Nostalgic innovation: Disruptive and incremental innovations

I love sports cars and I love television comedies, so imagine the smile on my face when I saw Matt LeBlanc (Joey from Friends) test drive the new Porsche 911R on Top Gear. After thoroughly enjoying the car’s capability, Matt started comparing it to its closest rival, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS. The RS is much faster, handles better, and costs 6 grand less, so why would anyone buy the R in the first place? According to Matt, the R has one serious advantage over the RS. The 911R is all about giving driving back to the driver.

Matt’s statement got me thinking about car technology these days. All supercar manufacturers are obsessed with first-to-market strategies that leverage technology to make their cars safer and faster. But what Matt said was true. Driving enthusiasts are completely ignored in the pursuit of this goal, so it’s encouraging to see that Porsche has made a car that caters to that forgotten segment. In fact, it made me wonder what other forgotten markets are out there.

The problem with innovation

Innovation can be categorised into 2 types. There’s disruptive innovation that advances product standards by leaps and bounds; then there’s incremental innovation that is about making small changes to existing products. Either way, innovation involves bringing something new to a market, to advance it in some way, shape or form. But doing so causes a problem. It ostracises those who fail to embrace these innovations. For example, advances in online banking systems have made life a lot easier for tech-savvy individuals; at the same time, they have caused nightmares for those who are not. These customers are abandoned in the name of progress and the pursuit of new markets.

Now, for a switched-on organisation that embraces its entrepreneurial mind, this presents an outstanding opportunity for new revenue streams. There is quite a lucrative market in pursuing forgotten customers with modern interpretation of old products.

Old innovation in the twenty-first century

Cast your memory back to the days of vinyl records, when music sounded exactly how it was recorded. Real DJs today have returned to using that analog technology because uncompressed sound offers a much better audio experience. In other words, a market that found serious problems with innovative technology created a demand for old technology. Companies such as Pioneer and Audio-Technica have been more than happy to supply modern versions of this old technology, and have done so quite profitably, while still looking after their digital audience.

Nike is another company that won over old hearts with the invention of its self-lacing shoe technology, first seen in the 1989 movie Back to the Future II. It decided to build a working prototype of the shoe from the movie, and in doing so it created the HyperAdapt 1.0 sneakers. Retailers have anticipated huge demand among tech-gadget consumers, a market that shoemakers have traditionally ignored.

How to take advantage of forgotten markets

So how does a company take advantage of a market that has been forgotten? Well, the first step is to find a market that has been ignored in the pursuit of innovation and then design products that solve problems for that segment. This sounds elementary, but there is a lot more to launching a profitable venture within these niche markets.

Pursuing forgotten market segments can be quite lucrative, as Porsche, Pioneer and GE have found.

GE is one such company that has nailed nostalgic innovation. When it came to creating a new line of kitchen appliances for a younger demographic, conventional wisdom suggested it should prioritise internet and social media connectivity. Instead, GE did something smart and counterintuitive. It commissioned a young designer to conceptualise products for his own generation. What he produced went completely beyond traditional perceptions of what young people want.

Industrial designer Tomas DeLuna is the brains behind GE’s Artistry kitchen collection, a line of appliances that exploits modern technology and also incorporates retro styling such as chrome handles, rounded edges, shiny finishes, and analog clocks. Even the GE logo that appears on Artistry appliances is the retro version that was retired decades ago. Design authenticity was paramount in the success of the project, but the Artistry line has succeeded in the marketplace because the appliance platforms are based on today’s technology. This makes the white goods highly appealing to young consumers who are struggling with student-loan debts, entry-level salaries and static wages.

Nostalgic innovation can provide organisations with viable additional revenue streams if they have the courage to pursue it. In this highly competitive environment, such courage is an imperative.