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With a commodity, innovate big or go home!
Published on 2012-02-09 08:30:33
For every “Apple” type company in America, there are dozens (hundreds?) of companies that operate in a low-interest, commodity realm. Many of these organizations will work hard to develop new products, but lack the ability or courage to do so … Continue reading →
Give – Don’t Sell
Published on 2012-01-26 08:51:37
I’ve been reading several business books lately. Two of my favorites are “The Referral Engine”, by John Jantsch, and “Little Red Book of Selling” by Jeffrey Gitomer. The fascinating thing about both of these books is that they are as … Continue reading →
Empathetic Consumer Understanding
Published on 2012-01-06 09:42:45
I think that effective new product innovation is a result of empathizing with the customer. Traditional market research merely allows you to sympathize with them, and that often falls short. Let me explain. There is a key difference in … Continue reading →
Innovation Fallacies
Published on 2011-11-08 11:30:46
It’s commonly believed that the most innovative companies are those that have the best original ideas. I don’t believe that. If there was some way to formally test this, I would. I imagine it would look something like this. Choose … Continue reading →
It’s tough selling benefits not features
Published on 2011-11-01 13:49:46
We all know that it is important to sell our products or services based on the benefits they provide, not on the features they contain. But why is that so hard to do? We just had an internal meeting this … Continue reading →
A toast to innovative rebels
Published on 2011-09-28 10:22:48
We held our first Indiana Innovation Awards ceremony the other night, where we recognized ten different winners from around the state. The diversity of the winners was impressive. We recognized big companies such as Whirlpool Corporation and Delta Faucet, family … Continue reading →
Size doesn’t always matter
Published on 2011-09-12 10:27:03
The winners have been announced for the upcoming Indiana Innovation Awards. In preparation for the upcoming ceremony on Sept. 26, we have been traveling to the offices of the winning companies to capture video that will be shown during the … Continue reading →
Couples as consumers…
Published on 2011-09-07 11:28:17
In the past few years, we have interviewed literally hundreds of consumers about a variety of products and services. Some of my favorite interviews take place with couples. I’m convinced you get the most “truthful” feedback when you interview two … Continue reading →
Work is a game of strategy
Published on 2011-08-31 09:53:17
I had an odd thought in the shower this morning… I like playing board games. I’m not obsessed with them, but I still find them an appealing diversion from time to time. It hit me that being successful in the … Continue reading →
How do you define innovative?
Published on 2011-08-19 07:56:33
We’re wrapping up our work on the Indiana Innovation Awards nominations. In sifting through the stacks of nominations that were received, we had to boil down the list before we could provide the finalists to the judging panel. This led … Continue reading →