Marketing Innovation

Seven Core Articles on Strategy

Here are seven core articles that explain key principles that, in my opinion, people concerned with strategy should be familiar with:

• “Marketing Myopia,” Theodore Levitt, Harvard Business Review, July-August 1960
• “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1979
• “The Core Competence of the Corporation,” C.K. Prahalad and Gary Hamel, Harvard Business Review, May-June 1990
• “Meeting the Challenge of Disruptive Change’”, Clayton Christensen and Michael Overdorf, Harvard Business Review, March-April 2000
• “The Era of Open Innovation,” Henry W. Chesbrough, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring 2003
• “Blue Ocean Strategy,” W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, Harvard Business Review, October 2004
• “The Big Idea:  The New M&A Playbook,” Clayton Christensen, Richard Alton, Curtis Rising, and Andrew Waldeck, Harvard Business Review, March 2011

 

What the Market REALLY Wants

The market doesn't want innovation, it wants results.

Dan and Chip Heath in the November, 2010 issue of "Fast Company" magazine (page 84) put it very succinctly:  

You've heard the old saying "If you invent a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door."  Don't bet on it.  The world's felt need isn't for a better mousetrap.  It's for a dead mouse.

Excellent advice for innovators -- focus on the result, not the process.

Innovation in small groups

My friend and colleague, Peter Kusterer, and I are part of a small innovation group that has sprung out of our homeowners' association.  He is following our evolution in a series of blog posts that is interesting and entertaining.  One tangential topic that has popped up is that we can use technology to bring in members of the group while they're on vacation, using Skype and a webcam.  The question arises:  should we infringe on them this way?

Fad vs. Trend: What's the Difference?

The recent purchases of YouTube, MySpace and other relatively new (and untested) web properties got me to thinking about whether these sites represented a fad or a trend.  Innovations, particularly disruptive ones (doing new things, vs. incremental innovations, which are doing something differently), are often dismissed as fads.  Some are.  Others represent the start of a trend -- following the slow acceptance by early adopters; then the hibernation period (or the "chasm" of Geoffrey Moore fame) during which it either matures or dies; then entry into the mainstream market.

I didn't have a working definition for either term that was helpful -- all I had were examples.  Napster 1.0 was a fad.  Music moving online was a trend.

Here's what I've determined is the difference:  Both fads and trends last a finite period of time.  However, when the fad is over, things are fundamentally the same.  When a trend is over, things are fundamentally changed.

Marketing can often make the difference between a fad and a trend.  Solving real problems in innovative ways, and consistently and effectively communicating the benefits can help build a trend.  Building hype around a "solution looking for a problem" is the way to build a fad (at best).

How do we classify the following -- trends or fads?

• YouTube
• MySpace
• Blogging
• Open Source Software
• Biofuels
• Microjets
• Self-publishing (a la LuLu Press)

Post your thoughts!

Batteries Recharged

I'm back from vacation.  Great time in the mountains of North Carolina, spent with family and friends.  Sorry that there weren't any posts for the last few weeks.

Time away clears the mind, and helps one think.  It's good to get away for awhile -- and there was no Internet access at the house.  You can't imagine how wonderful that is.

The trip out there and back also got me thinking (driving does that to me), and this time it was about those blue "FOOD" signs at each exit.  I got to pondering what makes some chains buy the space and others decline, and in the course of my research I came across an innovative approach.  Tune in on Monday, August 28th, when I'll be discussing innovation at that particular fast food restaurant chain.

Welcome to Marketing Innovation!

We'll be discussing innovation marketing in this blog, ranging from strategy issues to examples of excellent (and not so excellent) marketing.  Innovation is what fuels the economy, but many great ideas fail -- not because they aren't good ideas, but because they were improperly brought to market.

I'm an engineer by training, and truly appreciate innovative technology.  I had the great opportunity to work in a variety of new market development and strategic planning positions at large companies and small, where I conceived and developed many of the ideas that have formed the basis of my consulting practice.

I believe that marketing is a "lens" that works two ways:  first, it makes the capabilities of a company relevant to the market, and second, it finds unmet needs in the marketplace and brings them into the lab.  Both roles involve

focus.

Engineering and marketing people often enjoy an adversarial relationship.  Marketing complains that engineering don't understand what people want, and engineering complains that marketing didn't understand how great the technology was.  Both of these situations can be improved by getting a better lens and improving focus.

We will be looking at examples of strategy and marketing in companies of all sizes and in all industries.  Even though my passion is technology, I have enjoyed working with clients in many diverse fields.  I firmly believe that there are fundamental lessons in strategy and marketing that apply across the board, without regard to size, offering, or industry.

I welcome your comments to my posts, and look forward to a great conversation!