I spent the day at the Marketing Symposium at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. In these tight economic times, many of the companies are spending a little more time in deciding where to allocate resources (both personnel and money), but the message that permeated all the presentations and panels was the need to innovate. Here are some thoughts on how companies are driving innovation and tying it into their marketing strategies:
- Insights from one person are sometimes deeper than quantitative data
- Consumers don’t always know what they would want to buy
- Customers are evolving in their expectations of companies
- Link technical aspects of a product to brand identity and marketing
- Don’t ask customers “greed” questions (would you buy this if it was cheaper?)
- R&D is key to meet numbers and show growth
- Look for “weird and wonderfuls” – leaders in their niches for ideas and innovations
- Act like a “startup” without the rules of a big company to spur innovation
How is your company driving innovation?
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