Category Archives: innovation
With a commodity, innovate big or go home!
For every “Apple” type company in America, there are dozens (hundreds?) of companies that operate in a low-interest, commodity realm. Many of these organizations will work hard to develop new products, but lack the ability or courage to do so … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, consumer insight, innovation, Marketing
Empathetic Consumer Understanding
I think that effective new product innovation is a result of empathizing with the customer. Traditional market research merely allows you to sympathize with them, and that often falls short. Let me explain. There is a key difference in … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, consumer research, innovation, Insight2
Innovation Fallacies
It’s commonly believed that the most innovative companies are those that have the best original ideas. I don’t believe that. If there was some way to formally test this, I would. I imagine it would look something like this. Choose … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Business lessons, company culture, innovation, Insight2, Risk
It’s tough selling benefits not features
We all know that it is important to sell our products or services based on the benefits they provide, not on the features they contain. But why is that so hard to do? We just had an internal meeting this … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Business lessons, innovation, Marketing
A toast to innovative rebels
We held our first Indiana Innovation Awards ceremony the other night, where we recognized ten different winners from around the state. The diversity of the winners was impressive. We recognized big companies such as Whirlpool Corporation and Delta Faucet, family … Continue reading
Size doesn’t always matter
The winners have been announced for the upcoming Indiana Innovation Awards. In preparation for the upcoming ceremony on Sept. 26, we have been traveling to the offices of the winning companies to capture video that will be shown during the … Continue reading
Couples as consumers…
In the past few years, we have interviewed literally hundreds of consumers about a variety of products and services. Some of my favorite interviews take place with couples. I’m convinced you get the most “truthful” feedback when you interview two … Continue reading
Work is a game of strategy
I had an odd thought in the shower this morning… I like playing board games. I’m not obsessed with them, but I still find them an appealing diversion from time to time. It hit me that being successful in the … Continue reading
Filed under Business, Business lessons, change, Creativity, innovation, Insight2, small business, Time stress
Innovation in a vacuum may not be innovation at all
I have had the honor and opportunity to be one of the founders of the inaugural Indiana Innovation Awards. The goal of this newly formed organization is to recognize and honor outstanding innovation in our state. Nominations are open … Continue reading
Filed under Business lessons, innovation, unmet needs
How do you interpret what you see?
Have you ever noticed how different people can see the same thing but take away such different information? An optimist can read a newspaper article and note that while there are difficulties in the current economy, things are going to … Continue reading
