The functional and emotional limits of innovation
A shot of hail in the dark. That's what innovation is when you don't put limits on it. On the other hand, freedom is necessary for ideas to emerge and grow. Boundaries and freedom. Two things that on the face of it don't seem to go together, yet complement each other so well! Boundaries within which you can still experience a sense of freedom. The holy grail, towards which we started our quest last year.
We thought we had found the answer in the ideas of How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp. Based on this theory, we developed the framework for innovation. From the Category Entry Points we determine the relevant moments to respond to with your brand. From the Distinctive Brand Assets we determine whether the solution is sufficiently recognizable for the brand.
Responding to both functional and emotional needs
Still, it kept itching for us. That's because the thinking behind How Brands Grow is rather functional. Exactly the reason why it took me a while to convert and become a 'Sharper' too. Call me naive or idealistic, but I still wish every brand succeeded in touching someone. To release something. That bit of emotion is what I missed in our How Brands Grow framework for innovation. After all, a good idea responds to both functional and emotional needs. So functional boundaries alone do not offer enough freedom. And so we continued our search....
Emotional boundaries for innovation
During my time on the creative side, I was introduced to brand and design development based on Carl Jung's Archetypes. Archetypes symbolize basic human motivations. I like to call them characters. They speak to us deep in our subconscious. Archetypes help capture the spirit of a brand, positioning they also call it. They encompass the differences between brands that are often hard to describe in words. Differences you have to feel. That indescribable part of a brand that manages to touch you or trigger something in you. In Carl Jung's Archetype, we have found the emotional boundaries for innovation.
End of the How Brands Grow love?
So does our enthusiasm for the Archetypes mean the end of our love for How Brands Grow? After all, according to How Brands Grow, positioning is nonsense, right? No, certainly not! Archetypes guarantee the consistency that How Brands Grow also prescribes. It is the internal guide to get all noses in the same direction. So we see it as a nice addition to our framework for innovation. Based on the ideas of How Brands Grow, we answer the questions: does the idea respond to a relevant moment and is the idea in execution sufficiently recognizable for the brand? From the Archetypes we determine whether the idea fits the spirit of the brand. And we're happy to do the same for you! At least shoot yourself in the light with your new innovation or packaging.
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