Innovation Today - Use your brand to innovate instead of augment
Innovation is the word on every CEO’s lips. It’s the new corporate mantra: communication innovation! New product development! Customer engagement improvement! New business model! Bigger, better, faster products! Most companies are stuck on the competitive treadmill and innovation seems to be their energy drink. Surely we have more product choices today, but if you ask consumers, they think it’s more of the same. 80% of CEOs believe their brands offer a unique and differentiated experience – only 8% of customers agree (Bain, 2009).
Why? Because most companies focus on adding features to their product-line, or releasing a newer version of the same thing. This is not innovation. At best it is augmentation. As a counter to this, game-changing companies are choosing to keep the consumer at the center of their attention, thus building a brand around their customer and fulfilling the need to create more meaningful experiences. At Wolff Olins, we call it brand-led innovation.
A brilliant example of brand-led innovation is Gilt Groupe. What started as an exclusive online clothier has now evolved to include luxury home-goods, vacation destination packages, and five-star restaurants. Their newest offering is the Gilt MANual, which is a smart, informative “daily guide to permanent style.” Featured sections include essentials on etiquette, how-to and advice columns on topics ranging from growing a beard, and giving an unforgettable toast, to washing raw denim. Writers and editors produce timely, relevant, and educational pieces that engage their consumer-base and beyond. Rather than segmentation or augmentation, they’ve turned their sights on true innovation. They’ve developed Gilt Man as a brand itself, building equity and showing a greater understanding of their audience in the process.
(Jean-Yves Minet) @Ace_Brandage
*photo courtesy of Pauline A. H. under Flickr Creative Commons license.