Innovation comes in all shapes and sizes.

Take the first iPod, for example. What an innovation!

Oh, I’m not talking about the device itself.

I’m talking about the marketing campaign.

Look, the iPod was an innovation, sure. But what was it, really?

It was, at its core, just a 5 GB hard drive. That’s all. And Apple could have marketed it that way. “Looky what we just made—a really small, really cool looking 5 GB hard drive!!!”

How do you think THAT would have sold?

But what did Apple do instead? What brilliant, innovative marketing line did they come up with that single-handedly made the iPod the MUST HAVE device of 2001 and beyond?

“1,000 songs in your pocket.”

Wow.

Just, wow.

Instead of touting 5 GB (which, let’s face it, is a pretty meaningless number to most of us), Apple focused on what 5 GB meant to the consumer:

“1,000 songs in your pocket.”

The global reaction to a 5 GB hard drive would have been, “Meh.”

The global reaction to “1,000 songs in your pocket” was, “ME WANT THAT!!!”

Here’s the point: Innovation lives—or can live—in ALL aspects of your business.

It’s not just about cool new products and services.

It’s about marketing. It’s about systems. It’s about business models.

So now it’s your turn. How could you innovatively communicate what YOU do in such a way that the reaction from YOUR target customers is, “ME WANT THAT!!!”?