The “All-you-can-eat Buffet of Food for Thought.” IdeaFestival 2010 is what this statement is referring to. I just received my ‘personal invitation’ to attend the yearly conference held in Louisville, KY, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I feel more creative just thinking about it.

IdeaFestival is “a world-class event that attracts leading global innovators and thinkers to discuss and celebrate imagination, new perspectives and transformational ideas. It explores the cross-cutting nature of innovation over a range of diverse disciplines.” I should say so! As descriptive as that is, until you experience the event yourself it is very hard to get across just how great it is.

So I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Sacramento CA waiting to meet with the city planner regarding a new building design and notice the building across the street has an HVAC unit mounted at the peak of a bowstring truss roof. You’ve got to be kidding me! As they say on “Modern Family,” What the face! Where is the enforcement?

You would think they were trying to make a mechanical engineering cupola statement as part of the design concept or something. Wow, who does that and what city planner or inspector approved that?

As design professionals, we go through great pains to design buildings that screen ugly mechanical equipment to improve the look of the street scape at every juncture.

There wasn’t an Evolutionary War for a reason. In the pre-dawn of U.S. history, the new settlers wanted more than to just evolve the British rule, it had to be overthrown. A new start, a clean slate. Imagine the pressure that those founding fathers must have felt when deciding that enough was enough, let’s try something new. Today, many brands find themselves in the same place. The status quo isn’t working. It’s time to differentiate. But I wonder if the ideas of “revolution” and “evolution” aren’t being confused.

As I was finishing up payment at the pharmacy, a young male employee strolled into the area and struck up a conversation with the staff by saying, “That new Kotex packaging is sharp!” Silence. Then, apparently mistaking the silence as a request for clarification, he continued, “You know, the black packages? They are really cool looking!” More silence. Based on a quick survey of their expressions, everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, What is an 18 year old guy doing talking about feminine hygiene products?!

Even as I grabbed my purchase and escaped the awkwardness, I began to contemplate what transpired. Given that I spend my days knee-deep in shopper sciences, I found the situation quite compelling. Good packaging should be, in part, disruptive, and the new U by Kotex packaging is definitely that. The sub-brand is unique in the category, both in shelf presentation and in the “get real” tone of the advertising. A+ on disruption.

I’ve been fascinated with the concepts of “augmented reality” as it is currently being used by Legos.

What’s so amazing is the ability to integrate a 3D digital element directly into a live video feed with complete real time interaction. I understand the automotive industry is jumping all over this technology with upcoming concept vehicles that can have on-screen (windshield) feed for enhancing road contours, signage, lighting, etc. —which could completely change the way we think of driving.

So with much fanfare, and at least as much controversy, Apple’s iPad has been released to the masses. Okay, I admit it, I ran out and bought one the day the 3G model was available and I also admit that I’m a bit smitten with it. I have no doubt that it will change my behavior in much the same way my iPhone did. But as much as the general public was anticipating the launch, I wonder if retail wasn’t equally as excited about it as part of the digital retail experience of the future.

From what I’ve seen so far, I can use it as a creative tool (no more losing my pen cap thanks to the sketch app). And I’ll be more efficient with my time away from home. I can imagine that, put to the right use, a device like this has the ability to bring a different set of efficiencies to retail.

Maybe the iPad and the inevitable wave of competitors will have the ability to transform my experience at checkout. Maybe checking in at a hotel will be easier.

To be most effective, a sustainability initiative must be approached holistically. Sustainability and brand thinking are alike in that they radiate outward from the heart of the business. Just as brand is part of everyone’s job, sustainability can be too. Both brand and sustainability strategies are ideally intertwined, well thought out and well executed from vision to prototype. Typically, companies with this kind of forethought get high marks for differentiation and credibility, such as Whole Foods Market and Starbucks. There’s a direct benefit to the value of the brand.

Whether a company has a long history of social responsibility or a newly awakened desire to conserve resources, there are trusted ways to make decisions based on return on investment. If a large fleet of stores is in need of image refreshing, that’s an opportunity to look at controlling energy costs and sustainable building strategies. Even stores primarily in tenant spaces can look at a healthier environment and LEED certification.

Companies under pressure to stem margin erosion may jump headfirst into shopper marketing before they are ready. In doing so, they could overlook the need to solve fundamental problems in the shopping experience and end up with unpredictable results in the store.

The urge to dive in is understandably tempting. Brands that invest in shopper marketing are seeing three times the return as compared to traditional marketing disciplines. But the discussion revolves around a very small percentage of brands, such as CVS/pharmacy and Mars Snackfoods, ShopRite and Kellogg’s, Walgreens which just announced it will engage in a shopper marketing pilot with The Hershey Company, and of course the eminence of shopper marketing, Procter & Gamble. All have been working on shopper marketing for years and have an extremely high level of expertise.