Brand Innovation; FDIN Seminar
I'm a member of the Food and Drink Innovation Network, http://www.fdin.co.uk - an excellent forum for seminars and networking. I can thoroughly recommend it.Yesterday their topic was Brand Innovation, and you can find all the presentations online at the FDIN site. My summary takeouts from the combination of "Best Practice" and "Case History" presentations were:
- When we generate ideas and develop concepts they should still be fundamentally about an insight based functional proposition- at least in most FMCG categories.
- Adding the “Sizzle” to the Sausage comes when you design in more distinctive aspects of execution that are hard to copy- packaging and communication.
- These communication equities can last longer than the product- Phileas Fogg
- There is no shame however in brand owners copying our competitors if we can execute better than them, e.g. Apple, Bulmers.
- “Putting Charisma into the brand” is a great expression and thought (Andy Knowles)
- Value innovation is the result of the entire innovation process- functional propositions with an emotional, branded, cloak.
- The appalling attrition rate in NPD will continue. Reducing risk depends on selecting concepts that combine high Uniqueness with high Appeal (my view- I don’t agree with TNS that Potential was the right axis to use).
- Concept stimulus style should be carefully thought through (I believe in clear unbranded early stage sketches that support carefully crafted statements, otherwise the marketing savvy respondent evaluates the cleverness of your concept execution, not the core idea).
- Beware Hugo-speak and lose the ladder. (David Taylor). I’ll try…!
- Innovating “from the tail” is characterised by personal passion and commitment at the top of the business- (NoMoo, RDA)
- Be brave and kill or amend the execution of the idea if it doesn’t feel right, even late in the day (Bob Morrison)
- It’s amazing what you can do with £8m (Kelloggs Nutri Grain).
- A design brief should be as full of insight as the idea itself- (Silas Amos).
- Brand Innovation is a genuinely multi-disciplinary process- more substance is required, even in these days of “product parity.”
posted by Tim Nicol @ 3:52 PM
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