Innovation goldfish

New Product Innovation

Innovate or Die

In today’s hyper-competitive marketplace, an organization must have a vibrant new products program to be successful. Standing pat with one’s current product portfolio is simply not a viable option. There are no “absolutes”, nor is there a magic formula for generating successful new product innovation. But three factors have proven to be consistently important:

  1. The number one predictor of new product success is having dozens of ideas and fleshing out as many new product concepts as feasible. Filtering, discarding and/or identifying those with hidden potential is both an art and a science. Marketing lore is rife with “failed” new product ideas which were repackaged, retargeted, or rebranded to astonishing success.
  2. The best resource for generating new ideas is an outside expert. As the marketplace changes – expanding while simultaneously becoming more segmented – it becomes less familiar to the traditional competitors. As Albert Einstein asked, “What does a fish know of the water … in which it swims all its life?” It usually requires an external perspective to evaluate one’s competitive environment in a completely new way.
  3. Intuitive fact-finding are the paradoxical skills required to identify great new product opportunities. The ability to sense that a product idea might or might not be good, and then the discipline to then subject it to quantitative rigor and analysis.

OUTBRANDING has proven ability to look with fresh eyes at the competitive set and changing consumer behaviors, and then identify new product opportunities and generate unique and innovative ideas.

Magic Middles

Magic Middles

One unorthodox but successful new products strategy is “R&D First”. A new technology with strong market potential is identified first, and then new products to capitalize on this opportunity are imagined second. Keebler’s award-winning Magic Middles cookies were created this way.

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Auto for Dummies

For Dummies Automotive

The power of licensing. Car maintenance can be bewildering; as bewildering as computers. And auto parts stores are intimidating environments for car repair novices and even moderate do-it-yourselfers. In an industry where competing brands routinely make unsubstantiated claims, licensing a trustworthy brand name can be a successful tactic.

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Edge Saver

Edge Saver

Two out of every three razor blades sold in the United States are sold by Gillette. Gillette maintains their dominant market share position via nominal new product innovation, and “freebie marketing” tactics. (“Give ‘em the razor for free, sell ‘em the refill blades at a profit.”) This distortion of the consumer value chain works, but only if there are compelling reasons for consumers to purchase multiple blade refills. A simple innovation which allowed a single razor blade to last six weeks could disrupt the entire multi-billion dollar industry.

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Keebler Graham Selects

New benefits to old products. You don’t always have to make major changes to the product. Sometimes you just need to tweak the benefits. Keebler Graham Selects were the 6th biggest new grocery product introduced in 1994, and their success was fueled by a single “fresh perspective” insight. The core of the solution was sold in the aisle already.

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No-Leak Treatments

The traditional new products development strategy – a consumer need exists, and a new product solution is developed. In the case of No-Leak, the new product opportunity had existed for so long, consumers (and even major retailers) had become almost blind to the need. But by asking the right questions, and carefully structuring the messaging, the hidden innovative new product solution was successfully revealed.

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