Brand-driven innovation: blurring boundaries for market leaders

In an era of stagnant markets, technological disruption, rapid changes in consumer behavior and, where can big brands find their growth? One popular approach is to stretch a brand into an adjacent marketplace where it can still be relevant to consumers. This approach is becoming increasingly common in food and beverages, where traditional category boundaries are disappearing, but it has traditionally helped many brands tap on growth in different markets.

While Marlboro launched travels and fashion to overcome the ban on cigarettes and retain awareness for the brand, there are more classic examples: many cereal brands — like SpecialK — have moved beyond breakfast into snacking by launching cereal bars. Pirelli launched a successful fashion line, which for years was one of the hottest brands in Milan.

Market leaders are taking this approach further by leveraging their brand as a springboard for driving innovation in an entirely new marketplace. For instance, take the Virgin, which from a records company, has successfully broken barriers in media, telecom, airlines, aerospace, and many more sectors, always under the Virgin brand.

Probably the most notable case it’s Apple’s adoption of the iPhone. A case study of how it became a new entrant by creating new business spaces that capitalized…