Innovation and product innovation in marketing strategy

Abstract

Innovation leads to a process of change in organizations and its market offerings, and is a key weapon that marketing strategists use to win customers and markets, through the development of sustainable competitive advantage. Innovations use assets and competencies of the organization along with innovation processes to bring about new or different market offerings, which when successful in the market bring in immense value to the firm. However for an innovation to succeed as a competitive advantage there should be a fructification of the innovation advantage through appropriate competitive marketing strategies. Innovations are often motivated by ‘innovation events’. Processes that foster transformation of ‘innovation events’ to ‘innovations’ is the new product process or the innovation process system. Innovations also lead to the creation of assets called intellectual property. Innovation creates and generates value and could reflect in both co-created value and shared value. Ultimately the purpose of innovation is for improving and increasing the delivery of superior meaning and superior value to the customer while making it relevant, different or new and valuable from the customer’s stand point. The study addresses the nature of innovation, the elements of the innovation process system, types of product innovation and assessment of innovations. An empirical desk research on innovation aspects of Philips Corporation has been conducted, followed by a primary interview with Philips Innovation Campus, Bangalore, India. The paper concludes by laying out the implications for marketing strategists.