Innovation in context -- the fast food case

Over at IP Finance, Neil Wilkof has an interesting posting on Brands and Obesity: How Do Innovation and Regulation Fit In?. The posting is a takeoff from an article last month in the Economist (Good and Hungry) about the push for more nutrition information on fast foods. Wilkof speculates on impart on competing coffee brands:

When, to this existing relative perception in favor of Starbucks, there is added a public policy preference for nutritious menus, the relative advantage of the Starbucks brand is enhanced. This is so, even if on absolute basis, both the Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts menus reveal innovative steps to satisfy the public demand for more nutritious menus.

As both Wilkof and the Economist point out, innovation is more than just techie-gadgets. The innovations that the fast food industry is trying to embrace involved "low-tech" product development and even branding changes. But as Wilkof points out, those (and all) innovations need to be understood in context. Innovations may confer a greater advantage to certain market player over others. In the case of revamping menus, it looks like Starbucks might get the biggest benefit. On the other hand, while McDonald's isn't going to turn itself into a health food restaurant, a slight improvement in its image as the might be very good for business. It doesn't need to be the solution to the obesity problem, only that it is trying.