10-Step New Product Innovation Process
The baking industry is a very competitive industry, and everyone strives to be successful. That success is usually achieved through introducing new products into the marketplace on a regular basis. As a point of comparison, everyone could look at Apple and recognize them as a model of new product innovation. The fruit of highly innovative companies is usually undisputed market leadership and increasing market cap valuations. The next frequently asked question is: what can be done to achieve new product innovation success?
Planning Bakery Success
Most business schools teach that you must plan for success. Over the past 3 years Dr. Suderman has studied numerous innovation books published by the Harvard Business Press in order to identify the 10 basic steps that can put you company on a path of innovative success.
Step 1: Establish a creativity environment throughout your company – not just R&D
There are a lot of idea generation techniques, so just pick one that fits your company environment. The ‘catch ball’ method is preferred because ideas are continually improved as they are passed from one person to the next. Dr. Suderman also uses a strategy that he has developed, trademarked as Strategate™, which allows for ideation within the boundaries of the brand strategy.
Step 2: Develop a core brand marketing strategy that guides food innovation
Develop your core brand strategy by considering the following four marketing principles: Brand as Strategy, Marketing as Strategy, Technology as Strategy, and the concept of Strategate™.
Step 3: Train your company to recognizing innovation opportunities & germinate them
Recognize new ideas by developing a screening method, determining the marketing strategy fir, assign a valuation to each idea, identifying how to gain peer and corporate support, begin the commercialization process.
Step 4: Once Innovative ideas start bubbling up, help them establish a market foothold
Use the “Idea Champion” and other innovation team members to build a broad internal coalition of support.
Step 5: Test their Business Potential
Consider whether your company has the right equipment of other resource to manufacture and market the new ideas.
Step 6: Prove their manufacturing success
Schedule pilot production runs, and calculate the level of manufacturing difficulty, then decide what needs to be done to improve the process.
Step 7: The CEO should drive the innovation process
Remember, new product innovation cannot happen without 100% CEO support.
Step 8: The CEO should create a dedicated innovation team
The CEO needs to create a unique innovation team that may include resources from outside the company.
Step 9: Insure the innovation team is a balanced blend of internal and external resources
The innovation team may require outside thinking. For example, if you are creating a healthy baked good for Olympic athletes, then you may need an Olympic athlete on your team.
Step 10: Establish innovation success metrics & benchmarking
Lastly, make sure your company establishes success metrics to measure success, and continually benchmark against your competitors.
In summary, creating on-going new product innovation success like that associated with Apple requires a lot of hard work, and adherence to the process described above.
