Yasushi Kusume – IKEA

Innovation and brand growth are vital to long-term business success, especially in a competitive global market. In our recent interview, Yasushi Kusume, Innovation & Creative Manager at IKEA of Sweden AB and an author, shared his insights on how companies can foster innovation and build stronger emotional connections with their customers. Drawing from nearly 40 years of experience in product design and brand management, Yasushi discusses several key concepts, including the Three Horizons of Innovation, the role of constraints in driving creativity, and the importance of a people-focused approach to innovation and branding.

The three horizons of innovation

The Three Horizons model promoted by McKinsey¹ encourages companies to divide their innovation efforts across three horizons: improving core business, nurturing emerging opportunities, and creating new possibilities for the future. Yasushi emphasises that this approach helps ensure long-term growth by encouraging investment beyond the immediate needs of the current business. However, he also points out the pitfalls of misapplying the model, such as using it without understanding its underlying purpose. This can lead to misguided innovation programmes that lack real business impact.

“People usually focus on the definition of the horizon, but for me, the first question is what is the purpose of using the horizon model in your company?” Yasushi says. “For me, McKinsey’s saying ‘don’t put all your money into improving your current business, but also look for the new era of people perhaps starting to behave or think in another way’. So it’s just an investment model, more than anything else,” he suggests.

Of course, it is sometimes difficult to convince people to not only look for product innovation but to look broader, even into new business models. That is why innovation often happens as a consequence of a crisis when established structures are forced to change. Yasushi explains: “More often than not, disaster creates innovation by breaking down established structures.” He believes that many established companies hope their existing businesses can continue to grow, but the only constant in the world is change. Therefore, even in the absence of a crisis, companies should encourage their employees to not only focus on growing the current business but also to explore new opportunities. For example, IKEA’s launch of NORNORM, a subscription-based office furniture service (nornorm.com), is a great example of how IKEA is investigating new opportunities.

‘’More often than not, disaster creates innovation by breaking down established structures.”

Importance of constraints in innovation

Regarding creativity for innovation, Yasushi challenges the common notion that limitless creative freedom is essential. He argues that constraints can actually foster creativity by providing a framework which innovators must work within. For example, at IKEA, the product design creation process starts with the designer being given the category and a price target range. This practice is also common in other companies.

“Instead of the blue sky thinking of unlimited innovations, I think it’s better to have a clear view, almost like a self-reflection in the mirror, to see what is possible,” Yasushi argues. “By setting realistic limits, companies can ensure that new ideas are not only imaginative but also feasible and aligned with the organisation’s capabilities.” This consequently leads to more focused and effective innovation.

“By setting realistic limits, companies can ensure that new ideas are not only imaginative but also feasible and aligned with the organisation’s capabilities.”

People-focused innovation and Branding

A core aspect of Yasushi’s approach to innovation is a people-focused methodology, often referred to as design thinking. He emphasises the importance of understanding the end users through in-depth qualitative research to uncover their deeper desires and unmet needs. “We try to understand the ethnographic research, social-cultural research and, as long as it’s a long-term movement, try to understand the emerging needs of people or understanding of the deeper desires of people, and qualitative research will give us enough triggers to think of potential solutions,” he says. These qualitative solutions are then used for quantitative research to understand whether the right demand is being hit.

Interestingly, when IKEA conducts quantitative tests on potential solutions that may not be sold tomorrow but in the near future, their goal is to identify true innovators and compare their responses to those of late adopters or laggards, as described by Everett Rogers’s Innovation-Adoption curve². This approach helps them map out the likely trajectory of solution acceptance over time. Another key question Yasushi frequently uses in product development is Larry Page’s “toothbrush test³,” which assesses whether a new product has the potential to become a daily habit for users. If the product can be used at least once or twice a day, it is considered valuable enough to advance in development.

Brand Romance

This people-focused approach to innovation goes beyond just solving problems—it aims to create emotional connections between people and products, an idea Yasushi refers to as ‘brand romance.’ In his book ‘Brand Romance: Using the Power of High Design to Build a Lifelong Relationship with Your Audience’ he likens this emotional bond to a romantic relationship, where initial attraction leads to trust and loyalty. This concept underlines the importance of branding that resonates on an emotional level, rather than simply focusing on the functional benefits of a product; “Design’s actual job is not just to make good products or services, but to try to convey what the actual message of the brand is.”

“Design’s actual job is not just to make good products or services, but to try to convey what the actual message of the brand is.”

Sources:

¹ McKinsey & Company (2009). Enduring ideas: The three horizons of growth. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/enduring-ideas-the-three-horizons-of-growth#

² High Tech Strategies (2024). Innovation adoption curve: Adopter-segment profiles. https://www.hightechstrategies.com/innovation-adoption-curve/

³ Inc.com (2014). Why Google’s Larry Page only buys companies that pass his crazy toothbrush test. https://www.inc.com/larry-kim/how-google-s-ceo-only-buys-companies-that-pass-his-crazy-toothbrush-test.html