Blogging about the need for innovation during the financial crisis reminded me of an inspiring Juan Enrique TED presentation¹ made earlier this year.

In the first 7 minutes Mr Enrique succinctly, and often hilariously, summarises the current financial downturn. Some of the causes and consequences of the recession are discussed and possible short-term solutions to the crisis are outlined. In the latter part of the talk Mr Enrique, a leading tech and economics expert,² presents a fascinating insight into how innovative technologies could solve our global economic problems and radically alter how we work and live.

1. Retrieved July 28, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNcLKbJs3xk [↩]
2. Retrieved July 28, 2009 http://www.biotechonomy.com/juan.htm [↩]

Earlier this year Burger King launched the Whopper Sacrifice on Facebook. Over a 10 day run around 23,000 FB users downloaded and interacted with the application¹. The popularity and innovation of the app garnered plaudits from both the mainstream and digital marketing press as well as from social media commentators and observers.

The response from Web 2.0 pundits was typically guarded: Whilst everyone agreed the campaign was innovative, concerns ranged from doubts about ROI and execution² to musings on how web 2.0 has “changed our ideas of what friendship really means”³. ROI aside, an FB application that causes grown adults to worry about the social fabric has to be doing something right. But what’s the real significance of BK’s Sacrifice? (more…)

1. Retrieved July 8, 2009 http://www.whoppersacrifice.com/ [↩]
2. Retrieved July 8, 2009 //www.ideablue.com/2009/01/09/whopper-sacrifice-social-media-marketing-roi-done-wrong-buzz-done-good/ [↩]
3. Retrieved July 8, 2009 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10211898-36.html [↩]