What Brand Innovation Is – and Why It Matters

You’ll have heard the expression ‘innovate or die’. But what exactly is brand innovation?

It’s integral to branding and business health, and a key consumer selling point with significant implications for purchasing decisions. So your business must understand what brand innovation is and how it works, and it should be a key part of any brand marketing strategy.

 

For me, innovation is about challenging the status quo, but also about challenging current thought processes. It’s about being able to reinvent the future, disrupt markets or create a fresh market that wasn’t there before. Equally, it’s about making the right connections between your brand, the digital arena and the rapid pace of technological change.

 

But it’s about more than that; it’s also about your mindset – and daring to think and act differently. Courage and creativity are always needed, as any branding expert will tell you.

 

Who are the great brand innovators?

 

Netflix

With millions of subscribers in dozens of countries, Netflix pioneered a vision for interactive TV in 2018, with choose-your-own-adventure broadcasting, such as the Black Mirror movie Bandersnatch.

 

Uber

Uber redefined transport by offering affordable cab rides bookable from a mobile phone. It also appealed to the gig economy in its hiring of drivers.

 

Amazon

From its roots as a small online bookseller, Amazon has mushroomed to enjoy a level of influence others can only dream of. Its success goes beyond offering great prices or an extensive product line-up. Amazon foresees what the market wants, and provides solutions that don’t just fit current trends, but actively change consumer behaviour. So they don’t just predict the future, they invent it.

 

Tech giants Facebook, Google and Apple are among other brand innovators which have dared to be different.

 

Why does it matter?

 

Brand innovation matters whether you’re a one-person band, an entrepreneur, a small business or a captain of industry. Each brand needs to learn continuously about changes that affect them, and to constantly and actively seek out innovative processes, thinking and strategies alongside ground-breaking products and services. So it’s key to growth. 

 

Equally:

 

- The digital economy is growing – a report last year from Tech Nation showed Britain’s digital sector is expanding 2.6 faster than the rest of the economy

 

- Technology is advancing all the time – your brand needs to keep up with the pace of this change

 

- Innovations allow you to enter new markets more quickly and deeply

 

- Consumers have more choice than ever and will quickly switch from brands that are not innovative

 

- Businesses incorporating innovation in their personal branding get the brightest, best people to work for them

 

Want to know how to incorporate brand innovation into your brand’s growth strategy? Book a clarity call with me today, so I can help you bridge the gap between where you are now and where you’d like to be.