WORLDVIEW

Achieving Innovation Takes Some Thought

By Michael C. Bellas

Reprinted from the October 2006 issue of Beverage World (www.beverageworld.com)

The beverage world always can use more beverage innovation. Without it, we would be stuck running in place with whatever we are offering right now. As surely as there are constants in this business, there also is the prevailing realization that little remains constant for long. Innovation must occur.

It’s all well and good to pay lip service to innovation as a concept. You can lump it with sunny days and good health as things everybody is generally in favor of. But as ever, the details tell the story of what innovation is and can be.

There is no one single formula that will lead you to effect impactful innovation. Nobody’s compiled a perfect success rate in this regard, and if there were secrets that guaranteed a winner every time, you can be assured they would be kept pretty safely guarded.

I don’t have those secrets. But I do believe there are a few guidelines worth following when considering beverage innovation. They are not rules so much as thoughts to keep in mind in quest of the next breakthrough.

Know Why You’re Innovating. As we begin to consider, in earnest, the industry as motivated by need states, you need to consider the purpose of the drink you’re developing. Are you hoping to promote wellness? Is there an alertness component? Will managing weight or enhancing moods be a part of your reason to be? Why, exactly, will somebody want to literally swallow what you’re selling?

Picture Your Audience. In an ideal marketing world, you will create a beverage and the widest possible demographic will take to it. So often we like to believe we are targeting our newest product at “anybody with a mouth.” Today, a new beverage, no matter how spectacular its prospects, will simply not reach anything close to this lofty level of acceptance. Therefore, you have to understand consumers —every last version of them. You need to embrace quantifiable data as well as empirical observations. Understand what moves your potential base and what could and should appeal to them. Seek your match and then go after it with laser-like focus.

Do What Hasn’t Been Done. Energy has been a hot category for several years now. As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, we have seen dozens upon dozens upon probably hundreds of energy drinks follow the original trendsetter, Red Bull, onto the market.  Energy is just one example. There can be new flavors in a popular category, better ways of packaging them, maybe even a name and a lifestyle component that would break through the clutter. But to just do another energy drink (or light beer or bottled water) so you can sell it a few cents cheaper? That’s not innovation.

Be Inspired. There is a difference between merely imitating what’s come before and taking inspiration from previously developed notions. Look around the entire beverage universe. If you’re thinking in terms of packaging, there’s more to cans and bottles than those that hold drinks. The cosmetics business, for example, knows a few things about styles and shapes. No creative person will ever tell you that he or she hasn’t co-opted a little something here and there to eventually construct something that is very much his or her own.

Size Doesn’t Matter. Surely it helps to have resources, but don’t worry that you’re not big enough to come up with the big idea that will change the business. Remember: Once upon a time, every big player was “the little guy.”

There Are No Rules. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of this industry came less with a roadmap than with just a couple of pencil sketches on a stray sheet of paper. You should make your route to success as probable as possible, but if you’re absolutely sure you’ve got a winner, go after the end result and don’t let anyone tell you you’re wrong. Because for all anyone knows, you may be right.

Michael C. Bellas is Chairman and CEO of Beverage Marketing Corporation (New York, NY, USA) Tel: +1 212/688-7640. Fax +1 212/826-1255. E-mail: .

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