Creating "labs" within digital agencies and production companies has been one of the most salient -- and ubiquitous -- trends in the digital marketing industry in recent years. If you don't have an incubator or lab within your agency, it has almost come to mean that you're not serious about innovation. Not true in my opinion.
In fact, many argue that the lab approach should be a mentality that permeates every department and client engagement within the agency. I agree with that assertion, but I also think there is a clear role and benefit to incubator and lab divisions focused squarely on innovation and exploring how technology and consumer changes can inspire new products and ways of doing things. Here, I'll explore different models for driving IP creation, and the different types of benefits they're engendering -- both from a financial and talent cultivation perspective.
To read the original article: The lab labyrinth: what makes a good digital innovation incubator? (Wired UK)
