Product Innovation Models

Feb 20, 2023 by IDEX Health & Science

In business, the product innovation process translates ideas into a good or service that creates value and satisfies the needs and expectations of their customers. Whether by introducing a completely new product, adding a new feature to an existing product, or enhancing an existing product feature, product innovation is typically the result of new technology or new insights about customer needs. In some cases, this can happen even before the customer knows what they need. There are many different ways a company can innovate, but all companies should consider these types of innovations to stay relevant in their market:

Revolutionary Innovations: Often disruptive and new, revolutionary innovations or breakthrough products, are technologically advanced and creatively superior to other products in the market. Revolutionary innovation can either harness new technology that depends on an existing business model or utilize existing technology through a new business model.

Evolutionary Innovations: Most innovation comes from incremental products, which consist of making small-scale improvements to existing products to add or preserve value. Evolutionary innovation may be as straightforward as adding a new feature to an existing product or it can be more elaborate, such as creating a full line extension. In either case, incremental products take advantage of advances in existing technology or processes, so it is much simpler to carry out than a revolutionary innovation.

Platform Innovations: Similar to evolutionary products, platform innovation is the practice of rapidly iterating or improving upon an existing product. Platform innovation is like a springboard, which you can use to propel your established platform to a new business concept of market easier, cheaper, and faster. Next-generation products are done on a grander scale, where the basic design of the original is used to create several products in a family that can fulfill a need across a wide range of markets.

Disruptive Innovations: Starting with the creation of a new product that initially takes root in an existing market and/or value network, disruptive innovations eventually disrupt the market and displace established competitors. Unlike revolutionary innovations that introduce new technologies to the market, disruptive innovations typically make products more accessible and affordable, consequently making them available to a larger population to become mainstream.

To succeed, all innovation models need to lead with marketing excellence. Without marketing, even the best products will not reach the market quickly or consistently enough.

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