Product and Market Innovation

Developing an Ongoing
"Re-Invention" Process

The ability to continually "re-invent" the core business—and take advantage of profitable new products or markets—has led to phenomenal success for many companies. In today's fast-changing business environment, the ongoing identification of new opportunities is the only way to adapt to shifting market forces and achieve long-term growth.

The challenge is to establish a step-by-step, repeatable process that makes innovation a key capability within the enterprise—so that creativity and re-invention are managed as part of day-to-day business.

GMT has helped many clients to install a highly structured, ongoing innovation capability that positions their organizations for strategic growth.

Rethinking "Business as Usual"
Insight: The Basis for Innovation
The Power of Creativity
Analyzing Innovation Costs—and Benefits
Making Innovation a Way of Life

Rethinking "Business as Usual"

GMT's innovation capabilities help clients to address such complex issues as:

	How are end-user markets shifting—and how can we anticipate and respond proactively?
	Which emerging channels should we target?
	What new product or service categories are a good fit with our brand?
	How can we overcome the barriers to entering new markets?
	Does sourcing or licensing make better sense than investing in manufacturing or marketing?

Answering these and other questions can help organizations to identify new product and service opportunities, assess growing channels and markets, weigh their alternatives, and implement strategies that capture their most promising opportunities.

Insight: The Basis for Innovation

GMT's facilitation of the innovation process begins with increasing the client organization's level of insight into its current position, as well as future opportunities.

GMT helps to gather intelligence on:

	Societal, technology, and economic trends that will impact end-user product needs or shopping behaviors
	Changes in the business environment—such as the growth of electronic channels—likely to alter the competitive landscape
	Customer and end-user profiles, including product usage and re-purchase rates, unmet needs, brand perceptions, and satisfaction levels

GMT clients not only gain an understanding of the broad lifestyle and work environment trends that will lead to entirely new product and service categories, but also the channels where customers are likely to purchase these offerings. This detailed, fact-based approach helps to reduce the risk normally associated with product and market innovation.

The Power of Creativity

GMT helps clients to use this factual basis to unleash the creativity that lies within the organization. Crossfunctional teams discover new opportunities by answering such questions as:

	What next-generation products or services will replace ours in the marketplace?
	Should we make our own core offerings obsolete to gain an advantage over our competitors?
	Are there new technologies that could revolutionize the way we make, sell, or distribute products?
	Using our existing manufacturing systems, distribution networks, or in-house expertise, what other new products or services can we provide?
	What new products will help us to drive the market—instead of being market-driven?

Analyzing Innovation Costs—and Benefits

Typically, many innovation opportunities are identified; the next step is to weigh these possibilities against one another by analyzing:

	The strategic fit of new opportunities with the top-level vision
	The match of brand identity with potential products and markets
	Barriers of entry for markets under construction
	Existing and emerging competitors in specific product categories and market segments
	Resource requirements such as technologies or staff needed to support new ventures
	Cost-effective alternatives such as licensing, sourcing, or acquisition

Resolving these issues leads to the final step in the innovation process: turning the most promising ideas over to product development teams.

Making Innovation a Way of Life

Not only does GMT help clients to undertake an initial innovation process, but it also establishes an internal capability through which the organization can continually explore new products and markets. Repeating the innovation process on a continuing basis enables the organization to respond proactively to broad trends, marketplace shifts, and changing customer and end-user needs.