Innovation & Brand Growth

Much of brand sales growth has resulted from sub-category innovation and innovation that redefines categories. Within alcohol products, consider Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey and all of the other flavored and infused whiskeys, vodkas and other types of alcohol. Consider the explosion of craft beers of every style, variety and flavor. Consider the rise of flavor packets or infusers for water. Consider what smart phone technology has done for the mobile phone category. Consider the series of innovations in television including color television, digital television, cable television, satellite television and smart television.  Consider the product innovations in the Swiffer line of products. The Strong museum elevated itself by becoming the first museum of play (instead of the more traditional children's museum). Consider what the Toyota Prius did to the automobile category or Tesla did to the category. Consider what Google cars will do to the category. What has online learning done for Southern New Hampshire University? Consider what WeatherTech has done to protect vehicle floors from salt damage during the winter. Consider what digital camera technology has done for photography. How about what LED lighting has done for energy conservation and light bulb longevity? Consider what USB flash drives did for computer memory, transferring files and computer backup. Consider what the introduction of ATMs did for banking. I think you get the picture.

A sure way to insure growth for your brand is to continue to innovate within and outside of its product categories. Each useful innovation creates sales surges and produces competitive advantage (at least for a time). If your brand does not innovate, it will experience slower growth and eventually be left behind.

I wish you great success in creating product and category innovations for your brand.