Innovation Obsession

The latest newsletter from the folks at trendwatching.com popped into my inbox last week. Themed “Innovation Overload,” the authors tell us that clever people from around the world are coming up with so many great ideas that even the innovation blogs are having trouble keeping up. The implications of all this, according to trendwatching.com are
• “Innovation isn’t rocket science. It’s an obsession with understanding or creating what makes consumers happy…”
• “Innovation is not necessarily about serious people in white coats puttering about in R&D labs. In an experience economy (which we’re still in, like it or not), marketing innovations rule.”
• No matter where you live in this big world, innovation is happening all around you. All you have to do is look for it.

trendwatching.com is an Amsterdam-based independent trend firm founded by Reinier Evers. It gets information on consumer trends and business ideas from many thousands of trend spotters around the world. Their story is at www.trendwatching.com.

Three emerging trends spotlighted in the August issue are Upgrade Everything, Daily Lubricants and Online Oxygen. They all sound intriguing but my favorite is Upgrade Everything. The point is that “even the most mundane products and services are now being upgraded, to provide consumers with comfort, status and beauty, or at least the illusion thereof, and to provide the brands that produce them with fat margins.” Target’s Design for All philosophy fits right in with Upgrade Everything.

Where do your new product ideas come from? Is it time to upgrade your product line? Is all this innovation good for us?