During a recent trip to New York City, I sat in on apresentation about innovation and creativity in the publishingindustry. Although the media world—and the rest of the world, forthat matter—is becoming increasingly digital, the part of the talkthat intrigued me most was about examples of companies beinginnovative using print.

For example, when recently preparing to re-launch Fanta Orangein a new market, the soft-drink company created an edible adprinted on rice paper that was infused with the new drink formula,giving readers an opportunity to taste something that wouldotherwise be incredibly difficult to describe.

Another company's ad in a music magazine enabled readers tosample various bands' music simply by laying their smartphone onthe printed page. A far cry from the days of long-suffering SamGoody employees peeling off plastic CD wrappers and loading up aDiscman for customers' sampling pleasure.

And last year, Nescafe came up with a clever print ad thatincluded two pop-up paper mugs, complete with packets of instantcoffee. Just add water.

Now I'm not saying any of these ads will turn the tide. I'mpretty sure the Internet is here to stay. But each is a goodreminder of the ongoing importance of unconventional thinking.Whether you're a broker, a carrier, a technology vendor or aneditor, it's easy to fall into routines and settle for the waythings have always been done. And we all know what comes of thatkind of thinking.

I don't have to tell you that the industry has long been guiltyof complacency and even, dare I say it, Ludditism. As Veer Gidwaneywrites in “What the insurance industry can learn from Netflix,”(page 20) “Insurance companies today have some of the lowest netpromoter scores of any industry … Paper-based, fax machine-poweredtransactions are still the status quo in insurance, and that'sunacceptable.”

However, we've seen a dramatic upsurge in new ideas duringrecent years, many of them made possible by technology. Thismonth's cover story (page 14) features a group of companies thatare great examples of this newfound ingenuity. And they cover everyfacet of the benefits world, from wellness and telemedicine toprescription cost savings and financial wellness.

As long-time Benefits Selling columnist Brian Hicksrecently wrote, “Leading in our industry is easy; just be theperson willing to do things a little differently.”

I promise you that we'll hold up our end of the bargain. Howabout you?

(And don't worry, I'll do everything I can to make sure we don'tinclude any ads that taste like employee benefits.)