To prosper, all companies search for the next killer product or idea. Now, there are simply not enough products in the pipeline to accommodate new customer demands as the economy and markets expand.
Many companies learned this lesson the hard way. When products go stale, stagnation and revenue loss are not far behind. The auto industry learned this when it lost touch with US auto buyers. Or, the wake-up call to change the existing product paradigm may come from a competitor. In the auto industry, it was cheap Japanese imports in the 1970s.
In the coffee business, it was Star Bucks. In the beverage industry, Snapple alerted Coca-Cola and Pepsi that teas were hot products.
In the book selling business, Amazon.com on-line business model was the wake up call to Barnes & Noble and other book retailers.
When the wake-up sounds, it often results in panic. Why? Well, killer ideas are copied quickly. Legal protection lasts only so long before someone copies or enhances an existing product or service. In information intensive companies such as consultancies, the greatest ideas can be replicated in months. Today’s hot idea is tomorrow’s fad and next day’s has-been.