tec 2010 target 9 23 09

Successful Innovation

Tec de MonterreySeptember 23, 2008John Seifert

Why companies fail

Innovation 1000: Booze Allen Hamilton Report 2007

Consumer Research Consulting J.A. Seifert2

The Study

1000 Companies 10 Industry Sectors Global 3 Innovation Models $447 billion in R&D


Classic Innovation Models

Need Seekers Market Readers Technology Drivers


Need Seeker Model

These companies actively engage current and potential customers to shape new products, services, and processes; they strive to be first to market.


Market Readers

These companies watch their markets carefully, but they maintain a more cautious approach, focusing largely on creating value through incremental change.


Technology Drivers

These companies follow the direction suggested by their technological capabilities, leveraging their investment in research and development to drive breakthrough innovation and incremental change, often seeking to solve the unarticulated needs of their customers.


Findings

No correlation between R&D investment and sales.

No correlation by innovation model


Successful companies

Have clear objectives that are honestly shared with consumers and stake-holders

Have constant contact with their consumers


Successful Companies

Strategic Alignment(Transparency)

Customer Focus(Discipline)


To succeed

We need frequent consumer feedback

We need access

We need a sorting algorithm


Target Consumer Identification

Demographic

Attitudinal

Habit and Practice

Degree of Involvement


Elements of Target Identification

Incidence (How many are there?) Access (Where can we find them?) Ease of identification (How to sort them?)

– Demographics– Habits– Attitudes– Degree of Involvement


Example Projects

Custom made jewelry Vegetarian restaurant I phone application Fresh produce Boutique hotel Laundry products for low income households

Evaluate these for target consumer access, incidence and identification

How many are there? Where can I find them? How will I sort them?

Consumer Research Consulting ©

How NOT to Identify Your Consumer

“Those interested in buying what I’m selling”

“Those interested in what I’m interested in”

“Anybody with money”


Summary

Key to successful innovation is frequent target consumer contact

Frequent contact requires access, incidence and identification

Lead Users are more useful than rep users


Learning from Lead Users


-MIT, professor Eric von Hippel (author of Democratizing Innovation)

Empirical research is finding that users rather than manufacturers are the actual developers of many or most new products and services, and that they are a major locus of innovative activity in the economy. This finding opens up new questions and avenues for exploration in fields ranging from economics to management of technology to organizational behavior to marketing research.


Lead Users

Influencers Activists Trendsetters Heavy Users Frequent Purchasers


Lead Users (food) are…..

Articulate Involved Happy Social Fun Eager Smart Influential


Food Involvement Identifiers

The food I serve says a lot about me and who I am

My friends consider me knowledgeable

I shop in specialty food stores (like “Whole Foods”)

I seek food experiences I am aware of food trends I source, prepare and serve

frequently


Lead User Sessions

In-Depth and Personal No mirrors Positive environment Not an interrogation A friendly

conversation Rewarding On-going


Higher Order Variables

You can design a better product by understanding a person’s Values IdealsLife’s Experiences


Enablementand ProblemResolution

benefit functional solution

attributes

molecule/technology/idea

Working BELOW the Line

Attribute & Benefit Segmentation(How it’s traditionally done)


Working Above the Line

Values and Superior ExperiencesLife stageInvolvementIdeal benefits

Form developmentSpecific problems and needsPhysical characteristics and conditions

FundamentalMotives and Ideal States

Enablementand ProblemResolution


Stay at high thought level….

How can my work…

touch their lives? speak to them? become part of them? improve their lives? change the world?


Higher Order Variables

A user group’s product requirements can come from the group’s values and the broader context of their usage experience: understand what they value and how they live.

Understand a consumers “dreams” (their Ideals, their SOEs, their best-in-class solutions).


Paint the Picture

Words = containerPicture = content

CollageDrawPhotos/Disposable CamerasMagazines


What is Premium Food?

Unique Complex Has Heritage Special Has Been Constructed,

Produced with Care

These are important design considerations for sourcing and naming ingredients


Model the Ideals

What did it feel, smell, taste, sound, look like?

What was it like? Give me an example? How did it change you life? And that’s good because? How does that make things better? Ladder up!


Above the Line Connections for Your Work

Make her Healthy Be compatible with his life style Reinforce identity Enhance mood Enhance social interactions Entertain Make us smarter Make his life better Make me a better person


The Consumer Value Proposition of Your Project


CVP: “What Who Why”

Cognition What is it?

Recognition Is it for me?

Valuation Is it a good one?


The “What Who Why” Model

What your concept or prototype

Who your target

Why Consumer Value Proposition


The Consumer Value Proposition

CVP = Need * Importance


CVP: The Early Conceptual Stage


What

Who

Why

In the best interest….

Products Enable Experiences

Breakthrough products enable life enhancing experiences


In the best interest….

Health and Aging Community Social Justice Education Environment
