Thursday 9 January 2014

Renovation + Design = almost $9B in 2012

Innovation vs. Renovation is a touchy subject, but when one firm reports almost $9B in 2012 via design, eyebrows are sure to raise. Dissimilar to the Nike Fuel Band, UP, Supersoaker discussion, Swatch hasn't "innovated" they've embraced the design canvas. Here's how:



In "Creating New Value for Old Innovations" the discussion surrounds how the tired old watch was "innovated" from 10% of the worlds watching being made in Switzerland to almost none until the emergence of Swatch. Did Swatch just grow via NPD or did they innovate? No they renovated. And they continue to renovate the humble watch every year tirelessly via designers and their paintbrushes and pencils on the face of a watch and band. Following Schumpeter as we always do this time via "The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics: Creative Destruction" and MIT"s "Creative Destruction", the underlying principal is design and the object as a canvas for designers is this time a watch - constant renovation & renovation at it's finest 

Unlike The Nike Fuel Band, Facebook and a host of other product and industries that did not exist before they were created and unrelated to other products before, renovation is a separation of church and state. How not to do this, how to incorrectly wield design is best described via Forbes " Creative Destruction Is Not A Management Philosophy - It Can Be Avoided Kodak, Hostess, Microsoft" 
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