)

Think of a group of professionals where everyone thinks creativity is important and virtually all of them also think they are creative.

Did you think of The Swedish National Archives (Riksarkivet)?

Well, you should have. Or at least you could have.

The Swedish National Archives is one of Sweden’s oldest government agencies. The oldest mention of a national archive, Riksens archivum, can be traced back to 1618. The National Archives is tasked with safeguarding and maintaining an overview of Swedish society’s archival materials.

So, an old Government agency tasked with handling archives, could creativity really be important to them?

Well, I just spoke to them last week and over 95% of them raised their hand to say that creativity was important in their job. And over 90% (!) raised their hand to say that they thought they were creative. (These are the kind of numbers you normally only get from young university students, IT consultants, or advertising people in Sweden.)

After speaking on the topic of creativity to over 2000 groups in virtually all kinds of industries, I have learned one thing: Never assume anything about how people look at creativity.

So, while I had prepared a speech based on the assumption that a low number of people at the National Archives would say that they thought they were creative, I had also – thankfully – prepared an alternative speech in case a high number would say yes.

I just LOVE that employees of an old government agency in charge of archives all confidentially raise their hand and say that creativity is important in their job.

 

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And it was fascinating to see how new AI solutions are now being launched to read 1500th-century handwritten documents to make them searchable and readable for today’s researchers.

On Saturday I spoke about creativity to lawyers in Saigon. On Thursday I spoke about creativity to marketing professionals in Copenhagen. And on Friday I spoke about creativity to people at the National Archives of Sweden.

Creativity is everywhere!

Isn’t that amazing?

And imagine the creativity that can be released if we become even better at teaching and inspiring people in all industries to become even more creative.

That is why I am passionate about being The Creativity Explorer.

The post Should an archivist be creative? (Episode 237) first appeared on The Creativity Explorer.

The many faces of human creativity (Episode 236)

On Sunday, I interviewed artist and musician Bam Bi in Saigon about the concept of “Gentle Creativity.”

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Yesterday, I interviewed creative director Christian Faber in Copenhagen about the “Restlessness of Creativity.” (Christian, amongst many other things, is the man behind BIONICLE, LEGO’s first self-owned intellectual property.)

 

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These two themes might, at first glance, seem contradictive, but they only are if you think that creativity is ONE thing.

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The more I explore human creativity on this planet, the more I come to appreciate the many facets of creativity.

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And the more we explore the creative process, the more we will discover about it. And the happier we will become.

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And it is totally possible to take a gentle approach to creativity sometimes while embracing the restlessness of creativity at other times.

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Let’s widen our understanding of what creativity is and can be.

The post The many faces of human creativity (Episode 236) first appeared on The Creativity Explorer.

When in Rome… (Episode 235)

Well, actually, I am in Saigon speaking at the Alliott Global Alliance Worldwide conference, and the theme for my speech was “A creative global mindset”.

 

After the speech, one of the delegates, Piergiorgio Zettera from Italy came up to me to discuss the speech.

We talked about the saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” and how it actually should be changed to “When in Rome, understand why the Romans do what they do.”

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To be instructed to follow the customs of the people who live in the country you visit is wise, but it is much wiser if you are curious enough to learn WHY they are doing it differently than the way you are doing something. If you learn the reason for the difference, you might gain a new perspective.

To be curious about alternative ways of doing things that are different from the way you do things is an extra valuable kind of curiosity.

ChatGPT suggests we should call that: Alternativity. And here is the definition:

Alternativity (noun)

The state or quality of exploring, offering, or considering alternatives to conventional methods, ideas, or practices.

A mindset of curiosity and openness to discovering how others approach similar tasks, often to innovate or improve one’s own methods.

Usage:

“His sense of alternativity drove him to investigate how other cultures solved common problems.”

Etymology:

Derived from the Latin alternare (to do by turns) and the suffix -ity, indicating a state or quality.

How is your alternativity?

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Trash talk (Episode 234)

When Dorji Dhradhul served as Dzongda (Governor) of Gasa in Bhutan he wanted to reduce the problem with trash in the region.  So he gave every public servant (including himself) a bag, and the instructions that when they were out in society and saw some trash, they should pick it up. At the end of the year, the public servant that had collected the most trash was rewarded with a price.

 

Talk about “Walking the talk…”

 

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I interviewed  Dorji Dhradhul today about what the world can learn about creativity from Bhutan as part of my research for my upcoming book “The World of Creativity” coming with Wiley in November 2025. His insights around creativity, which I will share in the book, were nothing short of profound.

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Embrace your problems. (Episode 233)

Today’s lesson: embrace your problems. It will make your life better.

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“I could not imagine my life without problems – it would be so sad.”

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These are the words of Apostol Spassov from Sofia, Bulgaria.

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When he was just 16 (!) years old, he and a couple of his friends realized that Sofia was one of the few capital cities in the EU that did not have a planetarium – so they decided to fix that.

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They had no budget, no experience in building planetariums, and very few contacts – but they had a dream and they had the determination to make it happen.

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Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the EU so they could not count on a lot of help from the government, but they would get a small grant of a few thousands euros here, and a few thousand euros there. And every time they got a grant they would build a bit more on their dome.

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Less than two years after coming up with the idea the planetarium was opened. It’s not the largest planetarium on the planet – it might actually be the smallest, as it only seats 13 people on bean bags for each show.

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The planetarium is now a success, and it is profitable. (Turns out that one of their best-sellers are “date night” where a couple can rent the whole dome to project a starry sky while the couple dine in the dome that has been covered on rose petals.

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When I recently met with Apostol, he shared with me that had he known about all the problems that the planetarium building would bring, he might have hesitated to build it, but once they started on the project, they could not stop.

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Perhaps the ignorance that comes at the beginning of a creative project is something we should celebrate. That early ignorance is what makes humans go on a lot of creative adventures that we otherwise would not have gone to.

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What inspired me so much about Apostol Spassov was his approach to problems.

 

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Sitting in the dome, under a million (artificially projected) stars he told me:

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“Problems are what makes life cool.”

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“Cool?!”, I said.

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He replied: “Yes! If you had no problems, life would be so boring! I could not imagine my life without problems – it would be so sad.”

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This approach to problems – no, this approach to life! – is what creates a better world.

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People who welcome, thrive and feed on problems are people who create, improve and innovate.

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Listen to the wisdom of this young man sitting proudly in his dome: “Problems are what makes life cool.”

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So have more problems. Solve bigger problems. And approach your problems with a positive mindset of having them inspire you – not tie you down.

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Think and act local, national and global (Episode 232)

Forget about “Think global. Act local.” Instead, embrace “Think and act local, national and (!) global!”

When you do all three, you “Think and act like a human.”

Last week was the perfect mix of local, national, and global.

On Monday, I gave a pro-bono speech for a local senior citizen group in Lidingö, where I live. 

On Wednesday, I did a workshop on creativity for the top 100+ leaders at Ellevio, one of Sweden’s largest electricity network companies.

On Friday, I delivered a keynote speech for #TeXcellence in Nigeria, one of the largest tech conferences in Africa. 

Mixing insights, inspiration and learnings from a 91-year old Swedish neighbour, with lessons from the inside of one of the largest players in the energy transformation sector in Sweden and then hearing how Africa is changing innovation in tech – all in the same working week – was such a wonderful mix of small and big, local and global, familiar and unknown. Old and new.

 

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I will say it again: Embrace “Think and act local, national and (!) global!”

When you do all three, you “Think and act like a human.”

The post Think and act local, national and global (Episode 232) first appeared on The Creativity Explorer.

Lessons from a 91-year-old man. (Episode 231)

Today I had a very unique speaking assignment. I had been invited to speak about my private island to an association on Lidingö.
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The man who booked me for this is Göran Sjöberg and he joined the association in 1961 (!) 7 years before I was born… The group meets a couple of times a week to do gymnastics and listen to presentations on different topics. This time they wanted to learn more about the islands around Lidingö and invited me to speak about the island I own (Svanholmen).
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Preparing for the presentation, I asked Göran for an insight from a man who worked more than 75 (!) years in business (mostly in PR) before he retired.
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He said: “We neglect to notice and appreciate many of the big changes that happen in business and society because they take a long time to happen.”
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He told me how, when he started working in the mid 20th century, a lot of people smoked in meetings, the environment was almost exclusively male, and work-life-balance was way off balance. And no, things are not all great now, but Sweden has come a long way in creating a better working environment.
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It’s refreshing to listen to a 91-year-old man who’s long life has given him the ability to have perspective on things.
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What improvements are we slowly implementing now that we will look back at when we are 91 and say, “Good thing we changed our mind about these things, even if it did take time”?

 

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Existential Transformation (Episode 143)

Interview with Pedro S. Pereira , Chief Sustainability Officer, Regional Vice President Latin America & Caribbean at SAP.

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Here is what people do not get about the fundamental change that is happening in business and society at the moment.

It’s not just a “sustainability transformation” or a “green transformation”. It’s an Existential Transformation.

A fundamental shift that involves significant changes in how individuals, societies, and systems interact with the environment and conceive of their roles in preserving the planet.

It’s the largest transformation that humanity has ever seen and it will change everything. Including how we innovate.

Yes, these are big words, but if you are not seeing how big this change is, you are missing the impact it will have on your business and the world.

This text was inspired by a conversation with Pedro S. Pereira , Chief Sustainability Officer, Regional Vice President Latin America & Caribbean at SAP in which he told me: “If you, as an organisation, don’t embrace the mindset of existential transformation, you will not be able to operate. You will cease to exist. That’s a huge invitation to change.”

Would love to know your thoughts. Please post a comment on LinkedIn.

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