Innovation Marketing
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Innovation marketing essentially comes from two important business terms which are innovation and marketing. In order to understand innovation marketing it is essential to understand the meaning of the two words:
- Innovation – This is the process of coming up with new ideas that will be able to bring positive impact to the business such as new products or services.
- Marketing – In a nutshell, this is the process where the producers communicate to the consumers about their products and services. Marketing is essential for informing the customers and prospective customers about the product, its features and why they should buy it.
A combination of both terms yields innovation marketing which is simply the implementation of a new marketing method which has not been used earlier and normally involves a big change in the product design, pricing, promotion and even packaging.
Other ways of innovation marketing may be such as launching the product in unconventional places, pricing the product uniquely or promoting the product in a unique way.
Why Innovation Marketing is used?
The main purpose of innovation marketing is to open up new markets and ultimately lead to an increase in the business’ sales. Innovation marketing also aims at newly positioning the business’ products as well as addressing the customers’ needs. As the dynamics of business keep changing on a daily basis, so are the marketing strategies.
However, the old conventional marketing strategies are no longer effective due advancement of the business world more so propelled by advancement in technology.
One of the main features that distinguishes innovation marketing is the fact that it signifies the company’s or business departure from the old marketing strategies. Thus, innovation marketing should be able to highlight the progress in business by using new marketing methods that have not been used before.
These new methods can be adopted from other businesses, basically by learning the market trends and adapting to change, or, it can be a totally new marketing idea brought in by the business. These new marketing methods can also be implemented on both new and existing products and services.
Examples of Innovative Marketing strategies used by big businesses
In this digital era, competition in business has been taken a notch higher. Below are examples of some of the innovation marketing strategies used by some world renowned companies to great success.
- Virgin America – This is an American airline that has been operation since 2007. The air travel industry is considered one of the most challenging and demanding industries in business. One important aspect that keeps airlines going is customer service and brand loyalty. However, this is not enough anymore and that is why Virgin America went ahead and introduced a focus group program comprising of 30 frequent flyers and customers who give feedbacks and generate ideas on how the airline can improve its services. The focus group is in turn given discounts and rewards. One direct impact of the customers’ feedback was the development of an in-flight social network which enables customers to connect during flights. The company again went ahead and released a six-hour video detailing an in-flight experience. This video won the award for being the longest ad but it surely had an impact in propelling the name of the company.
- L’Oréal – This is a French cosmetics company with a strong foothold in the cosmetics industry all over the world. One way in which cosmetic companies market their products is by having exhibitions where people get to sample makeup as well as other cosmetics for free. In order to reach a wider customer base in this digital world, L’Oréal developed an App called the L’Oréal makeup genius. This app allowed users to do a digital makeover and by doing so they were able to sample the best makeups that suited their skin tones. The app was a huge success, being downloaded more than seven millions times.
- Netflix – Currently Netflix is a household name. Within a very short period of time Netflix has transformed to one of the largest companies in the world. It is no longer a video streaming channel only as they have been able to produce some of the best movies in the recent past. Before growing and becoming one of the most influential companies in the entertainment industry, Netflix embarked on a strategy they called “reverse engineering Hollywood.” This involved collecting a large stockpile of data on the emerging trends and marketing directly to satisfy customer needs as well as building a brand of their own.