The best of the European fringe. (Market Horizons).

Think of a creatively managed brand and you might think of Virgin. A lean business model? That would be Dell. An ecommerce master? Inevitably Amazon.com. Think ingenuity, and the usual names crop up, but exceptional management and leadership lurk unacknowledged on the corporate fringe. The peripheral can be exceptional.

Searching through this fringe stirs up some unlikely stars. Think of the French Formule 1 hotel chain, which subverted the hotel concept to create a highly successful no-frills experience; or ?What If!, a wacky London-based innovation consultancy, which puts 1 percent of its profits into a "crisis cash pot" to help employees in a pinch.

Or listen to the story of the furniture manufacturer Stokke, which built an international reputation from its base in the tiny Norwegian town of Skodje. In the mid-1980s, Stokke employed 40 people. Now, the family-owned business employs more than 500 in 16 countries.

Stokke's most successful product is the Tripp Trapp, a wooden high chair sold in the United States as the Stokke KinderZeat. Designed by Peter Opsvik, the chair's seat and footrest can be adjusted as the child grows. The design encourages children to sit upright rather than slumped. It's stylish, simple, easily cleaned and robust. Stokke's marketing strategy includes giving Tripp Trapps to nurseries and kindergartens free of charge. Parents see the chairs being used and abused. This often proves persuasive enough for them to buy one.

One reason Stokke has succeeded is that it understands its market niche. Stokke's other product line of ergonomic, knee-bracing office furniture attracts "free agents," or freelance professionals. The company sometimes refers to them as "people who buy Apple Macs." The trouble with this group is that it encompasses a wide range of ages, occupations and needs. Stokke's approach is to make it easy for the group to come to the company. Having decided that face-to-face interaction is important, the company established Stokke Centers in major cities. These centers host regular parties for specific groups such as physiotherapists and musicians to introduce them to the company's products.

Another star of the corporate fringe is London-based de Baer, which designs and manufactures custom-branded staff uniforms. The company began in 1984 with as many staff as clients: one. Now, it has 70 employees and the capacity to produce 10,000 garments a day. De Baer has four professed values: fun, integrity, openness and learning. "If the senior managers don't live the values, then no one else will," says the company's founder, Jacqueline de Baer. De Baer practices what she preaches. Every new manager has a benchmarking telephone interview to identify applicants who share de Baer values. Those who do are invited to a formal interview.

Of course, corporations do not have a monopoly on managerial best practices. The futurist Watts Wacker, coauthor with Jim Taylor and Howard B. Means of The 500-Year Delta (HarperCollins, 1997), among other books, lets us in on a secret. In search of the next cool thing, he visits about 50 museums every year. He isn't the only one. Executives from Rubbermaid, which has been celebrated as one of America's most innovative companies, have been known to visit the British Museum and come out with ideas for new kitchen products.

"Going to museums is the greatest out-of-house activity in the world," Wacker explains. "A good futurist is usually a better historian. Going to museums is the cornerstone of learning about different cultures." Wacker's recommendations include New York's Tenement Museum and the Voodoo Museum in New Orleans.

What business lesson can one find inside a museum display case? That old things can be packaged, presented and sold in new ways, as these companies have done. Making a pile of old bones--or a high chair--a fresh experience is quite a challenge. Second, involvement is all important. If staff feel involved in a project, whether giving a tour on native customs or selling custom uniforms, they're more likely to contribute to the experience. An experience built around enhancing customers rather than thwarting them will inform, entertain and educate more successfully.

Des Dearlove and Stuart Crainer (market [e-mail]) are founders of U.K.-based Suntop Media.