INNOVATIVE MANAGEMENT

PRACTICES RELATED TO MARKETING:

INTRODUCTION:

Innovation in Marketing is a unique collection of empirical

material describing both systems innovation and the launch of new

products. This ranges from the development of new high tech items

such as the Organizers from Psion, to the transfer of a major brand

such as Virgin Direct to a new market. Based on this the authors have

developed a clear analytical model for managing innovation with a

marketing perspective. The key themes that structure the book are:

Marketing and innovation - the model, innovation and strategy,

marketing strategies and shareholder value, best practice in innovation

management, effectiveness in innovation.

Marketers in many industries know that innovation through new

product development is vital to remain competitive. But product

decisions are not the only areas affected by new developments. As

we’ve discussed throughout the Principles of Marketing Tutorials,

innovation can affect almost all marketing areas. Below is a sampling

of how innovation has affected different marketing areas:

 

Marketing

AreaEffect of Innovation

Marketing

Research

Creates new ways to conduct research including more

sophisticated methods for monitoring and tracking

customer behavior and analyzing data.

Targeting

Markets

Allows for extreme target marketing where marketing-to-

person is replacing mass marketing. For customer

service, technology makes it easier to manage

relationships and allows for rapid response to customer’s

needs.

Product

Creates new digital products/services. Incorporation of

innovation into existing product/service enhances value

by offering improved quality, features & reliability at a

lower price.

Promotion

New techniques allow better matching of promotion to

customer activity and individualized promotion. Makes it

easier for sellers to offer product suggestions and

promotional tie-ins.

Distribution

Creates new channels for distribution and transaction

(e.g., electronic commerce) that include making it easier

for buyers to place orders. Allows more control over

inventory management and closer monitoring of product

shipment

Pricing Enables the use of dynamic pricing methods.

 The above table would detail about the derivation of effects of

innovation in different marketing areas.

Marketing Area:

Marketing Area, place a vital role in innovation of new product.

Because Market is the place where it decide the trend to every

competitor.

Communication plays vital role in Global Competitive.

Communication is defined and shared between living organisms.

Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended

recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the

sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus

communication can occur across vast distances in time and space.

Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area

of communicative commonality. The communication process is

complete once the receiver has understood the sender.

The role of internal communication needs to shift up to the level of

employee engagement. There are four main milestones on the road to

behavior modification – (1) create awareness, (2) change perceptions,

(3) obtain buy-in, and (4) change behaviors. The first two fall under

what is today practiced as internal communications – sending out the

content and sharing it. The latter two fall under the optimal approach

to employee engagement – modifying behaviors within the

organization and inculcating a culture of communication. This is the

difference between asking staff members if they know what the value

statement is, and asking them what behaviors they must demonstrate

to deliver it. The culture must also enforce communication at a

business level – staff should be measured on their communication as a

key performance area and not be allowed to say ‘I didn’t have the

time’. It’s time to stamp out the paternalistic culture we have become

so comfortable with.

Marketing Area, place a vital role in innovation of new product.

Because Market is the place where it decide the trend to every

competitor.

Competitors

For many marketers the final external force is the one most

relevant to immediate day-to-day decision making. While the other

external forces we’ve discussed tend to be examined periodically (or in

some cases rarely), monitoring competitor activity is often a daily

undertaking.

Monitoring competitors can serve several goals:

Competitors as Threats – The most obvious reason to monitor

the competition is to see how they are responding in the same

markets in which the marketer operates. Many larger companies

recognize the importance of keeping tabs on their competition

and create specific positions or even departments that focus on

gathering and analyzing competitor data. These competitive

intelligence programs mainly employ high-tech methods, and

principally the Internet, to locate information about competitors

such as news reports, government filings (e.g., patents, stock

reports) and changes to competitors’ websites. Even small sized

marketers can more easily track competitor actions. For

instance, there are several news and information services that

will alert a marketer (usually via email) when a competitor is

mentioned in the news.

Competitors as Partners – While many may consider

competitors as representing the enemy, there are situations

where competitors can present opportunities. This happens often

to large companies that offer a broad product line serving many

target markets. In some markets a company may compete

aggressively with another firm but in other markets both firms

may be lagging and it may make more sense for both to work

together. This can be seen in the computer industry where Apple

Inc., which for many years viewed computers, built with Intel

processors as competitors since these run Microsoft operating

systems, has now accepted Intel processors and is building

computers powered by this chip.

Competitors of Tomorrow – In many industries and, in

particular, those in technology-focused industries where there is

heavy emphasis on research and development, the most

dangerous competitors are the ones that have yet to emerge.

Because technology-dependent industries, such as computers,

consumer electronic and pharmaceuticals, rely heavily on

innovative new products, serious competitors can emerge

quickly from what seems to be out of nowhere. For instance, the

evolution of online video and its impact on the news and

entertainment industry grew very rapidly with the introduction of

online video services (e.g., YouTube) which was previously an

unknown project developed in a garage. However, in less than 18

months it came to dominate the online video industry.