Fiskars number one in Finland when consumers were asked about companies' ability to innovate
“Instead of looking at business innovation internally, the focus of the new Innovation Index is on how consumers see the company’s innovativeness and attractiveness based on their experiences”, explains Kristina Heinonen, Professor of Marketing at Hanken, who has developed the method for the Finnish market.
The index is already in use in six countries. Approximately 2 500 consumers surveyed and assessed the innovativeness of 53 companies in the survey in Finland. The survey was conducted by Kantar TNS.
According to Heinonen, it is common that experts do the rankings. The FII turns the attention to how consumers spend their money and, thus, encourage companies to develop better products and services.
The event's second keynote was given by Tor W. Andreassen, Professor of Marketing at the Norwegian School of Economics NHH. He pointed out that consumers are often loyal towards companies that they perceive as innovative. Innovations also correlate with high returns.
What lies behind good success according to the companies?
In Hanken’s research, the best performing company according to Finnish consumers is Fiskars Group, and the other top 10 most innovative companies, in alphabetical order, are: Fazer, Finlayson, F-Secure, Lidl, Neste, Paulig, S-Pankki, Valio, and Verkkokauppa.com.
Representatives from companies that did well in the survey were invited to the webinar to discuss what they think about innovations. The discussion was moderated by Camilla Wardi, Head of Corporate Relations and Outreach at Hanken. The members of the panel were Mikko Hyppönen, Chief Research Officer from F-Secure, Tuomas Hyyryläinen, Executive Vice President, Business Area Crea from Fiskars Group, Panu Porkka, CEO of Verkkokauppa.com, and Lara Saulo, Head of Fazer Bakery & Group Transformation.
According to Hyyryläinen, there are in particular two significant factors when it comes to why Fiskars – a company founded 372 years ago – was ranked high in the survey.
“One thing is design, and I mean not only the beauty and the aesthetic part of it, but also quality. Secondly, we love our customers and want to help them to find better solutions in their everyday lives and participate in shaping the world.”
Influencing the societal development and putting consumers at the centre were themes that were also highlighted by other participants in the panel. Additionally, it was brought to the fore that it is important to find the right people to the teams. Furthermore, the importance of how consumer data is used was discussed.
Read more about the Finnish Innovation Index here.