Innovate yes, but focus on what you are authentically about.

Kikkoman, a well-known brand of soy sauce, was founded in 1630 and is now the world’s leading producer. It has expanded into food flavouring and, more recently, into biotech. This requires a good grasp of the firm’s core competence: knowing lots about yeast; a common factor in all of Kikkoman’s activities. Colgate offers a good example of a failure to understand the brand’s remit. When it tried launching its own range of heat and eat meals, Colgate’s Kitchen Entrees, it was an abject failure. The minty fresh brand could simply not extend that far.