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An unconventional argument for how companies can grow or revitalize businesses through cultural innovationOutside of tech, companies rarely succeed at growing new businesses or revitalizing stagnant ones, even in the categories in which they are most successful. And the model of innovation that tech firms use is an expensive dead end for everyone else. So how can companies build breakthrough innovations without the advantage of breakthrough technology? In How Brands Innovate, Douglas Holt provides an entirely different way to understand how innovation works from the conventional ideas that dominate in business. He argues that market transformations are pushed forward by culture and society rather than new technology or new products. Holt-one of the world's leading thinkers and consultants on cultural approaches to branding, business strategy, and innovation-draws on his decades-long experience to show how companies can buildinnovative new businesses without the advantage of new technology or revitalize businesses that have lost their leading position. Rather than beat competitors within their category, companies like Nike and Starbucks reinvented their categories. Rather than deliver better value, these brands transformed value. And rather than develop a better product, they reimagined their products. For the first time, Holt provides a concise explanation of cultural innovation-the model that details how brands like Nike and Starbucks came to be-and shows exactly how to do cultural innovation, providing a step-by-step model for analysis andthen a framework for designing innovations. He draws on his own consulting work to walk readers through successful re-branding, innovations, and strategies with major global corporations like Patagonia, Huawei, and REI.
List of contents
Chapter 1: The Three Strategy Myopias: Why Business Needs Cultural Innovation; CULTURAL INNOVATION THEORY; PART I: BEYOND BRAND MYOPIA; Chapter 2: The Branding Treadmill; Chapter 3: How Society Innovates; Chapter 4: How Vanguards Conquer Markets; Chapter 5: How Challengers Attack Incumbents; Part II: BEYOND TECH MYOPIA; Chapter 6: The Better Mousetrap Trap; Chapter 7: How Tech Drives Cultural Innovation; Chapter 8: Constructing the Meaning of Tech; Chapter 9: Transforming Tech Into Myth; Part III: BEYOND PURPOSE MYOPIA; Chapter 10: The Purpose Industrial Complex; Chapter 11: The Activist Brand, Part 1: Myth; Chapter 12: The Activist Brand, Part 2: Provoke; Chapter 13: Summary; CULTURAL STRATEGY: APPLYING THE THEORY; Part I: APPLICATIONS; Chapter 14: Converse; Chapter 15: The Lifetime Network; Chapter 16: SONOS; Chapter 17: Huawei; Chapter 18: Patagonia; Chapter 19: REI; Part II: PLAYBOOK; Chapter 20: Solve The Innovation Puzzle: 7-Step Analysis; Chapter 21: Design The Innovation: The S.P.A.M. Framework; Chapter 22: Organize The Innovation: The Cultural Studio
About the author
Douglas Holt was Professor of Marketing at both the Harvard Business School and the University of Oxford. He is now President of the Cultural Strategy Group, a consulting firm he founded that provides brand strategy and innovation solutions using the cultural strategy framework. Holt also holds honorary professorships at Royal Holloway, University of London, and the University of Bristol. He has developed successful strategies for a wide range of
brands and companies, including Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Ben & Jerry's, Sprite, Jack Daniel's, MINI, MasterCard, Fat Tire beer, Qdoba, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Pinterest, Huawei, Tinder, Lyft, and Zipcar, along with a number of non-profit organizations.
