how innovative is your story of innovation?
This is a story of innovation and the perfect kiss.
So, you say you’re all about innovation? Sorry to sound cynical, I’m really not. Like your consumers I want to believe. Because, hey, I need the next big thing from you to win, to beat my competition. But, sorry, I’ve been courted and cooed by brands that tell me they have just what I need…
..so, I ask, please, what might convince me beyond your innovative product or service itself? Why might I trust more in you than in them, this story of innovation? In a recent New York Times piece by Mary Tripsas, we learn of Hershey’s innovation center that features “a tasting room … where corporate scientists discuss trends and retailers can sample products under development and offer feedback.” Hershey’s innovation center also includes a mock store where Hershey illustrates merchandising ideas. Hershey hopes to make shopping easier by organizing the candy aisle by how products are used (candy dish, gift-giving or family movie night) instead of product line.
At 3M’s St. Paul headquarters, the center is known as “World of Innovation,” with similar centers located in Japan, Brazil, Germany, India, China and Russia. John Horn, a 3M vice president for research and development, says the objective is to get a grip on “what our customers are trying to accomplish, not what they say they need.”
To get at this, 3M exposes customers to “more than 40 of what it calls technology platforms … that can potentially be combined and applied to meet a range of different markets.” The hope is that this will prompt “novel connections — like using dental technology to improve car parts,” for instance. 
And at Pitney Bowes, customers are encouraged to load their own applications into Pitney Bowes systems and experiment. “We’re hoping to get at things they wouldn’t have thought about,” says Pitney evp Leslie Abi-Karam. “In the long run, we expect that working with customers in our innovation center will alter our development trajectory.”
Wow, changes the innovation game, right? It’s your process of innovation that makes the difference. Not just the innovative product or service you’re selling. Customer after customer, you’re authenticating and elevating your claim of innovation. And differentiating yourself from the competition.
