Has any term been overused in the last 15 years more than innovation? Some companies live and breathe by this: Google. Apple. Facebook. Starbucks. Uber. Tesla. See a trend. Five of the six companies you just read are tech companies. Yes, even Tesla. Why can’t we innovate quick enough in other industries like retail, travel, and manufacturing? That is the great divide.
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said something that rings true: “There can be no great innovation without great risk.”
A Little Different is Not Innovation
If we do the same things slightly different, we are not innovating, we are improving. Innovation involves something bigger. Something greater. And innovation does not need to be defined as strictly a technological endeavour, although granted, there usually is a technology play. But a company can be innovative in numerous ways: allow employees access to any social media site while at work; introduce a flexible schedule for all employees; build a company gym with state of the art equipment to promote health; build a daycare on the main floor of the company. Innovation comes in many different forms, but let’s be clear: innovation at its core involves a completely different way of thinking or doing. While the outcome may be unclear – not everything passes or results in profits – the road to get there is, namely, do different, and do it large.
Innovation in Digital Marketing and Ecommerce
When it comes to innovation in Digital Marketing and Ecommerce for your business, think of how Uber can enhance your delivery timelines with same-day deliveries; think of how mobile adoption and shopping has scaled so quickly, and build entirely for a mobile-first attitude in everything you and your team does; for multi-channel retailers, think of beacon technology and how that can improve an in-store experience (think for an instance of you walking into an apparel retailer, you get a push notification from the brand’s app asking what you are looking for, you respond by voice and say “jeans”, and through a wayfinding system you are shown exactly where the pair of jeans and colour you are looking for is located, you try them on in the fitting room, and pay right then and there on your app); think too of reserved parking for online pickups in store; what about only accepting payments through a mobile wallet?
Innovation is a Way to Future-Proof Your Business
Get the idea? Innovation is not a term. It’s an entirely new, phenomenally important, and sometimes scary or risky way of doing business. Do innovation well, and the future is yours (hello Apple, Square, Uber, Burberry, and Dollar Shave Club); do it poorly or not at all, and well, you may as well pack up and close your doors, virtual or otherwise.
I invite you to stop what you’re doing right now. And think about 1 thing that can innovate your business, or 1 idea that can change the market, or 1 process that is a game-changer for your own employees.
As the late Steve Jobs said: “Innovation is the only way to win.”
Innovate now, or die slowly.
What is a way you can revolutionize your business or industry? What is your favourite example of innovation?
Great post Johnny!
I truly believe retailers would revolutionize their businesses by focusing on the why as Simon Sinek points out in his book “Start With Why”.
Product & technology innovation work hand in hand. You can’t do one but not the other especially with the constant change in consumer expectations.