The Importance of Innovation
Innovation is quickly becoming the word of the moment, with everyone searching for the next big idea…whether it’s an invention or a way to enhance experience – companies are looking for big ideas to draw customers in.
For the first time in what feels like years, people are trying to look past the recession and survival strategies, and thinking about the future.
But how do you predict an ever changing, already complex market?
One significant movement in development is to move away from the static boardroom environment and use methods that utilise the consumers input from the word go – co-creation.
By putting a task directly to your consumer you are far more likely to get a direct insight – from someone who actually uses the product or service!
The world is now very much that of a younger generation; with an explosion of new technology, we are a population of digital natives. As a result of the internet and the broadening range of equipment that can access it, the world is more connected than ever before – we are the children of the information age.
However, we are not under the pretence that all advancements are positive – or rather that advancements are always utilised in a positive way. On the one hand you have a phenomenon such as Facebook, which has allowed people to connect all over the globe in an ever growing network. On the flipside, you cannot ignore events such as the London riots, which one can speculate would not have become so out of hand without the networking on sites such as Twitter, or Blackberry’s bbm service. But, nevertheless, technology is part of our world and although it is not necessarily easy to control, it is also, undeniably, an invaluable resource.
But how do you tap into this ‘Generation I’ (Source: Promise Top Trends 2012)?
One notable trait of this tech savvy population is that people are more entrepreneurial – rather than searching for jobs in the increasingly difficult and cut throat job market, people are opting to create them. In short, they are innovating!
Services are also cropping up to support this trend. Central Working, based in London’s West end, is a space that will rent out desks, meeting rooms and any other office requirement on a pay as you go basis, eliminating the need for a person or start up company to have to purchase or rent in the high property market, and simply pay for what they need.
But how successful is innovation in the work place? The Harvard business review speculates it is a mere 17%, companies more often than not opting to pursue things with immediate results. Companies therefore, need to start allowing more time for creativity if they expect and indeed want ‘light bulb moments’. With such entrepreneurial and knowledgeable workforces, and consumers at hand, it is time to exploit it.
What can ultimately be deduced is that we are not only a generation of information but of innovation, and this in itself is the greatest resource. People are starting to acknowledge that ground breaking ideas are not going to be conjured up out of thin air by some ‘suits’ sat around a table for hours on end. It is time to not only listen to the customer but to engage with them…and it is important to have the tools and the skills to both encourage and harness this information.
If you would like to find out more about Promise and our innovation process, please contact Bethan (bhaycock@promisecorp.com).
This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 May 2012 at 5:05 pm and is filed under Co-creation, Customer Experience, General, Innovation, Insight, New Economy, New media, Service, Strategy.
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