Innovation Key in Concept Development
by Jack Gordon, AcuPOLL CEO
(EMAILWIRE.COM, January 19, 2009 )
Our clients have a need to know what it takes to create a successful new product concept. They often wonder, “shorter or longer concept descriptions?” “Do pictures create a better presentation?” Constantly, they question what makes their concept more appealing to target audiences. Fear of innovation paralyzes many a brand executive, a problem that leads only to failure. Make no mistake, uncovering strong consumer insights is the first, and perhaps most important step, in creating the next big thing.
Developing strong concepts based on consumer insight is challenging, even for seasoned brand professionals. Where do you begin? Is that idea too “out there.” How do I know if consumers will like it? Our firm often provides our clients concept development training and a set of concept development guidelines, which are tremendously helpful in guiding client understanding about what information needs to be provided in the concept, as well as the best way to present this information.
It is important to remember that a concept shouldn’t be devised to simply get a good test score, but rather to gather feedback on the concept’s overall appeal to the target market, and to give clients grounded expectations, before the product goes forward for launch. Working on paper is one thing, working in real life can be wholly different, and clearly should be tested and validated.
Formatting a Concept
While a clear presentation is important, the formatting of the concept is not. The formatting of the concept depends upon the best medium to communicate the idea. Some companies have experimented recently with what are termed “adcepts” (concepts presented as an advertisement, often in video or storyboard form). However, while these provide a point of difference for the companies selling them to you, they don’t necessarily provide the point of difference for your specific product idea.
The key to concept development is innovation, and using a proven, time tested methodology to test your concept that ensures that your point of difference is properly evaluated. Feeling good about getting the answer you hoped for won’t be of much value after the concept fails and the dollars have already been allocated.
How unique your target market views your concept is almost as important as the target market’s purchase interest. Consumers are attracted to unique products; products that differentiate themselves from the competition. However, product differentiation does not ensure that a product will be successful. In fact, there is no correlation between a product’s uniqueness and the target market’s likelihood to purchase it. The more unique a product is, the more likely it is to excel – or fail miserably. Good research allows you to tell if an idea is innovative; and, if it is, should it be moved forward because it shows genuine consumer interest.
Most concept innovations today generally strengthen a current key category benefit, add on secondary benefits (convenience, ease of use, etc.), or involve new flavors or flavor combinations. If consumers favor these new benefits/flavors and feel that they are a good fit with the category and brand image, then the changes can be implemented, creating new and exciting products.
Innovation is Key
Many innovations in some product categories revolve around convenience and ease of use. Consumers are genuinely interested when a product helps complete certain activities (such as cleaning) faster and/or easier.
Clearly, another popular innovation is “Green.” Many companies and brands offer the benefit of efficient recycling, eco-friendly production, and the like. However, such benefits can often result in an increase in pricing, and many consumers tend to believe that these products are less effective than similar products. Thus, it is important to communicate product effectiveness very strongly when “selling” green products to ensure consumers see the value, without any downside.
Another trend companies and brands are heading toward is “All Natural” or “Healthier” products. Benefits added to the product, including antioxidants and vitamins can successfully add a new twist to existing categories, such as Vitamin Water. Many consumers believe that their current diets are sufficiently lacking in meeting daily nutritional needs and they are easily persuaded to switch from their current product to new products that satisfactorily fulfill these needs. But clearly, this does not mean adding vitamins to a chocolate donut is of any value.
Achieving Success
An innovative product must also fulfill a clear need in the consumer’s life. The concept must successfully lay out the benefits of the product, communicate why it works, and describe its advantages over current products.
Success is obtained by clearly identifying Key Consumer Insights in the category, then determining what improvements/innovations the category users most desire. Understanding the consumer’s unfulfilled wishes, needs and desires are key Insights, and represent the best way to successfully develop concepts. Insights provide the groundwork of benefits that innovative concepts need to be built around. These benefits in turn will drive forward both product and communication development.
To identify these opportunities, concept testing also must be designed to identify key opportunities and objectives the Brand group has identified to develop its new products.
The AcuPOLL Concept Litmus Test
Concept testing is important to determine whether or not an innovative idea can survive in the marketplace. Understanding purchase interest and uniqueness isn’t enough. It is often critical that the idea be tested for additional criteria such as:
1. Is there a consumer need; that is, does it fulfill a need or solve a problem that consumers of the category currently have?
2. Does it fit with the Brand; that is, will it support or build on the Brand’s current image and strengths?
3. Will it increase the Brand’s share of the category; that is, will it cannibalize current brands owned by the company to a degree higher than their “fair share?”
4. Will it increase the size of the category; that is, will it bring new consumers to the category that are not buying now?
5. If your idea does not appeal to most category users, are there opportunities to sell to specific segments or niches within the total group – and are these segments reachable through targeted/niche marketing?
6. Can the product reach the level of volume that the company needs in order to justify the expenditure of time and money to introduce it?
7. Are there any ideas to further strengthen the concept before it is moved forward?
8. Which varieties or flavors are driving interest or reach? Should they all be pursued or are some in need of replacement?
9. What is the optimal pricing for introducing your product? What is the range of acceptable pricing?
10. Is there an affordable way to ensure that the volume potential for your product idea is identified early in the screening process before you spend a lot of money on development?
Shared Focus
Some companies have too many ideas to be tested comprehensively, much less to bring to market; therefore, decisions must be made on which ideas to pursue and which to shelve. When this happens they will often make decisions internally on which ideas to move into testing. Unfortunately, when this happens, the most innovative ideas are often the first to be eliminated – before consumers even get to see them.
Our goal is to help clients realize the true potential of their ideas, and to weed out less profitable ventures as early in the process as possible. Often, we do this before a complete concept is even created. Remember, innovation allows you to price more aggressively and leads to fundamentally more profitable business propositions. But the key is to identify and prioritize these opportunities so time and money is focused and not wasted.
Give your new product program the boost it deserves. Innovate, don’t follow.
For more information on how you can improve your efforts to innovate, visit our website at www.acupoll.com and contact us for help.
Our clients have a need to know what it takes to create a successful new product concept. They often wonder, “shorter or longer concept descriptions?” “Do pictures create a better presentation?” Constantly, they question what makes their concept more appealing to target audiences. Fear of innovation paralyzes many a brand executive, a problem that leads only to failure. Make no mistake, uncovering strong consumer insights is the first, and perhaps most important step, in creating the next big thing.
Developing strong concepts based on consumer insight is challenging, even for seasoned brand professionals. Where do you begin? Is that idea too “out there.” How do I know if consumers will like it? Our firm often provides our clients concept development training and a set of concept development guidelines, which are tremendously helpful in guiding client understanding about what information needs to be provided in the concept, as well as the best way to present this information.
It is important to remember that a concept shouldn’t be devised to simply get a good test score, but rather to gather feedback on the concept’s overall appeal to the target market, and to give clients grounded expectations, before the product goes forward for launch. Working on paper is one thing, working in real life can be wholly different, and clearly should be tested and validated.
Formatting a Concept
While a clear presentation is important, the formatting of the concept is not. The formatting of the concept depends upon the best medium to communicate the idea. Some companies have experimented recently with what are termed “adcepts” (concepts presented as an advertisement, often in video or storyboard form). However, while these provide a point of difference for the companies selling them to you, they don’t necessarily provide the point of difference for your specific product idea.
The key to concept development is innovation, and using a proven, time tested methodology to test your concept that ensures that your point of difference is properly evaluated. Feeling good about getting the answer you hoped for won’t be of much value after the concept fails and the dollars have already been allocated.
How unique your target market views your concept is almost as important as the target market’s purchase interest. Consumers are attracted to unique products; products that differentiate themselves from the competition. However, product differentiation does not ensure that a product will be successful. In fact, there is no correlation between a product’s uniqueness and the target market’s likelihood to purchase it. The more unique a product is, the more likely it is to excel – or fail miserably. Good research allows you to tell if an idea is innovative; and, if it is, should it be moved forward because it shows genuine consumer interest.
Most concept innovations today generally strengthen a current key category benefit, add on secondary benefits (convenience, ease of use, etc.), or involve new flavors or flavor combinations. If consumers favor these new benefits/flavors and feel that they are a good fit with the category and brand image, then the changes can be implemented, creating new and exciting products.
Innovation is Key
Many innovations in some product categories revolve around convenience and ease of use. Consumers are genuinely interested when a product helps complete certain activities (such as cleaning) faster and/or easier.
Clearly, another popular innovation is “Green.” Many companies and brands offer the benefit of efficient recycling, eco-friendly production, and the like. However, such benefits can often result in an increase in pricing, and many consumers tend to believe that these products are less effective than similar products. Thus, it is important to communicate product effectiveness very strongly when “selling” green products to ensure consumers see the value, without any downside.
Another trend companies and brands are heading toward is “All Natural” or “Healthier” products. Benefits added to the product, including antioxidants and vitamins can successfully add a new twist to existing categories, such as Vitamin Water. Many consumers believe that their current diets are sufficiently lacking in meeting daily nutritional needs and they are easily persuaded to switch from their current product to new products that satisfactorily fulfill these needs. But clearly, this does not mean adding vitamins to a chocolate donut is of any value.
Achieving Success
An innovative product must also fulfill a clear need in the consumer’s life. The concept must successfully lay out the benefits of the product, communicate why it works, and describe its advantages over current products.
Success is obtained by clearly identifying Key Consumer Insights in the category, then determining what improvements/innovations the category users most desire. Understanding the consumer’s unfulfilled wishes, needs and desires are key Insights, and represent the best way to successfully develop concepts. Insights provide the groundwork of benefits that innovative concepts need to be built around. These benefits in turn will drive forward both product and communication development.
To identify these opportunities, concept testing also must be designed to identify key opportunities and objectives the Brand group has identified to develop its new products.
The AcuPOLL Concept Litmus Test
Concept testing is important to determine whether or not an innovative idea can survive in the marketplace. Understanding purchase interest and uniqueness isn’t enough. It is often critical that the idea be tested for additional criteria such as:
1. Is there a consumer need; that is, does it fulfill a need or solve a problem that consumers of the category currently have?
2. Does it fit with the Brand; that is, will it support or build on the Brand’s current image and strengths?
3. Will it increase the Brand’s share of the category; that is, will it cannibalize current brands owned by the company to a degree higher than their “fair share?”
4. Will it increase the size of the category; that is, will it bring new consumers to the category that are not buying now?
5. If your idea does not appeal to most category users, are there opportunities to sell to specific segments or niches within the total group – and are these segments reachable through targeted/niche marketing?
6. Can the product reach the level of volume that the company needs in order to justify the expenditure of time and money to introduce it?
7. Are there any ideas to further strengthen the concept before it is moved forward?
8. Which varieties or flavors are driving interest or reach? Should they all be pursued or are some in need of replacement?
9. What is the optimal pricing for introducing your product? What is the range of acceptable pricing?
10. Is there an affordable way to ensure that the volume potential for your product idea is identified early in the screening process before you spend a lot of money on development?
Shared Focus
Some companies have too many ideas to be tested comprehensively, much less to bring to market; therefore, decisions must be made on which ideas to pursue and which to shelve. When this happens they will often make decisions internally on which ideas to move into testing. Unfortunately, when this happens, the most innovative ideas are often the first to be eliminated – before consumers even get to see them.
Our goal is to help clients realize the true potential of their ideas, and to weed out less profitable ventures as early in the process as possible. Often, we do this before a complete concept is even created. Remember, innovation allows you to price more aggressively and leads to fundamentally more profitable business propositions. But the key is to identify and prioritize these opportunities so time and money is focused and not wasted.
Give your new product program the boost it deserves. Innovate, don’t follow.
For more information on how you can improve your efforts to innovate, visit our website at www.acupoll.com and contact us for help.
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