Why Innovation is Essential for Brand Success
The future of brands is defined through new products and services, helping to bring a brand strategy to life through memorable experiences and tangible items for customers to bring the experience home with them.
Brand innovation can take many forms ranging from rebranding, repackaging, product innovation, and promotional merchandise. Brand innovation often happens after an analysis of the brand's external and internal environments, looking at the company's internal processes and analyzing the position of the brand relative to their competition.
Here are some of the reasons why innovation is so essential to a brand's long-term success.
1. Staying Ahead of Competition
Brand innovation that occurs before your competitors can allow for a larger sustainable competitive advantage and can be maintained over a longer period of time by your brand. By innovating before your competitors, it rewards your loyal customers with the opportunity to be the first ones with the latest and greatest product on the market, in turn, your loyalist customer can become your own marketing outlet.
LucidMood recently expanded in the cannabis industry with its innovative discrete portable vape pens. Anthem Branding had the opportunity to team with the Boulder-based company to create and develop their visual identity and their custom cannabis packaging system. LucidMood's innovative vision allowed them to develop a product to stay ahead of their competition.
Being culturally relevant means that your brand is adaptable, flexible, and in the know. Creating branded merchandise that relates to current trends and events is a great way to stay top of mind and create meaningful connections with your consumer. Wearable marketing like branded apparel anchors emotional connections with consumers to a specific event or specific experience.
We created a custom letter jacket for the most recent Winter Olympics in South Korea. This unique item accompanied CP+B's Icebreakers iconic "Find Your Unicorn" campaign and was given to Olympic Ice Skating athletes to promote the brand.
3. Growth and Expansion into New Categories
Innovate your brand by expanding into new categories. Refreshing your brand assets with an updated, contemporary style can re-engage customers and help you stay relevant in our fast-paced culture.
Expand your capabilities and offerings to attract a wider clientele and allow for incremental growth. Innovative promotional products give your brand an opportunity to showcase your new growth and expansion.
4. New Consumer Needs
Customer needs are dynamic and ever-changing. Use key insights from your consumers to better understand their needs, and also check out your competition and see how they compare.
Understanding what your consumer wants and what your competition is doing well can help your brand stay ahead of the curve and avoid market saturation.
Now that you understand the importance of brand innovation, what is the next step? Contact us for help promoting your new product or service with strategic, high-quality innovative promotional products.