Innovation and Branding #BrandingThursdays

On Tuesday we talked a bit about Innovation and Simplicity and how the first is part of the second. Today I want to talk a bit about Branding and how it is important in your innovation attempts.

When innovating, you need to renew something that exists and make it better. Sometimes when this is done, people overlook what the brand, for which they are innovating, is all about. You need to always keep in mind what the brand stands for and what the brand promise is.

To explain this it's better to look at an example. I have chosen Tesco and how they have used their "Every Little Helps" message and promise to introduce and provide a new way of doing a lot of different services. Tesco started their "every little helps" campaign by providing a better experience for when people shop at their stores. The main focus is always providing a bit of saving compared to the other chains and adding a few other benefits to create the best value for the customer. Now Tesco has ventured into a lot of different services including Tesco Money, Tesco Mobile, Tesco Entertainment and Tesco Direct. In all ventures they have always done the two things that have made them successful in the grocery market, they try to offer a very cost effective solution and add a bit more to make it a better value. So they offer a consistent promise.

I enjoyed how they communicated their efforts for Tesco Mobile in the latest campaign, where they state that instead of spending on sponsorship, they decided to offer triple clubcard points (their famous loyalty scheme) for the money spent on mobile services. It shows how they put their customer first and that's how they got the first place in the grocery market.

So when innovating it is essential that you maintain the brand promise and sometimes using the brand promise you can find ways to provide new services and products.