Strategic Marketing Book
If what you are doing today is similar to what you were doing a year ago or two years or five years, you have a problem. When you think of the word innovation, the mental image that often appears is a laboratory full of people in white lab coats, or a geek who peg on his computer. But technological innovation, even if it's the kind of innovation that consume the budgets of companies, universities, government and venture capital, innovation is probably the least effective in creating a competitive advantage. So, why innovate? The basic goal of business innovation is to create a competitive advantage that confers additional benefits for the buyer and supplier. These benefits can be tangible (cost reduction) or intangible (other needs or desires). - Innovation of the offer (the what): the development of new products or new services that did not exist before (example: the iPad). This kind of innovation applies when our new offering sets a new category of products or services. The test winner in this kind of innovation is not to be the first to deliver, but to be the first to deliver tangible benefits to the buyer. This is the kind of innovation that has the most financial risk. - Innovation process (how): the development of new processes or methods to deliver the product or service faster, cheaper and better quality. This is the kind of continuous innovation that must be either small or large business. - Innovation market (who): targeting a market currently poorly served by current offerings from other, making minor changes to its product or service. The example of such innovation is the Wii - a console game titles which are older people and families, markets largely ignored by the gaming industry until then. - Value innovation (why): Raising a need not satisfied but very appreciated by its current market, and deliver that value more efficiently than its competitors by integrating the innovation process. The typical value of innovation is the Cirque du Soleil, which reinvented the circus through simplification of its aging components (animals, old joke), and presenting a new way to make this is much more user-friendly and current. The innovation of value may be less sexy than the technological advancements, as it is the field of strategic marketing book and management. But it's also the kind of innovation that can create a very distinctive positioning, efficient and profitable when done right. When your resources are limited (self, start-up), innovation and market value are two types of innovation most accessible and which may be the highest paying, fastest. The concept of value innovation is based on the strategic marketing book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. Other classic books on innovation that I recommend (these are all books in English, I do not know if they are available in French). Coach Davender passion is to equip entrepreneurs with self-discipline and leadership skills to succeed in executing their business plans. Do you like the ideas on this blog? I offer a free subscription to my email newsletter, and get the best tickets (and the best reviews), with thoughts, tools, activities and special offers. All content on this blog is (c) 2010 Coach Davender Gupta. I give you permission to copy or adapt the content with attribution, under the terms of the Creative Commons license. Questions? Contact me. . . .
