Innovation = Creativity = Value

Innovation = 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, ‘New and Improved’ or better yet, ‘New Package, Same Great Product’ are not likely to be perceived as meaningful innovation by customers.  Incremental improvements like this will not drive significant change in brand perception or value.

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?

Fast Company's top 3 innovative brands, Apple, Facebook and Google make life simpler, richer, or more rewarding.  That’s because true innovation is driven by deep human insight. Insight gives innovation purpose. It gives innovation relevance.  Innovation without purpose and relevance is essentially valueless.

The number one brand on the list, Apple always starts with the insight that for most people, technology complicates tasks.  Facebook leverages the fundamental human need to connect. And Google satisfies human’s insatiable quest for knowledge.

But insight is only one ingredient.  The second, and perhaps more important is vision to challenge what is, and imagine what could be.  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 may have established the need for faster transportation, without challenging the status quo, Ford may have started a veterinary stimulants company to satisfy this need for speed.  Instead, by thinking beyond what was, Ford imagined the mass use of internal combustion transportation.

What would each brand mentioned above be, had they not challenged the status quo?   Apple may have delivered an MP3 player that held more songs, or perhaps a cell phone with better network coverage, and little else.  Facebook might just be a better email platform, and Google just a more powerful portal. And none of them would have realized 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’.