Lowe India launches Owle's World "knowledge exchange"

At first glance, the ‘Owle' in Owle's World looks like a particularly bad case of the printer's devil. And you catch yourself saying it's got to be ‘Lowe's World'.

But the anagrammatically derived word (from ‘Lowe', of course) is every bit intentional, especially considering it alludes to a bird allegorically vested with infinite wisdom. And as a name for a knowledge management system, Owle also makes sense "as ‘owle' is the heart of kn-owle-dge", explains Lynn De Souza, director - integrated marketing communications, Lowe India.

Retrofitted some of this might sound, but the fact of the matter is that Owle's World is the new Intranet-based knowledge management system that Lowe has just unrolled in India. Its objective: creating a reservoir of all the accumulated knowledge of the agency to aid better and speedier information dissemination. "It is essentially an efficiency building utility which makes learning and information sharing a fun experience, and helps every single individual in this agency to respond to communication challenges faster," says Pranesh Misra, director, Lowe India.

The need for such a system was first articulated in the agency some three years ago, says Misra. "Prem (Mehta) pointed out that most of the agency's collective knowledge actually goes down the lift every evening," he explains. "Knowledge is either stored haphazardly in individual computers or is in people's heads. And when people leave the agency, they take that knowledge with them. We realized the need for a central cell that could be tapped for this collective knowledge."

Although Misra uses the term ‘cell', he is quick to point out that Owle's World is not a cell. "It is a knowledge ‘exchange' - not just a repository," he clarifies. The difference, in De Souza's words: "In a cell, you have a small group of individuals who cull and manage all the information, like in a library system."

Interestingly, it was the "rigid" nature of knowledge cells that made Lowe opt for this software model (called the MindCrossing Exchange, developed by Max Ateev). "The problem with cells is that they are neither interactive, nor do they have an emotional aspect," Misra points out. "Cells do not have a self-sustaining energy." What is implied is that knowledge cells do not motivate employees to contribute to the process. "The advantage we have here is that every individual who contributes to the exchange gets credit for his or her contribution," says De Souza. "And we award points (to the contributor) for every contribution made, and for every piece of information accessed (to both the contributor and the person accessing the information). The emphasis is on ownership, so there is a sense of belonging. And the critical thing is, being Intranet-based, you have the ability to upload and download information at will, on a 24x7 basis."

The exchange consists of two primary channels - MindStore and MindCircle. While the former is an ‘open' space for Lowe personnel to upload and download a variety of advertising-related information, the latter is essentially ‘brand space' - information on brands that Lowe is working on. "This is for a closed community that is working on specific brands," Misra informs. "It could be copies of client briefs, concepts, research data… all the brand history. For instance, a rough creative idea from five years ago that was never presented to a client will be housed here. You never know when that idea's time has come. This really helps new people who have joined the team."

Cross-fertilization is the big plus. To cite a real-time example from the agency, a person working on Rexona deodorant had done a whole lot of research on the structure of the skin. He had, of course, done this for information on sweat glands. Apparently, the information he had subsequently put up on the exchange came in handy to another individual working on Clinic All Clear. "Without the exchange, how would this guy on Clinic have known that somebody else in some other team has done some research on skin structure that he can use for his brand?" asks De Souza.

The exchange, which went online on July 19, is open to the employees of Lowe and its divisions. Currently, it is accessible primarily in Mumbai, but Misra informs that all Lowe offices will be connected "in the next two months". © 2002 agencyfaqs!