Innovation CAN be Strategic

Peter Drucker once famously said: "since the purpose of business is to generate customers, only two functions do this: marketing and innovation. All other business functions are expenses.” That’s music to a marketer’s ears. However, I’ve seen some cases where you would think that innovation and marketing are from two different galaxies. People sometimes pursue innovation for its own sake – without remembering that it ultimately has to be connected to something that the customer values. When marketing and innovation are connected, there’s magic. When they aren’t, innovation can lead a company to make radical shifts in its branding and positioning that confuse and frustrate the customer.

The problem brings to mind a bumper sticker I once saw: Bizarre is easy; Creative is hard.

Procter & Gamble is a company that does it right. In the past few years, they’ve introduced a spate of product innovations that are really innovative but fit neatly into the brand position. By doing this, they inject product news into their plans (always a good move) while leveraging the existing strength of the brand position. Mr. Clean has extended his bald-headed cleaning power to new products such as car wash kits and dirt erasers.

Sometimes innovations are so fundamental that they can be the foundation of a new brand altogether. The Sony Walkman created a whole new idea of personal entertainment. And Apple took the concept to new heights with innovation that was branded the Apple IPod.

But many if not most innovations are assigned to existing brands. I believe it was David Ogilvy who once said: “Give me the freedom of a tightly defined strategy.” Innovating within a well defined strategy isn’t easy. You have to focus on the innovations that “fit” and discard those that don’t. But, hey, focus is a virtue in marketing.