A Guide to Innovation in Marketing
Text by Jenny Krepp, Value Marketing Fellow
Twitter: @JennysMindflash
Illustration by Lidia Lukianova, SF Bay Area
The term innovation and the name Schumpeter go hand in hand. Schumpeter is often called the father of innovation. He identified innovation as the critical element for economic change. Change is not only the favorite word of the current US President, but can be a critical element for something new. To create something new we do not necessarily need to change something radically, but we must at least develop something old further.
Schumpeter 2.0
Something Old:
Creativity x Risk = Innovation
Something New:
Innovation x Knowledge = Profitable Growth
Google is a prime example of a company who combines innovation and knowledge to grow successfully.
Andreas Weber, CEO Value Communication AG stated “Google followed Schumpeter’s innovative approach from their first steps as they innovated the search engine business which was founded and triggered by Alta Vista”. Furthermore, they developed dozens of additional technologies and services like Gmail, Android, Google Maps, Google+ and so on.
As a start up Google used Schumpeter’s approach (something old) to be innovative by creating new technological concepts. However, this tactic wouldn’t be sufficient in the long run.
The real key to Google’s long lasting success is knowledge sharing. They provide a consumer friendly platform, which is easy to use, for free and they share their knowledge about digital advertising and how to engage marketing with advertising executives. Moreover, Google provides smart tools for publishing and commercializing content and messages. Additionally, they place a high value on feedback disregarding if you use their platforms as a B2B or B2C user.
By combining something old with something new Google became extremely successful. As Andreas Weber adds “They started as an innovator and turn out to be the worlds leading knowledge provider in the digital age”.
What can we learn from Google’s success from a marketing perspective?
It is no secret in the business world that marketing leads to business success. Marketing, as it is known today has been around since Schumpeter’s era but as Andreas Weber pointed out: “Since more then one generation marketing itself is not innovative”. However, to innovate marketing practices we not only need technological innovations, for example Google’s search engine but also relevant communication tools. Relevant tools are those, which are valuable, sustainable and desirable.
”Known by the motto you cannot know what you don’t know technology innovations only push through if they are communicated effectively – especially in the field of B2B” stated Andreas Weber.
Something Old:
Marketing leads to Business Success!
Something New:
Technologie Innovation + Communication Innovation = Marketing Innovation
