The 2009 model Porsche 911
The 'new' 2011 model Porsche 911
They predict a lot of GDP growth in advanced economies "will come from a broad range of incremental improvements to existing offerings" - which they coin as 'Soft Innovations'
Characteristics of 'Soft Innovations' are:
- Usually generated from market or consumer insight
- Increase consumption of nonphysical (intangible) value
- Create incremental value rather than steal market share from competitors
- Entice customers to trade up
- Bundle rising quality with rising prices (i.e. implicitly forcing consumption of quality)
- Meets niche and unmet needs
They use coffee as example of how a 'low-tech' product can be improved (i.e. made nicer) to create more economic value.
It's an interesting trend - suggesting that companies might be better off looking for small incremental improvements through market / customer research, rather than trying to find the next big thing through research and development.
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