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The Innovation Imperative
- 14 February 2013
The recent Brand Forum event themed on Innovation saw record levels of attendance with presentations from Fiona Dawson, President of Mars UK and Ronan McNamee. Ronan Mc Namee, whose track record includes fundamentally changing the bread market in Ireland, Britain & beyond from his days in Cuisine De France, presented a case study on his current venture that is BFree Breads. A copy of Ronan's presentation can be accessed by clicking here.
With reference to the Mars presentation titled: "The Innovation Imperative", the key learning can be summarised as follows:
- Innovation is a risky business, i.e. there is a high failure rate. According to TNS, only 5 in 100 new brands gain a 1% share point within a year. Yet 70% of top 150 winning brands bring innovation to their brands.
- The key is to hit the Innovation "Sweet Spot"
- Desirable: ideas which win with the consumer & customer and build our brands.
- Feasible: Ideas which can be made by us (& ideally not by others).
- Viable: Ideas which are financially viable now and in the future.
- What drives Innovation success at Mars?
- Innovate from a strong Brand
- Follow the consumer not just your (sales) target
- 90% of innovations fail due to positioning of product
- Don't waste your time. Success and failures take equal amounts of time.
- Think beyond product Innovation. Explore new pack formats.
- Be 'Intentional', it's not just about the launch, but committed to follow though.
- Innovation needs to be part of the company culture / DNA.
Source: BordBia - The Innovation Imperative
