Innovation roadmap grounded in market needs

To direct millions in investments for research and development, our client needed support in aligning different stakeholders and teams across the US on a five-year innovation roadmap and pipeline.

The company enjoyed significant success but had often been product-driven in its approach to new product development. Products were developed first, and then the market fit was determined after. We set out to reverse this approach; informing new product development based on market needs instead.

We conducted stakeholder interviews with different teams ranging from brand management to research engineers, and audited internal briefings and research reports about needs and product development strategy. We then facilitated a day-long workshop, bringing together teams from across disciplines and locations in the US. The workshop involved a collaborative ideal customer profile exercise, needs assessment and brainstorming session.

The engagement led to the insight that most of the client’s initial product innovation was not solving for the most important market needs which drove willingness to pay. The team aligned on a new process for collecting market needs and agreed a new long-term direction for the company’s innovation pipeline planning.