Aping
my Innovation
When
can a Society be called truly Innovative, why do Organizations struggle to
Innovative and how Innovative Individuals often, do not get opportunities to
bring their ideas to the society. These questions have stayed forever begging
for answers, which are sometimes almost staring at us, in our face.
We all
do have a mental mapping of countries, which are innovative, and those, which
are not. A country like India, with the so-called ‘Jugaad’ attitude has evolved
innumerable innovative solutions, to our daily needs and to problems around us.
A recent whatsapp video demonstrated a climbing ‘Step shoe’ that can enable an
Electrician to climb an Electric Pole, easily and safely. We can draw two
conclusions, One- innovations tend to happen where there is a desperate need and
secondly the sufferers tend to find their own solutions to eliminate their
suffering. It is evident, where there is an acute need there will be an
innovation sooner or later, Plato did say ‘True creator is the necessity, who
is the Mother of our invention’.
When
it comes to consumer goods, it is not surprising to note, the almost near
product similarity of competing brands, with the exception of some like
Gillette which has kept itself ahead and continued to provide superior products
in the Men’s shaving product category. ‘King of Shaves’ a not so big a brand,
made in the UK, brought in product innovation, where in the gel is absolutely see
through, for easy navigation while shaving, plus works wonders on your skin, leaving
it clean and with no irritation. They claim ‘Proudly made in the UK’. Mr. Will
King, the founder of the company says and I quote, ‘Back in 1992 I used to suffer from
shaving rash and razor burn but couldn’t find a product on the market to solve
my shaving problems. I suspected a lot of guys suffered in the same way I did,
so I decided to solve the problem myself and develop a range of products to
give a smooth, close and burn free shave – so in 1993 the King of Shaves was
born’. Clearly, product innovation
comes in when there is an expressed or a hidden need, not addressed by any
existing, available product.
Brands
like Shiseido, have created new benchmarks in the category of skin care, their
product catalogue lists some of the following; luminizing surge emulsion, Bio
performance lift dynamic cream, Urban environment tinted UV protector, Micro
Targeting Spot corrector etc. This is clearly using innovation to redefine the
category with products, which many others would want to copy.
Copying,
from what others did, is misjudged to be faster and also seen to be cost
effective. The unfortunate thing is that more often than not, Organizations
look for a quick fix solution and hurry to ape the already available readymade
solutions. There may not be a consumer need, but the fear of competition taking
on the market share drives to desperation. The reality being that even aping is
not easy or comes cheap. Sometimes it takes years and a whole lot of effort, just
making a copy and that too at what cost. In the effort to go on matching
competition, one goes on padding up costs, the relentless pursuit carries on
much to the amusement of your competition. We all justify this Innovation for
the sake of Innovation, fully well knowing that it is evidently ‘Resources
wasted’, in the medium to the long term. The Question remains, then why this
trapping and why, the mindless aping.
We can
rationalize the copying of other’s innovation on the plank of ‘Speed to the
market’, but it clearly brings out the inability of Organizations to access
consumer needs and motivate their own teams to come out with breakthrough
products. The downside being the impact on the organization culture, where in your
Benchmark stays as your Competition or the one you wish to ape and not
allowing your own resources to express their intelligence in a definitive
manner. The irony is, very often by the time one gets ready with the copy, the
leader has already moved forward and one is left gaping at the dust being left
behind.
The
joy of innovation is in the creation of a distinct advantage, for articulated
superlative usage, it’s in the creation of better lives for the consumers and
not just to get a share of business. Inevitably business and market share
surges, once the consumer relates to the product, finding value and superiority
over the current available offerings in the market.
Manu
Jain, India Head of Xiaomi, Smartphones says ‘I’m a Maverick, I did exactly the
opposite of what the rivals were doing’. Talking about competition he says and
I quote, ‘They, make products for elites who would like to show them off. We
make the same high-end technology available to the masses. Innovation for all
is our philosophy’. Jain followed a different path, loading enviable features
at an affordable price, makes the product cool. Xiaomi India, is today at the
top of the stack, innovation has given it a meteoric growth. It has
demonstrated, that it is not important to be in the numbers game, what works is
the belief in oneself that you can be the No.1. The path is Innovation.
Very
often individuals innovate to prove a point or to reassure their next raise in
the organization. It is up to the leaders to insist and reaffirm, that the
superordinate Objective of impact creation in the market, would always over
ride a short-term competition strategy. Its all about the impact that you wish
to create!
A
Brand like Sketchers, has combined the right price with visible innovation in
casual and formal shoes. Their campaign challenges the consumers to ‘Go walk’,
coming from a visible confidence in their own product. They are already
becoming a threat to some of the entrenched players almost pushing them to
redefine their Brand positioning. They consciously stayed away from being a ‘Me
to’ in their category. They wanted to create an impact.
The marketing
world of cars sometimes really surprises me. Other than the Branding and some
superficial accessories thrown in, all Brands offer similar products in a given
price segment. Car buyers, often base their choice on the colors available, the
after sales service etc., and not the product per se. Thus there are many brands but the same value
proposition, truly aping each other for many years. The next generation
Electric and the Driverless cars, once again seem to be in almost every Brand’s
next five years plan.
The
Brands, which hit the market first with a successful innovation, creates the
greatest impact and in turn a higher market share. Inadvertently they also
create the greatest chance of being copied by the ‘also ran’s’, despite the web
Patents and the Copyrights. Lets look at the scenario, where we learn but not
copy, where we compete but on our own merits, where our success is based in our
own abilities and not trying to find loop holes in the previous Patents.
If we
can truly empathize with the needs in the society or the issues around our own
Brands, we will work towards being superior to the previous one. If we enable our
fellow colleagues and support their ideas, we will not throttle a possible
revolution from happening. True Innovation happens in an environment, which
allows for collaborative thinking, which appreciates the differences, which
challenges the status quo and discourages a quick fix solution. You may
say, ‘Don’t we know that’! Yes indeed, I did say the answer is almost staring
us in our face.
Ashwani
Kumar
Chief
Technologist
Design
and Packaging
ITC
Ltd.
