Building a successful company takes hard work and ambition, but staying successful requires adaptability and a focus on innovation to keep pace with changing markets. Whether this means aligning with changing customer values, using new online techniques or innovating the product itself, showing that a company is evolving with trends will increase engagement of their audiences and prove they are not one dimensional.
In a market that is constantly changing, it is easy for brands to get lost in the changing trends and values of customers. A clear example of this would be the search engine company Yahoo. Started in 1995, Yahoo became prominent, increasing its number of users significantly. In the early 2000s, however, Yahoo started facing competition from its rivals, Google and Facebook.
With Yahoo’s failure to innovate, Google proposed an acquisition offer in 2004, which Yahoo did not accept. This mistake eventually cost Yahoo their company’s success, ultimately leading to their downfall in the 2000s. From Yahoo’s mistake, it is evident that embracing innovation and remaining adaptable are the keys to success in an ever-changing and customer-driven market.
Contrasting with Yahoo, Nike, a $30 billion company, is successful because of its adaptable and customer-oriented marketing strategies. In an article for the Harvard Business Review, founder Phil Knight explained how Nike is constantly innovating and understanding the needs of their customers, creating new designs to fit their needs.
By attending sporting events and engaging directly with the athletes for whom they produce products for, Nike gains a better understanding of evolving customer needs. In this way, Nike has positioned itself as a consumer-oriented brand, growing through meaningful interactions.
In the 1990s, when online platforms started to become more accessible, Nike shifted their advertisements to be television based. The ads emphasized the brand’s overall goal through athlete features, such as basketball player LeBron James and tennis player Serena Williams.
Nike was able to create the impression that if athletes trusted their products, their customers should as well. What started as direct marketing in the 1980s led to television advertisements and eventually social media campaigns, demonstrating how evolving with technology and the mediums brings success for companies.
Companies such as Starbucks are also constantly innovating, staying ahead of the game and ensuring that their mission is relevant to society today. Starbucks recently launched a new project in partnership with NextGen Consortium and other major food companies in which they introduced reusable cups as the default option for to-go drinks. Taking place in the city of Petaluma, Calif., customers can return their reusable cups to purple bins located in the city’s Starbucks. Once received, the cups are extensively cleaned and recirculated to use again.
As consumers become more aware of their impact on the sustainability of the planet, Starbucks is able to appeal to the community’s values with their new project. By implementing reusable cups, the company is tapping into the trend of reducing single-use plastics and cutting down on waste. Shifting their values and showing it through the new innovations makes Starbucks a clear example of a company working with the community to stay relevant.
There were times, however, when Starbucks’s innovative new products were unsuccessful, having low purchase numbers. Starbucks’s Mazagran, a soda and coffee combination drink, and Sorbetto, a slushy, were drinks customers disliked. Although these products were seen as failures, they provided an insight on the customers’ likings and what to keep for the future. The missteps of unsuccessful innovation allowed Starbucks to refine its approach, ultimately giving them an upper hand in creating drinks that customers will love.
By continuously adapting to societal values and taking advantage of innovative strategies, companies such as Nike and Starbucks are setting standards for others in competition. Aligning the values of their brand with consumer expectations allows Nike and Starbucks to grow a loyal customer base which fosters a positive reputation overall.
Starbucks’s environmental projects and Nike’s athlete partnerships engage and connect their customers to the brand’s values. As companies look into the future, they must recognize that adaptability and innovation are not just ways to grow but are more importantly ways to stay successful. Long-term success can only come from the commitment to understand customers and their values.