Keeping Innovation Current: Flowing along with trends, and avoiding shooting the rapids of fads

Trends are often dismissed in the new product and service development process as fleeting – merely the capricious whim of fickle consumer appetite. Fads, distinctly different – but often confused – may be just this. But trends, a reflection of larger, emerging cultural shifts, can in fact be essential to the innovation process – the insights they provide into broader and lasting consumer sentiment and behavior forming the basis for sustainable new offerings and solutions.

As 2009 came to a close and 2010 rolled in, the media were inundated with a spate of reports declaring trends and predictions for the New Year and decade. Consumer, technology, packaging, products, social media. For marketers and innovators, it may seem impossible to separate the credible and actionable from the fad and fluff. Or to discern whether any of it even offers lasting opportunity. But it’s there. The key is identifying where those distinctions exist; where value – lasting value – may lie. And that process starts first in defining what a “trend” is itself.

A fad, quite literally defined, is a temporary fashion, notion, manner of conduct; changeableness, passable fancy, whim or caprice.

A trend, on the other hand, has more solid meaning: the general or prevailing course to extend in a particular direction or condition; a movement, orientation, tenor, progression.

Close-in vs. White Space innovation

One great fallacy of innovation is that developing “new to world” ideas is the most challenging aspect of the practice. To the contrary, oftentimes using existing resources to develop new products for the short-term is a more demanding process than exploring true ‘white space’ innovation. This article takes a look at how to define and approach the scope of your close-in innovation projects in order yield the best results.

Successful white space innovation approaches the test of solving critical business problems without pre-conceived ideas about any ultimate solution. This unbounded approach produces creative, groundbreaking solutions for marketers that truly challenge conventional wisdom.  Identifying “white space” opportunities necessitates exploration into areas adjacent to – but outside of – one’s traditional business boundaries. Unconventional strategic and creative approaches are required to uncover these high value opportunities and convert them into attractive business models. Tackling the white space challenge often requires a dual focus – exploring the intersection of multiple emerging trends and defining how the convergence of two or more technologies or capabilities might satisfy powerful latent consumer and/or customer needs. Whatever the opportunity, one must continually engage in rapid learning and decision-making around new consumers, customers, partners, suppliers, competitors, business models and other emerging marketplace dynamics if one is to achieve success. As the name suggests White Space allows an organization to look at innumerable technologies, industries, capabilities or intersections of current businesses…with the opportunities almost infinite.

No Experience Necessary

In this age of specialization, distinct area expertise is always a tremendous benefit to the innovation process. Yet, oftentimes it is precisely a lack of well-developed topic knowledge – and/or the ability to suspend one’s expert intelligence – that can bring a new and deeper understanding of specific innovation challenges and opportunities.

If this sounds somewhat paradoxical, and vaguely Zen-like, it shouldn’t be surprising that Buddhism speaks of the concept of “Shoshin.” Meaning “Beginner’s Mind,” Shoshin refers to shedding one’s preconceptions about a topic, and adopting – and maintaining – an openness throughout the course of study. It is suggested that a naïve perspective – even when studying at an advanced level – provides a critical freshness of thought.

This parable, “Empty Your Cup,” reflecting the principle of “Beginner’s Mind” comes from Darren Hensen:

A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. “It’s overfull! No more will go in!” the professor blurted. “You are like this cup,” the master replied, “How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup.”

Measuring Shopper Engagement and Inspiration

Picture in your mind your most recent shopping trip.  What did you see when you first entered the store?  How did that make you feel about the store?  (In a recent study, for example, a respondent observed a tall stack of soda cases just sitting with no signage over it and thinking how empty and boring the store looked.) Now think about the rest of the store.  Was there any product or display or signage that captured your interest, anything that inspired an unplanned purchase on that trip?  (In the same study another respondent reported appreciating little signs over each stack of apples describing the unique flavor of each variety. Because they wanted to eat more fruit but were hesitant about trying new things the experience prompted them to buy several new varieties.)

Now consider these questions:

• Was there anything in the store that caught your attention and thus INFORMED you of a particular product’s existence and/or some feature/benefit of the product?  That’s Shopper Marketing 1.0.
• Was there anything that ENGAGED you emotionally?  That’s Shopper Marketing 2.0.
• Was there anything that INSPIRED you to act, i.e., to make a specific purchase?  That’s Shopper Marketing 3.0.

As an innovator, one of the ways you can help a new product succeed is to make sure that the product packaging – and the combination of messages and visuals used in any other in-store marketing efforts — achieves the shopper marketing 3.0 level, to not only inform the shopper about the product but to engage the shopper emotionally and inspire them to purchase.

The power and growth of Collaborative Innovation Networks

While by some accounts the concept may have its roots in Benjamin Franklin’s “Junto” organization – a club formed for mutual improvement and knowledge – Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINs) are clearly a product of 21^st century communication technology. The speed and immediacy of web, email and mobile space have, in essence, allowed a handful of intelligent minds to grow exponentially into a universe of tens, hundreds and even thousands. In this way, a vast network of innovative discourse has evolved, featuring global resources, immediacy of input and feedback, along with real-time, 24/7 network connectivity. This explosion of accessibility offers individuals and companies alike a collegial communication platform where innovative product, service and process ideas can be edited, enhanced, improved or even dismissed with relative ease and efficiency.

Author and scientist Peter Gloor, the man credited with coining the term COIN, defines the process as a ‘cyberteam of self-motivated people with a collective vision’ of collaborating to achieve a common goal. Powerful stuff. And equally applicable, it would seem, to academia and commercial entities as well as not-for-profit organizations like Business Innovation Factory (BIF) and Syndicom.

What Makes the “Best Innovations of the Decade”

Innovation – almost by definition – is about looking forward. So, as we consider this past decade in terms of new ideas in marketplace, rather than simply look back at the “Top 10 Innovations of the 2000s,” we’d like to take a more progressive approach: considering what key themes defined the most meaningful and unique innovations over the past 10 years. Consider these themes more than a recent nostalgia – still most relevant, they may provide the key for driving successful innovation well into the next decade.

Design Excellence
Recognizing the need to not only achieve aesthetic superiority, but also to consistently address the broad issues of ergonomics, sustainability and consumer need, design seemed to get a lot smarter over the past decade.  The best products of this past decade have had the uncanny ability to address functional and emotional consumer needs.  Perhaps no company more than Apple has recognized and embraced this ethos. With both the iPod and iPhone Apple was able to take existing ideas (the MP3 player and cell-phone, respectively) and elevate the user experience through design excellence – superior technology and unparalleled “look and feel” of both the user interface and the physical product itself. While Apple has led the way, they’re hardly alone. The SmartCar – with its stunning space efficient design – and Method cleaning products – which beautifully begged to stay on top of the counter – have also parlayed the value of Design Excellence into unique success this past decade.

Navigating the consumer “Path to Purchase” yields critical Shopper Insights

In the never-ending quest to possess every meaningful detail about their target audiences, innovators are looking beyond just Consumer Insights and adding Shopper Insights to their own shopping lists of foundation learning. To wit, Procter & Gamble recently introduced the term “store back,” meaning that any innovation must succeed at the store first and then work back from there to drive consumer usage and satisfaction.  So, what kind of Shopper Insights do innovators really need, and why, and how do you get them?  Given the vast territory that these questions alone cover, for this article we’ll focus on one specific aspect of Shopper Insights: the “Path to Purchase.”

“Path to Purchase” is the understanding of the specific steps of the consumer’s journey, and an essential foundation for Shopper Insights.  While identifying the consumer’s product purchase process is critical, is not always easy to discern and often varies by product category.  That being said, the user/shopper/buyer cycle generally goes something like this:

• Need > Solution. Recognizing a need and deciding to look for a solution – whether that’s as simple as buying just another gallon of milk that gets poured on every morning’s cereal breakfast or as complicated as a 50-year-old studying the beauty department for ways to look younger for a special event such as wedding or job interview.
• Research. Optionally, doing some research such as reading product reviews or checking for coupons/specials.
• Store Location. Deciding where to shop.
• Product Location. Finding and considering the products available in that store.
• Evaluation. Applying prior experience and knowledge to evaluate product claims.
• Selection. Making the final decision of which item(s) to put in the cart.
• Consumption. Using the product(s), and either being satisfied with the solution or not.
• Repeat. Cycling back through the process to buy more of the same or to find a new solution as needs change.

Checklist: Variables to Capture in “Path to Purchase” Research

Why Successful Innovation Concepts Are Not Commercialized

Mining data, uncovering consumer insights, identifying emerging trends, ideating revolutionary new product concepts and successful validation of those approaches with target consumers are – believe it or not – relatively easy in comparison to what comes next in the innovation process: the commercialization of those concepts, prototypes and ideas. That is where the really heavy lifting is needed – and where many new product concepts fail.

Commercialization is the part of the innovation process that converts concepts, insights or prototypes into viable products and integrates them into the supply chain.  Touching virtually every role and function within an organization including R&D manufacturing, sourcing, operations and purchasing, commercialization ensures that products are designed appropriately and can be manufactured efficiently. Of course, the C-suite, sales, marketing, customer service, etc., are also critically involved is devising and implementing launch strategies and tactics among other facets of the process. Then, there are the external stakeholders including vendors, strategic partners, agency partners, distributors, reps, dealers, retailers that need to part of logistics and communications in order to integrate the new product effectively.

Innovation Time Off Revisited

Several years ago, Google implemented its concept of ‘Innovation Time Off’ (ITO), a program designed to encourage creativity within its broadening ranks and to support an undercurrent of continuous innovative thinking. Under this model, approximately 80% of time was allocated for day-in, day-out responsibilities; 20% was to be spent on company-related work that was of personal interest, regardless of where in the organization project ‘ownership’ rested. Initial company-reported results indicated that 50% of the company’s new product launches originated from the ‘20% time’, including Gmail, Google News and AdSense.

While Google received major credit for instituting the ITO company-wide only a few years ago, the 20% time-off concept itself isn’t really new news. 3M developed a 15% time rule during the 1950’s with essentially the same overall philosophy and intentions. From it arose masking tape and Post-It notes, both of which were the conceptual and developmental fruits of labor of engineers who were engaged in innovation work without the benefit of formal budgets, planning or even management support. Similar to current-day Google, 3M at the time was characterized by an air of individual empowerment and an anti-hierarchy sentiment.