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 To become an innovative organisation, companies should not only look inward but also seek out partnerships and collaborators, marketing expert Peter Gan said.

Gan was the man behind the "go inter" success of Tata Young when he was the chief executive of Sony Music. He said the Thai pop idol had been trying for a long time make a name overseas, but her efforts would not have materialised without "Bharat" (India).

"Luckily, we were contacted by an Indian company. I immediately felt Tata should accept the deal," he said.

Although India was not quite an international music market, Gan said Bollywood helped Tata gain international recognition quickly after her song was played in an Indian movie.

"Bollywood is a huge industry, second only to Hollywood. As soon as her song 'Dhoom Dhoom' was played in an Indian movie, Indian people worldwide got to know of her. Then her fame came to other countries, such as Japan, the UK and the US. You don't always have to shoot directly. You can use collaborators to help you reach the goal," Gan said.

Innovation is not limited only to products. Companies can also be innovative in their management and marketing approaches as was in the case of Sony Music and Tata Young.

Business partners can also help a company turn innovative. When Gan was the managing director of McThai, the local operator of McDonald's restaurants, he would always bring in suppliers to participate whenever the company was planning a new menu.

"Often, suppliers have many products which we may not know of. When we ordered Nestle milk, they also sent chocolate, coffee, Smarties and other ingredients for making ice cream. This allowed us to experiment and we came up with new flavours and tastes. Don't overlook your suppliers. They're important partners who can create innovation," Gan said.

Director of National Innovative Agency (NIA) Supachai Lorlowha-karn said innovation could lead to commercial success in Thailand as was proved in the case of "nano shirt", which fetched the manufacturer Bt200 million in sales revenue within the very first six months of its launch.

Supachai said NIA has discovered and supported many potential innovators, including a company that feeds and exports crown fish priced at Bt400 each and another that produces organic soap priced at Bt300 each.

"Some projects cost Bt20 but the products sell at Bt8,000. Innovation is [the ability] to sell expensive goods," he said.

But companies can also be innovative with their business models.

Gan said low-cost airlines are a good example of innovation. A case in point would be the use of a management technique such as imposing a rule that prohibits aircraft from stopping for more than 25 minutes on the ground. Budget airlines do this as they realise their biggest fixed cost are the aircraft, which are required to maximise  revenues.

"You should get back to see what assets you have not yet maximised. Innovation is not only for making expensive things as khun Supachai said," Gan said. "Then you can use the savings to increase your margin and use it for investing in research and development."

Gan said innovative products that create a great buzz among consumers are the ones that are unique, memorable,  "tell the stories" and "fulfil a dream", while "commodity" products usually serve a functional purpose, emphasising reliability and are "what you see is what you get" products.

"The iPod is not the best-sounding MP3 player. It creates a buzz because of its design, intuitiveness and because it makes you feel like a hero. And people like to be heroes," he said.

Gan and Supachai were speaking on how to become an innovative business at a seminar held by NIA last week.