Friday’s Wall Street Journal showed a delicious contrast in innovation approaches in side-by-side articles (yes, I’ve just revealed I still read a broadsheet from time-to-time).
On the one hand, you have P&G launching the latest, feature rich, premium-seeking version of its Fusion razor. Blade edges so fine you need a microscope to see them. Anti-hydroplane technology. And an even more ergonomic grip.
(Wait. Backup. My razor blade can hydroplane? On my face? Scary… Does my auto insurance cover that?)
In contrast, the neighboring article details GE’s plans to launch a handheld ultrasound device. Price point: under US$10,000. Compare that to $25-50k for laptop-based machines, or $250k for a cart-based ultrasound. Of course, the handhelds won’t have the functionality of the others, but for many situations, they don’t need to. Cutting out features in favor of portability and low price actually opens up new markets. That’s smart, “good enough” innovation in a tough economic environment.
Needless to say, perhaps, but the feature enhancing variety of innovation is a tough row to hoe in a recession. With all great respect due to the Gillette brand—for decades an innovator and real enricher of daily shaving activity, including my own—at some point, consumers will declare the emperor naked.
You can purchase 13 Schick QuattroPro cartridges (a four-bladed monster) for $19.99. That’s more than enough shaving chops for me. Compare that to 14 Gillette Fusion Power, five-bladed cartridges for $41.49. Is the Fusion Power shave a better one? Perhaps. But not detectably so for me, and I’m guessing most consumers would say the same, if pressed to break out of their purchasing habits.
Surely, social media will accelerate this emperor de-shrouding. How long before some clever razor blade upstart equips its socially active advocates to lay bare the math, and make the quadblade the sharp choice on a tight budget?
If you haven’t put your innovation strategy under the microscope to spot the keen edges, its worth doing. Are you cutting against the economic grain, or shaving with it?
MLC Members, join us for breakfast on May 13th in San Francisco. Schwab will host a morning roundtable for MLC members to discuss innovation. Email Kelly Shattuck if you’d like to pre-register (kshattuck@executiveboard.com).
Also, see some of our favorite innovation case studies:
- How Motorola does 360-degree customer needs mapping
- How BT fosters employee participation in innovation
- How Eli Lilly fosters a common employee understanding of what great insight looks like
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