There’s a game of bloggers’ tag going on, started by Erno Hannink of ‘enthousiasmeren.nl’. I was tagged by Gijs van Wulffen of ‘nieuweproductenbedenken.nl’, a good and resourceful blog on creativity and innovation. The game is that you mention 5 things about yourself no one knows and that you tag five other bloggers. I’ll join the game, why not, it’s vacation time. But I’m changing the rules a bit (I am in the innovation business after all): I won’t bother you with personal stuff this time. I’d rather keep my eye on the ball. There’s been way too little posting on the actual content of brand driven innovation; most content is in the dissertation and the presentations. So I’ll give you some content; 5 reasons why brand driven innovation makes a lot of sense.

1: Innovation can hurt. Change requires courage. But it leads to growth. And it can be hugely satisfying when it is based on an inner core that gives direction and helps make decisions. This inner core consists of shared beliefs, values, identity, heritage, vision, and insights. We at Zilver call this core the brand.
2: Your brand is unique. It’s staged at the crossroads of your company’s culture and the insights you’ve gained in your customers. And if you want to differentiate, you’d better use a differentiating driver for your innovation process. If you want to be like your neighbour, focus on technology, the ‘market’, trends, or the next guru for your innovation drivers.
3: Your brand is a huge asset that was taken hostage by the advertising trade. You might start to think that branding is all about creating promises. For me it’s about creating meaningful and differentiating promises and fulfilling these promises. Brand driven innovation helps you fulfill your brand’s promise and close the circle.
4: Innovation, once you get the hang of it, can be addicting: a dessert that will help you eat less, a walkman that helps you share your music. Stop! Stop the technolgy push, stop the marketing fads, stop the shortening of lifecycles. Start with your brand instead. And from there create meaningful product/service/brand experiences to delight your customers. A good brand has the depth to do so
5: By integrating the branding and innovation resources within your organisation you create a very stable and fruitful base for growth. It’s the alternative to the techie nerds silo versus the marketing bla bla silo. It’s about joining forces: you need storytellers and visionaries to tap into your customers’ dreams and desires, while you need inventors and designers to build the dream and fulfill the promise.

This list is evolving like everything I do. Let me mention here that a lot of the work i’ve been doing on brand driven innovation lately is inspired by discussions with Andre Weenink of Booreiland. Next to his work for Booreiland, Andre is an Industrial Design student of Delft who is graduating at Zilver on refining the BDI method. He’s a great guy!

five other bloggers who I’m tagging:

1. Rik Wuts, a student of mine from Delft. Great stories and rants, on innovation, branding and design.
2. Hans Henrik H. Heming, a very early reader and commentor of this blog, on design and innovation.
3. Audrey Carr, just started but very promising content, on creating and managing customer experiences.
4. Ralph Beuker, my great blogger friend and teacher from Germany, on design management and strategy
5. Alex Osterwalder, on business model innovation

best wishes to you all!