If you think it’s impossible to predict innovation, think again.
Do you remember when Bluetooth first appeared on the market? How many can say, hand on heart, that they truly understood the particular bundle of benefits it offered? But once the idea that data could be shared and exchanged digitally had been seeded in consumers’ minds, it was very hard to dislodge. Thus a future demand was born and this time, we all understood it.
We believe that many innovations, whether disruptive events that seem to come out of nowhere, or iterative developments that propel the product proposition forwards – as with Bluetooth’s successors’ – can be predicted.
It’s a case of watch, listen, act. And we cannot put too much emphasis on the watching part. This is the way to develop your foresight of the market, by using insight into today. The process of learning about the next big thing is a complex one, and it may be some time before a new proposition begins to crystallise in consumers’ minds. So it’s imperative to be receptive to all the different ways in which consumers are being exposed to new ideas and propositions, both from within your sector to outside your industry. You can’t afford to limit your sources of information and news; the price is disengagement from the direction in which your market is heading.
Innovation-ready organisations will have aligned innovation throughout the business. They’ll know which wave of benefit evolution they intend to ride at the time the market is ready and customers are receptive and, most importantly, the innovation is strategically sound. So, whilst it may not be easy, it is predictable.
Take a look at our white paper and video.