Word Stretch: Innovative ways to say Innovate

I had a dream: I was naming an unsafe, ineffective, un-fresh, me-too product. It was wonderful.

But then I woke up, and was confronted with the reality of my job in the naming industry. My challenge: creating new and distinctive brand names around product attributes that are anything but new and distinctive. My solution: word stretching. . . .
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Word Stretch #1: Innovative ways to say “Innovative”

Innovate: To introduce something new. Perhaps the most common concept we are asked to explore in naming. (Do I really need to point out the irony here?) So how can we look at the word from a fresh angle?

Most often, “innovative” is an adjective used to describe technology. Hisense was honored as the Most Innovative Brand at the 2008 International CES in Las Vegas. The company’s LED TV, national multi-media lab, and digital home system standard have revolutionized the TV industry in China.

But innovation doesn’t always have to be so complex. In fact, the second definition of the word is to make changes in anything established. This means taking existing tools, however simple, and using them in a different way.

Just looking around my kitchen, I can pinpoint this type of innovation. Take my George Foreman grill. Sure, putting a couple of electric griddles on hinges isn’t exactly quantum physics. But coming up with a new way to grill a burger has resulted in sales of $150,000,000 and growing.

And how about natural cosmetics? Not many people would think to raid their vegetable gardens for help with dry skin; but the success of products like Burt’s Bees Lettuce toner and Carrot scrub have resulted in the company’s recent sale to Clorox – for $925 Million dollars.

So maybe innovation doesn’t have to be technical or complicated. Maybe it just means the successful introduction of something different. I think I’ll submit a new definition for Webster’s to use . . .

Innovation: What happens when someone asks the question, “why not?”

So what are your favorite innovations?

Contributed by: Maghan Cook