Commentary by Lynda Curtin

Powerful Concepts: Valentino's Secret Weapon

Imagine lasting 45 years in your business. What would it take? How would you adjust to dramatically changing business needs? Could you create a loyal following of dedicated customers that span generations?

Seventy-five year old Italian fashion designer Valentino is joyfully celebrating 45 years of success in a cut throat business - haute couture; high end fashion. New ideas are presented and commercialized every season. There is no revenue if there is no commercialized collection. Customers won't buy last season's fashions, or last year's. In fact, as each collection is presented - the press, fashion editors, and fashionistas are quick to comment on its merits - making or breaking the revenue stream.

I share this with you as my first posting because I love fashion and believe we can learn many innovation lessons from successful designers. One important aspect of being innovative is being able to hunt for powerful concepts and then see in what ways they can be applied in your business. As I look at Valentino's accomplishments a few powerful concepts surface that have worked very well for him. I don't know if he deliberately chose to develop his business using these concepts. But, they are there in wide use. Here are five powerful concepts:

1. Ways to ensure fashions are treasured by our children in 25 years.
2. Ways to make your product or service memorable.
3. Ways to make timeless.
4. Ways to instill loyalty.
5. Ways to create the illusion of luxury.

My tip for you when you have time: select a creative challenge you are working on. See what ideas you can generate using these concepts as the spark. Sometimes a new concept can set a direction for strategy development. Wouldn't it be nice in today's time pressed world if all of a sudden timeless became the new vogue.

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