Pitfall: Great new innovations are often lost in translation. John stated that he has painfully witnessed time and time again when the best innovations coming from a deep insight off of a latent or emerging customer need, mathematically proven, culturally driven, leadership supported, vetted by all, may still fail because it was handed off to another group from the ones who created it (like an outside marketing agency or internal implementation group) and then they cannot articulate the innovation well; not even close to the core insight that drove it. “It doesn’t matter how cool, awesome, or great it is because no one will understand it … It is not articulated in a way that consumers can understand.” It can be a deadly handoff going from concept to implementation if you are not diligent.
Solution: Assign an “idea parent.” Someone from the original idea team must be assigned to nurture the insight through the implementation and advertising process to insure the core consumer insights are not lost along the way.
These are valuable perspectives for firms of all sizes, in any industry, as innovation runs into familiar obstacles for all. Smaller firms can learn, borrow and apply innovation best practices and lessons learned from larger firms to promote more innovation in their businesses.
The Institute for Innovation Development is an educational and business development catalyst for growth-oriented financial advisors and financial services firms. We position our members with the necessary ongoing innovation resources and best practices to drive and facilitate their growth, differentiation and unique community engagement strategies. The institute was launched with the support and foresight of our founding sponsors--Pershing, Voya Financial, Ultimus Fund Solutions, Fidelity, MeridianIQ/AdviceIQ, Innovation Equity Partners and Charter Financial Publishing (publisher of Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines). For more information click here.