Marketing Consultant specialized in Marketing Strategy, Brand Experience Design, Content Marketing, and Marketing Team Operations
How do fish swimming upstream in the spring get through a lock? By ringing the doorbell, of course! This may sound like a kids' riddle, but it was actually a real-life problem for the small Dutch town of Utrecht. Each spring, fish swim upstream to spawn and need to pass through the Weerdsluis lock. The problem was that the lock was rarely ever open in the spring, and fish that were stuck waiting for it to open were a prime target for predators. The solution? An underwater camera and a live stream (literally - haha) video. You can watch the live stream online, and if you see a fish, you can press the doorbell button to alert the lock operator to open the lock and let the fish through. Genius! Had I been in their shoes, I don't know that I ever would've thought of a fish doorbell. And I love that the solution not only solved the problem, but it also built community - people from around the world have watched the live stream for a chance to ring the bell and help the fish. What's the "fish stuck at the lock" problem that you're facing? How could you look at it from a different angle - or even involve others - to get to a creative solution? PS - I'll leave a link to the fish doorbell in the comments #marketingoperations #marketing #problemsolving #designthinking
Just read about this last night, I think it is hilarious.
Mind blowing! We need more mind blowing solutions to so many of life's problems.
Laura Zug, I think you'll like this
I saw this story, and I LOVED it! I also love that you can see how many people are online waiting to ring the doorbell for the fish. What a creative, brilliant solution!
What a great story and a reminder to look at challenges a little differently. Great post Lindsey Laughlin !
Lindsey Laughlin *fish rings doorbell* "We've been trying to reach you concerning your car's extended warranty." 😁
What a creative solution! Also, a neat way of "crowdsourcing" with limited resources.
Storyteller | Experience Crafter | Brand Definer | Revenue Generator | Strategy Builder
6moWhat a brilliant solution! A mentor would notoriously and frustratingly spend a full hour with me only asking some version of … “and what happens next?” Or “what needs to happen before this” The exercises helped me to think about solving problems/challenges both upstream and downstream. We never would have come up with the fish doorbell