Brand New: Solving the Innovation Paradox -- How Great Brands Invent and Launch New Products, Services, and Business Models

Foreword ix

About the Authors xi

PART I Preparation and Strategy 1

Chapter 1 The Innovation Paradox 3

A Look at the Numbers 4

And Then It Really Falls Apart 7

Where Do We Go from Here? 9

A Unique Process 10

The Brand New Strategy 12

Execution 13

Chapter 2 Creating an Efficient and Effective Innovation Process 15

The Big Three: How Does Industry-Changing Innovation Happen? 16

Chapter 3 Circle #1: Finding the Need 25

Insight First, Idea Second 26

Narrowing Your Focus: Segmentation 30

Be Insight Agnostic 38

 “It’s a wonderful need . . . just not for us.” 54

When Searching for Needs, Keep These Things in Mind 56

Chapter 4 Circle #2: Formulating the Idea 63

Beginning the Process of Ideation 64

Let Your Mind Diverge 72

Filling the Idea Out 77

Putting This to Work 79

What Would ___ Do: Utilizing Points of Departure 80

Converge: Distilling Concepts into Categories 83

Concept Development 86

Testing What You’ve Come up With 89

An Ideation Creativity 12-Step Program 93

Chapter 5 Circle #3: Successfully Communicating (and Profi ting from) What You Have Come Up With 95

A Brilliant Idea Badly Communicated Becomes a Bad Idea 96

Three and a Half Rules for Improving Your Communication Efforts 99

Use Their Words as a Springboard 103

Pay Attention When They Speak 107

Remember, Your Story May Not Be Their Story 110

“Huh?”—Clearly Saying What You Mean 111

Going Commercial (or you will never make any money if you can’t explain what you have) 113

How to Utilize Social Media: Changing the Game for the Better 116

Mastering Communication 122

Chapter 6 Constructing Your Innovation “Portfolio” 125

Diversifying Your Innovation “Investments” 125

The Four Classes of Innovation 127

How to Divide Up Your Innovation “Assets” 132

Tactics to Increase Your Success 136

Budgeting in Your Innovation “Portfolio” 138

PART II Tools and Tactics 141

Chapter 7 Getting Outside the Jar: How to Infuse Outside Experts into Your Innovation Process 143

Practical Wisdom 144

Integration of the Left and Right Brain of an Organization 154

Idea “Parents” Wanted 156

The Role of Outside Experts in Building Your Innovation Portfolio 157

Chapter 8 Sustainable Innovation: Creating (and Profi ting) from a Green, White Space 163

Delivering on Needs and Making a Difference 164

Three Reasons to Find the Green Space 165

Steps toward Integrating Sustainability into Your Innovation Process 169

Actions Speak Louder than Words 174

The 5 Cs of Sustainable Innovation 175

Chapter 9 Introducing “The Innovation Power Score” — A Method for Measuring the Potential of Your Innovation 179

The Insight Score 181

The Idea Score 187

The Communication Score 191

Conclusion 194

Three “Frequently Asked Questions” on the Advantages of the IPS 197

Chapter 10 Investools: A Case Study in Putting Your Innovation Process to Work 201

Investools’ Innovation Paradox 202

If You Did It Once 208

Conclusion 210

Acknowledgments 211

Index 213