If marketing is about making people aware of the value you create, to do that you have to unlock the value in your story. If innovation is about creating value, to do that well you must unlock the value in the stories of the people you hope to serve.

The challenge for every company, entrepreneur, business owner and innovator is understanding which ideas will fly and why. We create our products and services; then we try to find customers for them. We start with the idea — our product, our story.

We innovate in the hope that our work will find and fulfil an audience because we know that no innovation, however brilliant, survives unless someone wants to use it. And while there are no guarantees, hope is not a business strategy. No business thrives unless it creates a difference for people who are willing to exchange money, time or loyalty for the value that difference brings to their lives.

The irony is that while we’ve been focused on building more efficient factories and platforms to make better products and services, the reason for those factories and platforms to exist has often been put to one side.

The purpose of innovation is not simply to make new, improved products and services; it is to make things that are meaningful to the people who use them.

In an era of infinite choices and product parity, if we are to create sustainable, meaningful businesses and brands, it makes sense to start the innovation journey with the customer’s story and allow our customers to become not just our target, but our muse.