14 DAY TRIAL // Each year, BusinessWeek publishes a feature called "The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" that aims to see how well big companies adapt and change and how important innovation is for all out business success. This year all game console producers were present in the Top Ten, with Microsoft at number 5, Nintendo at number 7 and Sony bringing up the rear at number 9. The most innovative company in 2007 was again Apple, which maintained its place from 2006.
The chart is a bit of a brain bender, mainly because of the way the numbers are crunched. BusinessWeek says that votes cast in the proprietary BusinessWeek-BCG survey receive 80% of the overall weighting, stock returns were weighted as 10%, while three-year revenue and margin growth each got 5% of the final number. But what's still murky is how innovation is valued for companies that are so large and diverse like Sony or Microsoft, that make a large range of products ranging from software to game consoles and Blu-ray players to games.
It's still very interesting to note that Nintendo for the first time has entered the top 50 and again for the first time entered the Top Ten. Such a high jump can only be attributed to the approach it has taken to gaming console design and marketing, as Nintendo does not have any other large revenue streams. Both Sony and Microsoft are very diverse and their high places can come from other things than console design, but Nintendo is the one company that can claim to rise mainly on the strength of its videogame related activity.
It's also worth mentioning that most CEO's questioned as part of the BusinessWeek-BCG survey said that Nintendo was innovative because of its products. 63% of respondents thought of Nintendo's products as being innovative, while only 56% thought that Sony's products were innovative and a mere 36% stated that Microsoft's products were innovative.
Apparently innovation also pays off in financial terms, with stock returns for three years (2004 - 2007) for Nintendo being at an all time high of 77%, way ahead of the 17% and 12% that Sony and Microsoft posted.
Is there a lesson for the videogame world in this survey? I think so. Get rid of well worn concepts, think of something new and create an engaging experience for the customer.