New Ideas and Change: Pillar 5
Quick answer: Brand innovation is how a brand keeps learning, improving and responding to change so it stays relevant to the people it serves. It is not only about new technology. It means watching your market, developing new ideas, listening to customers and making real improvements. In TBAC | IBES – International Brand Excellence Standard, this is Pillar 5, New Ideas and Change, one of the Six Trust Pillars. It looks at your pipeline, listening and improvement, and it is scored from 1 to 5 Trust Points based on evidence.
Every brand that was once loved and then forgotten has the same story. It did well, it stopped listening, and the world moved on without it. Past success is not a plan for the future. Customers change, technology changes and expectations change, and a trusted brand has to change with them while keeping its promise.
This is Day 11 of our daily series on brands, branding and brand accreditation. Yesterday we covered Pillar 4, Money and Market Strength. Today we look at Pillar 5: New Ideas and Change, and what it means for brand innovation.
What is brand innovation?
Brand innovation is the steady work of keeping a brand useful, fresh and relevant. It can be a new product or service, but it can also be a better way of serving customers, a clearer message, a simpler process or a fix to something people have complained about.
As the Brand Snapshot puts it, a trusted brand must stay relevant. A brand cannot depend only on past success. It must keep learning, and it must respond to new needs, new technology, new customer behavior and new expectations.
Innovation is not change for its own sake. A brand that keeps reinventing itself without reason can confuse the people who trust it. Good brand innovation stays true to the brand’s position, which is why Pillar 5 builds on Pillar 1, Brand Strategy and Position.
What TBAC | IBES looks at in Pillar 5
On the TBAC | IBES Pathway, Pillar 5, New Ideas and Change, is summed up in three words: pipeline, listening and improvement. The Brand Snapshot breaks it into four areas:
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Market awareness. Do you keep up with what is changing in your market and your field?
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A pipeline of new ideas. Do you have new products, services or ideas in the works right now?
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Customer feedback. Do you listen to customer feedback and use it to make real changes?
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Recent improvement. Have you made a real improvement to your brand or your offer in the last year?
Market awareness: know what is changing
You cannot respond to change you have not noticed. Brands that stay relevant make a habit of watching their market: what competitors are doing, what customers are starting to ask for, what new rules or tools are coming and what is fading out.
This does not need a research department. A short monthly review of customer questions, sales patterns, industry news and competitor activity is a good start. The point is to look on purpose, rather than only when sales begin to fall.
A pipeline: new ideas in the works
A pipeline simply means that something new is always being developed. It might be a new service, an updated product, a better customer journey or a new market. Ideas do not all need to succeed. What matters is that the brand keeps testing and learning instead of standing still.
Keep a simple record of ideas, what was tried and what was learned. That record is useful for planning, and it is also evidence that your brand takes improvement seriously.
How do brands stay relevant?
The most reliable source of good ideas is the people who already use your brand. Customers tell you what is confusing, what is missing and what they wish you did differently. Staff on the front line hear these comments every day.
Relevant brands do three things with feedback. They collect it, they act on it and they tell customers what changed. That last step matters, because it shows people that their voice counts, which builds trust as well as better products. Listening also connects Pillar 5 with Pillar 3, Customer and Staff Experience.
What evidence shows innovation?
Under TBAC | IBES, claims are not enough. Every brand is scored on the same Six Trust Pillars, each from 1 to 5 Trust Points, and the score rests on proof. In the Brand Mirror, a brand prepares its Brand Story and 24 pieces of evidence, four for each pillar, kept in the Proof Vault. For Pillar 5, useful evidence can include:
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Notes or reports showing how you track changes in your market.
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A record of new products, services or ideas in development.
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Examples of customer feedback and the changes you made because of it.
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A before-and-after view of an improvement made in the last year.
The platform drafts a score, a reviewer recommends a result, and the BrandMark Council approves it. A BrandMark needs an average of 3.0 Trust Points or more, with no pillar below 2. A pillar scoring between 2.0 and 2.9 gets a 90-day Polish Period. See the full BrandMark Pathway.
A simple Pillar 5 self-check
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We keep up with what is changing in our market and our field.
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We have new products, services or ideas in the works right now.
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We listen to customer feedback and use it to make real changes.
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We have made a real improvement to our brand or our offer in the last year.
These are the four Pillar 5 questions in the free Brand Snapshot, which asks 24 questions across the Six Trust Pillars and takes about 10 minutes. This is a self-check only. It does not lead to any BrandMark outcome.
Key takeaways
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Brand innovation is how a brand keeps learning, improving and responding to change so it stays relevant.
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Pillar 5 of TBAC | IBES, New Ideas and Change, looks at pipeline, listening and improvement.
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Good innovation stays true to the brand’s position and is guided by customer feedback.
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Pillar 5 is scored from 1 to 5 Trust Points, based on four pieces of evidence in the Proof Vault.
Frequently asked questions
What is brand innovation?
Brand innovation is the ongoing work of keeping a brand relevant through new ideas, better products and services, and real improvements based on what customers need. It is about learning and responding, not only about new technology.
How do brands stay relevant?
They watch their market, keep new ideas in development, listen to customer feedback and act on it, and make visible improvements each year, while staying true to their brand position.
What evidence shows innovation?
Records of market tracking, a list of ideas in development, examples of feedback that led to changes and proof of recent improvements. In TBAC | IBES, four pieces of evidence for Pillar 5 go into the Proof Vault.
Does a small brand need to innovate?
Yes, and small brands often find it easier, because they are close to their customers and can change quickly. Innovation can be as simple as fixing a common complaint or improving how you serve people.
How can I check my brand’s Pillar 5 score for free?
Take the free Brand Snapshot. It covers all Six Trust Pillars in about 10 minutes. It is a self-check only and does not lead to any BrandMark outcome.
Keep your brand moving forward
A trusted brand keeps earning that trust by learning and improving. Learn more about what TBAC | IBES is, take the free Brand Snapshot, or start as a BRAND ALLY (see current options and fees at tbac.ac/join). Questions: info@tbac.ac.
Dr. Edward Roy Krishnan, International Advisor
TBAC | IBES – International Brand Excellence Standard
Learn more: https://tbac.ac
