I saw this interesting article on Fastcompany magazine, which once more proves that customer driven innovation is a really powerful tool to achieve competitive advantage.
Back in 2007, Virgin Megastores was outbeating competition, with a sales increase of almost 14%. According to Dee Mc Laughlin, the marketing chief, the recipy for success was quite simple: they just observe customers, and find out what they really want:
“We observe and then we innovate. For example, HD and Blu-ray are hot right now. We observed that our customers were saying, “what is the difference between the two?” You can tell them what the difference is, but unless they’re actually seeing what the difference is, it’s not going to help sales.
“So, we’ve put an HD and Blu-ray wall into all our stores. It’s really spectacular looking. Where before we had consumer confusion, which was potentially stifling sales of both systems, now our customers actually can see what the difference is and choose for themselves which format to buy.”
Innovation is not always rocket science (nor is something that needs a huge investment in R&D). Sometimes the most innovative solutions is right under your nose. It’s just a matter of oppening your eyes, and seeing what really matters.
