Innovation mantra: the consumer is boss

It reminded me of what Peter Drucker, one of the most famous management gurus, once said: a business has two, and only two, basic functions, marketing and innovation.

Marketing and innovation produce results. All the rest are costs. And that is really true.

Lafley and Charan have given many great, clear examples to explain how consumer-centric innovation really drives sustainable growth for many companies. Let me share briefly with you what they say in this book.

Marketing is often called both the art and the science of delivering what was promised to consumers by pleasing them with great value and quality products through intriguing marketing programmes.

Thus opinion-leading marketers always think first of the consumer before designing any new product or planning any new marketing campaign.

Sometimes marketers carelessly design marketing programmes based on gut feelings or personal preferences without including consumers in their initial consideration, resulting in failure to win consumers' hearts.

Lafley explains how "consumer is boss" is the key doctrine to drive for successful innovation, since it will guide everyone in the company to innovation that really fulfils the unmet needs of consumers. That, in the end, will generate a return to the company with impressive and sustainable impact.

Today innovation is often mentioned, though with various interpretations and meanings.

However, at P&G innovation is the focus of every function and business unit while in some companies it is simply inventing new products.

P&G believes every division, every department and every business unit can play a vital role in innovating for business success.

Speedy distribution channels, for instance, can be an example of supply-chain and logistics innovation by getting the right products into the hands of consumers in a timely and thorough manner.

While marketing is about satisfying the needs of consumers, innovation plays an important role in generating sustainable sales and profit for the company.

Therefore innovation needs to be put at the centre of business so the right goals and strategy can be chosen and how-to-win choices can be made. It is central to the job of every leader within the organisation, Lafley says.

He also tells us that while many say they are "consumer-centric," few actually put the consumer as boss at the centre of the innovation process.

Charan elaborates on what real innovation is by explaining that market space, customer space, competitive space and societal space can change with real innovation.

Changing the game means not being hamstrung by the deep-rooted conventional wisdom of your business or industry, but rather seizing the initiative to imagine a new game or a new space and shaping and controlling your destiny.

Many stories and examples in this book inspire the reader about innovation and the consumer-is-boss doctrine, which is brought to life in many respects.

In today's challenging economic environment, it's about time Thai marketers revisited their marketing programmes to see whether they really put consumers at the forefront and whether plans can be laid for real innovation in different contexts so that investment is worthwhile and sustainable.