SOAPBOX: Innovation = (Insight + Disruption) = Creativity = Value

Innovation. It drives brand value. It is also one of the most overused words in marketing today. That’s because it is much easier to say innovation, than to be innovation.

Why is this so? Perhaps it is because the word ‘innovation’ is lacking in clarity of definition. And the dictionary doesn’t help us much, as it defines innovation as  ‘something new or different’.

So to understand what innovation is all about, it might be easier to debunk some myths by starting with what it’s not.

First, despite some marketers’ insistent and incessant claims, it’s not just ‘New and Improved’ nor better yet, ‘New Package, Same Great Product’. These claims are not likely to be perceived as meaningful innovation by customers. Incremental improvements like this are not likely to drive significant change in brand value or perception.

Second, innovation is not technology. While technology can contribute to innovations, innovation can occur without inventing any new technology. And sometimes, technology is just frivolous.

So, what is innovation?

Looking at Fast Company's top 5 innovative brands, it seems that true innovation fundamentally changes people’s behavior.

The number one brand on the list, Apple didn’t just create a new and improved MP3 player or wireless phone, but rather changed the way people curate and consume content. Twitter and Facebook didn’t invent new technology, they just used technology to changed the way people communicate.  Nissan’s all electric LEAF has the potential to change the way people fundamentally drive and own cars. And Groupon is changing the way people consume goods and services.

These brands are changing behavior because their innovations are making life simpler, richer, or more rewarding. True innovation is driven by deep human insight. Insight gives innovation purpose. It gives innovation relevance. Innovation without purpose and relevance is frivolous and valueless.

But insight is only one ingredient. The second, and perhaps more important is disruptive thinking. This is what separates incremental improvement from breakthrough innovation. As Henry Ford famously said, ‘If I asked people what they wanted they would have said a faster horse’.  While insight could have established the need for faster transportation, without disruptive thinking, Ford could have founded a veterinary stimulants company to satisfy this need.  Instead, by challenging the conventional role of horses (or other animals) in transportation, Ford pioneered the mass use of internal combustion transportation.

What would each brand mentioned above be, had they not challenged conventional thinking? Apple may have delivered an MP3 player that held more songs, or perhaps a cell phone with better network coverage, and little else. Twitter might just be a better email or blog platform. And Nissan would have worked within the conventions of lowering, rather than eliminating harmful emissions. And none of them would realize the brand value creation that comes with real innovation.

So if innovation is really about insight that purposefully challenges the status quo, then one might consider this dictionary definition:

‘the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.’

And one can find that definition by looking up the word ‘creativity’.

Cindy Scott
Executive Director, Global Strategy
TBWA