From a great article by Scott Anthony about how to find the hidden opportunities for innovation:

More than 50 years ago Peter Drucker wrote, "The customer rarely buys what the company thinks it sells him. One reason for this is, of course, that nobody pays for a 'product.' What is paid for is satisfaction."

Companies think they are selling products and services, but in reality people hire those products and services to get jobs done in their lives.

As marketing guru Ted Levitt quipped to his students a generation ago, "People don't want quarter-inch drills -- they want quarter-inch holes." A problem arises, and the customer looks around and chooses the solution that gets the job done better than competing alternatives.