Communications, Media & Strategy Gavel

Those who have the mastery of any trade never joke with continuous innovation. At the base of every innovation is curiosity, seeing the possibility and calculated risk taking. Without innovation the future of any brand is not guaranteed. Brand communicators need to come to term with changing communication needs of the present generation. Delighting and engaging new generation of brands consumers will require enough gut on how best to reach targets.

Innovation will no longer be confined to strategy, product development or leaders of the brand only. Brand communicators must continuously see the handwriting on the wall in order to meet today’s communication demands. For brand communicators, there is urgent need for value, communication medium and message reassessment. A continuous test and re-testing of message and medium effectiveness, efficiency is now mandatory.

While reading the latest edition of Personal Branding Magazine, a particular interview with Clayton Christensen caught my attention. This compelled me to meditate on what makes a brand communicator a successful innovator in brand messaging and delivery. My research produces the following 5 hot tips that can help any dummy from the crash. Knowing and applying these skills will determine whether your brand will be able to attract or repel the people it intends to reach.

Questioning: why are children most successful? Average child ask too many questions that adult get annoyed with. Interestingly we were all born with that ability. As we grew up, many people around us killed that great skill that can lead us to greater discovery. For an average male, pride gets on our way. We think, asking question or help is not manly enough. To be a great innovator, we must pick up, sharpen this skill again. We should not be shy from asking question from anyone as long as they may have something to say. Even when their responses are not useful today, they may be tomorrow. So move ahead to the next person.

Observation: this skill is highly important for innovation. Observation leads to greater discovery. Brand communicators need to observe with keen interest their environments. This can draw relevance with what some regard as ‘thoughtful reflection’ what is and what can be.

Idea networking: Sharing the idea with the group is also essential. Idea networking brings out the dark and the glowing sides of anything. A continuous exposure of brand communication idea, messaging and delivery process will ensure better acceptability.

Experimentation: the problem with many brand communicators is lack of willingness to fail. For this reason, they never want to experiment anything. Taking calculated risk is now essential. Innovation is often a product of experimentation. There is no guarantee in life. No matter how tightly packaged the process is. Brand communicator that will excel must learn to experiment and experiment. A caveat her, we do not mean foolish experimentation born out of personal ego. Please leave your ego at the gate. Come to innovation laboratory with a mind devoid of ego.

Associational thinking: this has to do with associating experiences with how you can bring out the best in your brand communication process.

Let us close this piece by recommending a new work of professor Clayton Christensen etal titled: The Innovator’s DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovation.

What do you think? Share your opinion, use the comment section.