In a recent workshop I gave the example of the Playlist feature being a key reason behind the success of Spotify. This sparked a conversation around how original this idea was. Someone said, ‘well of course, the Spotify Playlist is just a modern version of the mix tape’. Spotify subsequently made the iPod redundant.

This lead to a further conversation around the iPod being a modern version of the Sony Walkman. I've still got my iPod - see below. It’s been languishing in my office for many years now, alongside my old Blackberry.

What this shows is that fundamentally, there’s nothing new in the world. Everything we see today is simply an upgrade of what went before.

There are 2 key lessons for innovators

1 Look to re-invent existing products, concepts, and ideas

Every product or service already exists. Your job is to re-invent them for a contemporary age. It can be cheaper, faster, sexier, more affordable. But fundamentally it’s the same. For example, there’s been an explosion of new grocery delivery services in recent times. Brands such as Getir, Weezy and Gorillas, offer speedy deliveries of everyday items. These are modern re-inventions of the old-fashioned grocery delivery bicycles.

2. Look to satisfy fundamental human needs

There’s a famous quote from advertising guru Bill Bernbach

It took millions of years for man's instincts to develop. It will take millions more for them to even vary. It is fashionable to talk about changing man. A communicator must be concerned with unchanging man, with his obsessive drive to survive, to be admired, to succeed, to love, to take care of his own.

As Bill Bernbach outlined, people don’t change. Our basic needs and desires remain the same. So in looking to create a new product or service, go back to basics. What are the core needs or desires you are addressing? If you’re not able to improve people’s lives at a fundamental level, then you’re not going to be successful.

There’s such more written about addressing new or ‘unmet’ consumer needs. It’s much fruitful to focus on existing human needs.