Not long ago, a client found out I was the creator of an early viral video campaign she had admired back in the Dark Ages (2006). When I told her about the business results, her jaw dropped. She insisted on doing something similar and asked for advice on how to begin. My answer: “Slow down. Let's... Read More

This is the second in a three-part commentary addressing how consumer firms can leverage a new approach to “Agile” innovation to reduce their cycle time from consumer insight to market launch, and create a steadier stream of higher-value new products. In Part One, I describe how the current state... Read More

I am often asked by customers what the difference is between discrete manufacturing and process manufacturing. One simple answer is to look at the way the end product is created. In discrete manufacturing, identical products are created, typically in an assembly line. The discrete parts or... Read More

A recent article in The Economist, “ Buying Up the Shelves”, discussed trends in slotting fees, mostly from a European perspective. While I am skeptical that regulator pressure against slotting fees will be replicated in the U.S., I think it is worth considering how this fee for new distribution... Read More

As one of our guiding principles to contribute positively to our community and environment, we dedicated a service day to assist the Foothills Animal Shelter. Sopheon employee volunteers walked the dogs, cleaned the facility, and made delicious pumpkin dog treats. Read More

Every serious innovation program should have some form of system in place to solicit and find ideas that will help the organization to achieve its goals. These systems, if used properly are very effective at finding nuggets or premature concepts that can be fed into the innovation funnel for... Read More

This is the first in a three-part commentary addressing how consumer firms can leverage a new approach to “Agile” innovation to reduce their cycle time from consumer insight to market launch, and create a steadier stream of higher-value new products. In this post, I'll describe how the current... Read More

Lately, it seems like most innovation writers scorn sustaining innovation, those incremental product changes that enable marketers to flag their products as New and Improved! Apple is everyone's poster child for its mastery of disruptive innovation and its ability to repeatedly invent new markets.... Read More

Since the very beginning in the 1980s, Stage-Gate has evolved many times. At the beginning, Stage-Gate was a process to ensure project teams did their projects right. One important finding from the early days has been the significant emphasis on the early or “homework” stages. Over time, the gating... Read More

I have heard some great stories over the last few years about how companies have leveraged top-down resource planning and “what if” portfolio optimization techniques to quickly and more confidently make decisions that deliver better product, portfolio and shareholder value. In the past, companies... Read More