Innovation

Innovation is becoming the fundamental requirement for businesses, including the media, to stay in the game and expand nationally and globally, especially in an ever-changing digital revolution. Its importance is recognised by the Media Innovation Awards (http://www.mediainnovationawards.com/home.aspx). Innovation can be in the forms of the product, the process new products are delivered, the context of the product, and the company’s paradigm.

If a company fails to be innovative, it dies. A most recent example would be the fall of Kodak; a company that, in it’s heyday, was hugely successful and profitable. However, as the focus becomes innovative hardware and a digital focus, the company simply did not keep up in terms of innovation of product or their business model.

Product innovation is the most essential of the four Ps, mostly because it is the change that is focused completely at the customer. Product innovation in the media industry can be either hardware innovation, or content innovation, as highlighted in the Jeff Bezos Podcast (Podcast). Bezos claims the iPad is an example of innovative hardware, and this is the focus of Apple. Whereas Amazon focus on being innovative content providers, and their hardware (including the innovative touchscreen device, the Kindle Fire) is simply a ‘passport’ to the vast Amazon media library. The only innovative feature on the Kindle, in comparison to the iPad, is faster streaming to allow for easier access to the content they provide.

1.     Raghavan, B. “Lessons for companies from Kodak’s demise.” Business Line. 29 Jan 2012. Web. Accessed: 29 Jan 2012.

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