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In Toronto Life’s words (read the story & see photos here), “The first model stomped down the runway in a flowing black parachute dress; around her neck was a large crystal-encrusted necklace. Its biggest jewel: an LG Chocolate phone. The mobiles adorned belts, clutches and bracelets. Major points for the LG marketing team.”

Here at High Road we are lucky enough to work on a number of brands & projects that push the limits of what constitutes traditional marketing. & while working behind the scenes at shows like Fashion Week definitely has its fair share of decidedly unglamorous moments, it’s always cool to be part of a marketing team that’s open to trying something different.

Case in point, last night’s preview of Forza Motorsport 3 for the Xbox 360, where "official" 1:1 media interviews were held during the day, then - once bloggers could get away from their day jobs - more casual reception was held. Bloggers still got access to the developer who had come to demo the game & they still got to play the game before it hit store shelves… previously something that would have been unheard of.

For a flavour of what a blogger event looks like, check out this video (posted same day!) from Console Creatures: FORZA 3 PREVIEW EVENT TORONTO -SIGHTS and SOUNDS Video (HD).

TORONTO – October 21, 2009 – High Road Communications is putting its most stylish foot forward for LG Electronics Canada at LG Fashion Week. The bi-annual fashion event that unites some of the most fashionable and influential VIPs, industry and consumer influentials as well as established and up and coming designers from Canada and around the world is running from October 19th to October 24th in downtown Toronto.

With a wide range of runway shows, product launches and industry showcases taking place all week, High Road is providing full event management and PR support for LG Canada. High Road has been integral, from strategic planning through to every last detail on site at the event, to ensure that in this second season as title sponsor, the Company truly struts its stuff.

“LG Fashion Week is essential to LG Canada and our brand positioning,” says Frank Lee, Senior Manager, Sponsorship, LG Electronics Canada. “High Road knows our brand as if it were their own, and they understand fashion. They are the ideal partner for us – the perfect accessory to LG’s ensemble, as it were. The smart and stylish thinking and amazing creativity that goes into everything High Road does for LG at LG Fashion Week is a high impact differentiator for our business.”

High Road has a full team on-site all week at the event, working from LG Fashion Week’s new King Street location on a number of events and media programs. This includes the management of product activations for LG HDTVs and mobile phones, selection and management of the LG booth in the main Fashion Environment and leading all media relations and partner/VIP invites for LG Electronics.

High Road worked closely with the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) and their partners in the months leading up to LG Fashion Week, to help incorporate the LG brand and various LG products/PR programs in the event calendar.

“This is the third season of fashion week we’ve worked with LG at Fashion Week and the experience gets more robust and more fun with every passing year,” says Justin Creally, President, High Road Communications. “LG is one of our most dynamic clients and it’s been an amazing experience to work closely with them on this project to ensure that their title sponsorship of LG Fashion Week provides a wide range of exposure opportunities for the brand. High Road has great success with big brands and big events, and LG Fashion Week is no exception.”

The recession has created a Catch-22 by driving up demand for not-for-profit programs and services while at the same time driving down their available resources. Local companies need to chip in to create a liveable city now more then ever, and High Road is doing its part.

For the second summer in a row, High Roaders took an afternoon to plant seeds, dig up bulbs, and tend to compost at a community greenhouse which helps Scadding Court feed some of the area’s underprivileged families. Scadding Court’s Urban Agriculture program is a wonderful initiative and is a great reason to spend an afternoon in the sun.

These kinds of activities are made possible because High Road gives each employee one day per year off to volunteer their time for a good cause.

Here are a few pictures of High Roaders in volunteer mode:

Supercharge your PR: Consider optimizing the traditional press release with hyperlinks, executive bios, stats and viral video.

Timing is key: When it comes to dealing with the media, make sure to build ample lead time for raising campaign awareness. For example, contacting media in mid-August about your “Back to School” campaign is probably not the best way to ensure pick-up.

Get creative: It’s a commoditized marketplace out there. Get noticed and cut through the clutter by aligning with an external advisor/specialist that can bring highly creative ideas and elements to the table.

Know your target audience: Fresh, first-hand perspectives are essential to better understanding your target audience or demographic.

Whether it’s a start up or a well established brand, a communications plan should always be seen as an integrated part of an overall business strategy – never as an afterthought.

When you are in technology PR for a long time, you can’t help but feel a little jaded about the usage of ‘innovation’. New feature? Innovation. New function? Innovation. Slight upgrade? Innovation. A little faster? Innovation. It’s easy to slap it on anything that moves in the technology world, and it is done too often.

But what exactly does innovation mean?

The standard Merriam-Webster defines it as "the introduction of something new" or "a new method, idea, or device." The web, of course is full of contextual definitions: some say innovation has to lead to "tangible societal impact" while others believe it simply captures "the ability to deliver new value to a customer."

The discussion history behind the Wikipedia page on innovation is an example of the challenge to reconcile different interpretations. And Bruce Nussbaum started a good debate by suggesting that "‘Innovation’ died in 2008, killed off by overuse, misuse, narrowness, incrementalism and failure to evolve." If one thing is clear, it is that innovation means different things to different people.

In preparation for a brainstorm session, I read a few articles and online discussions about innovation. But I also wanted to get a feel for its everyday perception: “What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear ‘innovation’?" I threw this question out there through email, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and was happy to get more than 100 answers, which I put in the video above.

Now, the video is a collection of anecdotal thoughts, not an attempt at a definition. I just wanted to know the first thought that people had when hearing ‘innovation.’ People who responded are either people I know or colleagues/friends/family of people I know - with all sorts of backgrounds. It’s a quick, subjective litmus test on the perception of the word, and I was mostly wondering how many people would react negatively to it. It also turned out to be a nice visual kick-off for the brainstorm session with a client.

I was amazed by all the great, fast responses I received, and actually encouraged that the majority was positive or neutral. This should be an incentive to keep filling innovation with meaning – not just with verbiage – especially in a business context. I also found it interesting that a number of people included in their answers that innovation does not necessarily have to be something altogether new. Does an idea need to be original to be called innovative, or at what point can an improvement on something existing be called an innovation?

Scott Berkun’s perspective is that innovation is always relative : "[...] the trick to innovation is to widen your perspective on what qualifies as new. As long as your idea, or your use of an existing idea, is new to the person you are creating it for, or applies an existing concept in a new way, you qualify as an innovator from their point of view, and that’s all that matters."

That approach is quite broad. But when push comes to shove, I’d say benefit trumps originality. If something has had a positive impact for a group of people, it may be okay to call it innovation, even if it turns out that the concept - in a slightly different form - has been around elsewhere. And one man’s innovation may be another man’s incrementalism. But it is important that the outcome of "innovation" is actually meaningful to people beyond the one coming up with the idea (or the description).

As one of the respondents to my question put it: "something others say about you rather than what you say about yourself."

Here are links to websites and blogs about innovation:

BusinessWeek Innovation & Design

BusinessWeek: The most innovative companies 2009

McKinsey What Matters: Innovation

Business Strategy Innovation

Scott Berkun’s essay: How to innovate right now

Scott Anthony - Innovation Insights Blog

Scott Anthony - What makes a company "The World’s most innovative"?

Knowledge@Wharton: Innovation and Entrepreneurship

USC Stevens Institute for Innovation