Fostering Innovation In-House

Is it better to look outside to see what people are doing, what they're reading and where they're spending their time, to find ideas for new products or ways of marketing them, or is it better to set the trends yourself? It's an interesting question and one that is especially pertinent to our well connected digital world. Brands, marketing teams and advertising agencies have always been obsessed with doing market research and with so much accessibility to consumers online, never has their been a better time for it.

The Harvard Business Review has a reputation for publishing fabulous and thought-provoking editorial and Alessandro Di Fiore's recent article on The Power of Proposition is no exception. Di Fiore points out that the Italian fashion industry is one which does the complete opposite of most. They set trends and just believe that people will follow them, and they do. But the point is the innovation and design genius of some of the world's biggest fashion houses come down to one or two people, and their creations make waves across the globe.

An innovator, by definition, is a pioneer in a particular field. Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford are just a few examples of history's greatest innovators. While they were responsible for some of the world's biggest inventions there are many innovators who are responsible for recreating a new way of doing something, of wearing something or behaving a certain way. Rapper Jay Z for instance, wasn't the first rapper of all time, he didn't invent rap. But he has done things with the genre of music - as well as its fashion, slang and lifestyle - that no one else has done, and because of that he is an innovator.

The thing about artists - true artists - is that they do what they love, they do what they're passionate about and can only hope that other people will love it too. But regardless of whether they do or they don't, a true artist will still hone their craft and follow their passion.

Of course in business things are a little different. After all, no business is exclusively after creative integrity, they need to make money and in order to make money there needs to be real demand for their products or services and that should probably be determined before launching a new business.

Is it possible to achieve a balance? The advertising agency strikes this balance by learning about their clients and their clients' clients to find an angle to an ad campaign, but they rely on the talent, creativity and professional execution of their internal staff to develop and put them all together. How does your company foster in-house innovation?


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