Innovation – When Remakes Attack

I was in a Chinese buffet last week, and found myself humming along with the oriental muzak. In fact, I couldn’t stop. Why was I humming along to music I’ve never heard before?

It turns out I had heard these songs before, as they were Chinese takes on American melodies. They covered the likes of Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson, with traditional Chinese musical stylings. (Or at least what I imagine to be a traditional Chinese “style”.)

***

Why are musical remakes so well received? Because they’re a perfect blend of familiar and unfamiliar. A new take on an old story.

Up-and-coming musicians sometimes get their start by remaking an old classic. Sometimes it fails badly, but breathing life into a classic is can be a great way to get an artist noticed.

Recent savvy internet startups have been using this method successfully. Here are a few:

• Domains: Domainr
• Travel: Hipmunk or Kayak
• Online banking: BankSimple

These startups are gaining lots of traction because they’ve taken over a tired, unusable and worn out online industry. Who hasn’t struggled with their bank’s website before or spent hours trying to find a unique domain name?

Consider using the “cover” approach on your next project. Take something that’s broken–but familiar–and fix it. There’s no shame in borrowing concepts if you’re going to make them better.

As the proverb goes, there’s nothing nothing new under the sun.

Photo by Coca-Cola Art Gallery.

Don’t miss an article (3,000+) – Subscribe to our RSS feed and join our Innovation Excellence group!

Glen Stansberry writes at LifeDev, a blog that helps people make their ideas happen. You can follow him on Twitter here.