Is it just me, or is every beverage at risk of being an ossified
commodity? Name one. Isn’t vodka trading on heritage or quality? Isn’t beer?
Soda? The vast majority of these liquids are trading on image. But that’s okay.
Really. Because, you see, the only place for new product development these days
is in something called “authentic innovation.” Now before you go off and
consult another business article or book, hang tight, because this one’s pretty
straight forward.
Authentic innovation
is all about you – the producer – looking to address narrower markets or
different demand areas. It isn’t about stacking it high and letting it fly; at
least not in the beginning (big wink!). Authentic innovation means that you
have to step out of your process, your marketing agency, your research session
in that white room outside of Tulsa. It means that in order to narrow your focus,
you have to shed a few pounds’ worth of preconceived notions and process. You
have to step outside of the business and seek out three key elements:
1. Personal
experiences rule. Remember the time your friends got together and thought it
was a really good idea to mix grapefruit soda and gin? What about that time you
and your girlfriend went to Tijuana and put a lime in the beer so that you
wouldn’t (supposedly) get sick from the water in the beer? We’re so focused on
the business that sometimes it’s difficult to see something that’s right in
front of us; a need that is so great that everyone’s just walking by it. Think about the last time you weren’t listening
to others in the business – you were hearing from the bus driver, the nanny, or
(wow!) your mother-in-law. My father-in-law has personally launched a campaign
to bring back seltzer water in those old bottles in South Florida. You’d be
amazed at the nostalgic tendencies of former New Yorkers over 70.
2. Tap into a
community. Instead of bringing together strangers in that white room to talk
about what iced tea means to them on a personal level, bring members of a
specific community that already know one another together. Even bring them
together in the beginning stages of product development. You see, people who already
know one another have already exposed their weaknesses to one another; they’ve
been honest. These people know what works and doesn’t work for them. Don’t
focus on a single community. Don’t even focus on the ones that get together all
of the time. The point of dealing with a specific community is that not only
will these people talk to you when you’ve got an idea (in fact, they’ll be
flattered you asked), but they’ll stick with you throughout the whole development process because it’s
social currency for them. They have a vested interest in the success of the
product because they were there in the beginning, so “they knew you when….”
3. Take many chances.
Make mistakes, quickly take responsibility for them, learn and then correct
them. Just because you sold a regional distributor in on a new product test in
their market doesn’t mean that you can’t quickly come back with a new formula
or package during the test! That’s what a test is! I’ve seen too many
presentations where producers are attempting to answer every question going
into the test and unfortunately end up managing the expectations of their
distributor or wholesaler instead of communicating to the end consumer or
retailer. Small or large, you need to be prepared to deliver the goods in a
manner that is both expedited and excited. Your audiences will reward your
persistence.
In order to truly
take advantage of a space in the marketplace that no one else occupies, and to
be successful at it, you have to be able to tell a story that is authentic.
That is at the heart of authentic innovation. Personal experiences, community
relationships, persistence of effort without fear of mistakes all combine to
form a rather flexible process that can add or give you a simple platform with
which to start your NPD efforts. Ideas can come from the most innocent (or
less-than-innocent) places; bringing them to life in an authentic manner will
enable you to bring the ingredients to life. Imagine a world where image,
heritage and quality work together? Got the picture? Good – it’s time for a
pint!