The innovator's conflict
Having had the opportunity to meet with hundreds of brand marketers over the last few years, I've noticed some commonalities in how they think about innovation -- mainly that they crave it. These marketers want the spotlight for their product and for their personal brand. It is how they emerge from the pack. Everyone has visions of creating the next Old Spice campaign and they often ask questions like: How can I be the first marketer in my category to do something? How can I be the first brand in my company to launch something new? These questions are usually followed by: How can I be certain it will work?
This is what I call the "innovators conflict" and it freezes marketers in their tracks. If you want to be an early adopter there are no guarantees. If there were, your partner wouldn't be pursuing business with you, but rather answering their phone to take orders.
When brands can't be assured of a very specific success the conversation often ends for many.
When you have more specific data points please come back to me. My gut tells me this would work, but I need to show my boss data to get buy in to move forward.
