Innovation is vital to the
continued success of any business. Customers no longer stay satisfied for long.
They are looking to be surprised and delighted by most, if not all, of the
products and services they buy. Today’s challenge is to find ways to better and
more quickly satisfy these ever-increasing demands of our customers.
Customers
today are more demanding than ever before and innovation is an essential
element of any successful business. But the majority of new product launches
are a failure. Therefore, innovation today must go far beyond just new products
and services. Many more levers are necessary to meet consumers’ constantly
rising demands for novelty. An article from the
Journal of Creating Value
discusses about the main levers that make innovation of increased value to both
customers and companies. These include setting stretch targets for every new
launch, regular connection with and observation of customers, and the expansion
of idea generation to greater input from both internal and external sources.
Successful innovation and creating
shared value go hand-in-hand in today’s connected world. There are numerous
examples of companies that have managed to stretch their brands into new
categories and markets through the use of new innovation levers. One such example
of this type of innovation comes from Coca-Cola.
Last year, Coke used several different levers, combining them into what they
called their ‘sharing can’. Not only can the can be split into two for sharing,
but it also enables new potential consumers to consider buying a can, such as
those with smaller thirsts or those who are travelling.
All businesses have customers, so
why not start with them? What do they dream about improving, what are their
biggest issues with the category? The companies should focus on starting innovation
with the Customer, not R&D. It is important to ‘know and understand the
customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself’. This way the
most relevant products and services can be proposed and are then more likely to
be met with positive excitement, pride and happiness, rather than negative
surprise, disappointment, irritation and frustration.
I think this idea is great! I love it! Hope to see more from you.
ReplyDeleteUseful blog) Thanks a lot for sharing
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point but i think first step should be providing the basic information with the customers by best social media marketing content.
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