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How to Bring the Tiger

It’s 1992, and Joe Rohde has an idea. A big one: what if Disney added a brand-new park, one that featured live animals from all over the world? So, he goes to a board meeting and tells leadership all about his idea.

And gets a no. He’s told Disney doesn’t really “do zoos.”

So, he goes back to the drawing board. Puts together a bunch of really nice graphs and charts. Comes to the next meeting with stats, maps, and a full-fledged business plan.

He gets another no.

Unfazed, Joe tries one more time. This time, he stands at the front of the room and doesn’t even pause when a Bengal tiger walks into the room, around the boardroom table, and sits beside him.

Seeing the magic of that tiger up close and personal—its silky fur, its intense eyes—Joe got his yes and the Animal Kingdom was born.

Why bring the tiger?

Hopefully you’re not going to bring a tiger to your boardroom on Monday morning. But there’s a lesson to be learned here. In the words of Upstream360 and U360 Medical’s CEO Mike Thomas:

“Taking the time to translate a concept into even a rough prototype can make a world of difference in driving real progress.”

By prototyping your concept, you bring it to life not only for yourself, but for the boardroom, the consumer, the customer, the research and development team, the marketers, (and the list goes on), too. You move beyond the realm of hypotheticals into tangible, real.

In other words, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a prototype is worth a thousand ideas.”

How to bring the tiger

The process for prototyping is fairly simple: create a sketch, make the prototype, test, revise, repeat.

If you hear the word prototype and immediately think of something similar to Steve Job’s wonky mouse prototype complete with guitar wire, toy train wheels and jar lids, you’re not alone.

Upstream360 is a product communication agency that can bring your concept, idea or product to life through visual storytelling. In this digital age, physical prototypes are important, but visual, digital, and video prototyping allows companies to advance their most innovative ideas in faster, easier, more impactful ways.

We specialize in helping you “bring the tiger” by capturing your product’s “wow” moments of magic, whether that’s through static and virtual prototyping, animation, demo work, or concept boards. Upstream specializes in every step of the prototyping process, from helping to develop the seedlings of new ideas to creating digital and virtual outputs that can be tested with customers and consumers.

Check out some of our work or shoot us a message and let us know how we can bring your idea to life and bring the tiger to your next meeting.