Why NEW is more powerful than ever NOW

‘New’ has always been hot, but the digital age has made it even hotter. The historically clunky and slow moving process of R&D, with progressive investment checkpoints and hurdles, has been put on warp speed. Increasingly the R&D phase has been moved out into the sunlight early, put live, as a Beta test. Pioneers and earlier adopter customers are now frequently the co-creators and shapers of ‘new’.

One measure of the momentum building behind ‘new’ is the 2 million patents applied for in 2011 up from 1.4 million in 2000.* Closer at hand, the app updates screaming to be unleashed on your smart phone is a daily reminder of the pace of change and improvement.

‘New’ isn’t a shock anymore, it’s an expectation. Customers want brands to evolve before their eyes. Those that aren’t keeping up are losing out. Trendwatching rightly identifies digital as the driver of the pace of change, commenting, “The online world with its relentless acceleration and amplification – of information, of excitement, of attention – is of course a major contributor to NEWISM.”

Kickstarter – the online funding platform for creative projects  is another child of the ‘new’ age, since its launch in April 2009 - $362m has been pledged to ‘new’ projects by 2.7m people.

 

'New’ experiences have become the most valuable social currency at a time when ‘new’ possessions have become less attainable and sometimes environmentally questionable. Volume and velocity of experience is on occasion compensating for the value and quality of the experience. The smorgasbord of the music festival, the always on ‘shuffle’ desire for something ‘new’, different and unexpected provide grist for the status update, tweet and blog post.

For some social status comes from being the first to know. Brands need to understand which consumers crave this and feed their thirst to be first. Giving them prototypes to play with, or the chance to access limited edition exclusives.

People are now very quick to sniff out products that aren’t ‘new’ enough, witness the lukewarm reception for the iPhone 5. But the hype and noise ahead of major launches by prestige innovator brands like Apple sell garners massive sales volumes.

Ratings and ‘try before you buy’ opportunities are taking some of the risk out of doing ‘new’ things. At the same time eBay is making it easier for ‘new’ people to own old things. But ownership isn’t everything either, it’s now often easier to experience ‘new’ things without ever owning them at all, from the Zipcar and Boris Bikes sharing model to subscription models like Spotify and Netflix.

Consumers want ‘new’ - NOW. They are less prepared to wait. Brands must come to terms with the marketing consequences of this: using skunk works innovation models, agile and
‘in play’ strategy management, learning fast from failure, testing out in the open, engaging customers early in product development, knowing how to surf success and grow with the flow. Who knows ‘new’ may eventually become the ‘new’ normal and ‘old’ could become a compelling differentiator – but probably not for a long time yet. Here’s to ‘new’ kid!

*(Source: World Intellectual Property Organisation WIPO)