Innovation is essential to driving corporate growth. It alters ways of thinking, improves ways of working, and enhances bottom lines. But when people think of the word innovation they often picture researchers in a lab or ultra-sophisticated technologies. In reality, there is more to innovation than developing cutting-edge products. 

At its core, innovation is the implementation of ideas that introduce something new or improve upon something existing and ultimately create value. That being said, there are many different types of innovation, and not all of them involve building new products or technology.

Types of Innovation

The various types of corporate innovation can be grouped into three main categories, according to Deloitte, depending on whether you’re revolutionizing the organization’s Configuration, Offerings, or Experience.

Innovating the Organizational Configuration

Profit Model – changes the way that a business makes money, for example by introducing new pricing models or developing new ways to generate revenue.

Organizational Structure – changes the way a company is organized, for example by creating new divisions or departments, or changing the way that work is done.

Supply Chain – changes to the way that a company’s supply chain is managed, for example by introducing new methods of manufacturing or developing new ways to distribute products.

Process – changes the way that work is done, for example by automating manufacturing processes or applying lean production methods. 

Innovating the Offerings

Product Performance – makes existing products better, for example by improving quality, usability, or functionality. 

Product System – extends or expands a product’s ecosystem, for example by bundling additional related products or developing products that connect with one another. 

Innovating the Experience

Service – changes the way that a company delivers its services, for example by developing new ways to package and deliver products.

Branding – changes to the way that a company is branded, for example by improving transparency or allowing private labeling.

Channel – changes the way a company sells or delivers its products or services, for example by employing new marketing strategies or switching to direct-to-consumer sales.  

Experience – changes to the way that customers interact with a company, for example through personalization or community-building. 

Storytelling Fuels Every Type of Innovation

Ultimately, innovation is all about generating revolutionary ideas to solve problems. And regardless of the type of innovation, storytelling is a critical part of the innovation process. 

Stories help translate ideas across an organization. When done well, storytelling can align people on goals and objectives, improve productivity, foster collaboration, increase sales, and improve the rate and quality of innovation. Not only that, but storytelling is key to managing change and improving culture.

Organizations that invest in building better stories find that their innovators fail faster and succeed bigger. 

Untold Content partners with organizations to accelerate innovation through the power of story. 

At Untold Content, we train innovation teams to tell better stories and work hand-in-hand with innovators to ideate and build innovation stories that drive action.

Schedule a call with one of our team members to discover how we can help.