Innovation is a dirty word especially when
it comes to its relationships with brands.
Many multi-million pound corporations like to claim they are investing
in innovation to give the perception that in the future there will be
anticipated gains in brand share and exposure. Investment in innovation is
particularly a great phrase to use when current brand returns have not met
expectations or brand share diminishes. It provides an easy link into a utopian
world of tomorrow where their corporate brand will be king and will within the
realm they will enjoy unparalleled market dominance, maintained through a
steady stream of investment in incremental innovations.
This all sounds great and all but as we all
know saying is one thing and doing is another. The Brand Avenger wonders how
many big brands over the last few months have actually embraced the art of true
innovation and how many are using the idea as a get out of jail free card. Let’s
look at some of the companies who are claiming future brand innovations
Morrisons have unquestionably taken a
beating recently when it comes to brand share and positioning in the UK retail
market. Morrisons food website is so far behind the times that…. well…. It
doesn’t even exist! As one of the big 5
supermarket chains in the UK you may very well question how, what and why
Morrisons has allowed this to happen for so long. Not having a website where
customers can order food in this day in age is unthinkable. The fact that
Morrisons are looking to invest in its online presence over the next year
cannot be classified as true innovation. Ronan Shields explores the UK high
streets lack of innovation in further detail in a great article at the below
link.
Had Morrisons had any foresight they would
have already built an online presence and would be moving onto other phases of
app and online technology to truly embrace innovative strategies. Here is where
we begin to see why the use of the word innovation becomes all too convenient
for some brands. In Morrisons case innovation is just a word that has been used
to hide incompetence.
Only last week I praised HP for truly
empowering its loyal customers to deliver support across all of HP’s products
and services. However, it also seems that the company could do with a little
support when it comes to embracing an innovative strategy for the future
stability of the brand.
HP needs to learn a valuable lesson and
learn it quickly. If they cannot begin to truly embrace brand innovation they
will continue to lose its most ambitious and precious talent to companies who
will. Over the recent years there have been little to no noticeable innovations
from HP that elevated or communicated anything about the brand in a meaningful
way. And history has already shown what happens to companies who continue to
fail in truly embracing innovation.
Channel 4 has rolled out the red carpet for
innovation in 2013 following a decline in return of ad revenues for 2013.
£844 million in ad revenue for 2012 isn’t a
small amount however through the strong emphasis placed on innovation in the
article Channel 4 is admitting that more could have been done to embrace true
innovation. In order for Channel 4 to sustain and/or improve its performance
moving forward they have outlined a strategy focusing on second screen and app
technology.
There is also a difference here when
comparing Channel 4 to Morrisons or HP in that Channel 4 is fully aware and
deeply concerned of their brand perception when it comes to innovation. Despite
not leading the curve in innovation in 2012 Channel 4 did take some initiatives
to set the future framework for strategy set around innovation. The investment
in the Paralympics alone did wonders for both the disabled community and brand
perception.
Then there are those companies whose whole
success has been built around a sustained policy of ensuring consistent and
incremental brand innovations. Some may have been quick to view P&G’s
announcement this week that profits had taken a hit as a sign that investments
in brand innovations are risky and don’t pay off.
While at the same time it might be fair to
say that brand innovation is risky the pure fact that P&G have $1 billion
to cut from a marketing budget demonstrates exactly why this sort of investment
can also lead to massive returns. Through carefully reevaluating brand
perception, product performance and tracking the changing behavior of consumers
P&G enjoy dominant market share in mostly every category they operate in
worldwide. This allows them to have dozens of $1 billion plus brands in their
varied product portfolio.
Then there are examples of brands that are
beginning to truly embrace the concept of brand innovation through ambitious
augmented reality or visual merchandising campaigns. I couldn’t help but be
impressed with how well Carte Noire have embraced both social media and visual
merchandising to communicate a clear and clever brand message for their coffee
range. A clear demonstration of how even a small campaign innovative campaign
can go along way to building brand recognition.
Audi have more ambitious plans when it
comes to their planned investment in brand innovation.
Welcome to the beginning of a augmented and
most importantly controlled brand experience. By 2020 it is reported that t
least 80% of the UK population will have access to a smartphone. Audi is
investing in its future by looking to become a pioneer in innovation and
creating an all encompassing brand experience. Kudos for making the claim that
they will invest in innovation and for sticking by it with such a long-term
strategy.
Audi, Carte Noire and P&G should pose
as shining examples for the rest of those companies who continue to promise
their loyal audience that innovation is coming. Companies should be using these
examples as inspiration for making some changes to truly embrace a strategy
which is innovative and works… Don’t talk about it, be about it.
Take some marketing innovation inspiration
from the above article which details Barack Obama’s marketing campaign for
Presidential reelection There is no reason why everyone shouldn’t look to find
ways to truly embrace the Facebook mentality ‘move fast and break things’.
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