Turning Consumer Dreams into Financial Reality

Posted by Rahna on January 4, 2010 under Consumer Engagement, Consumer Research | Be the First to Comment

Is this the year of innovation for you?  Or is your product development process stuck in mediocrity?

January is always a time for resolutions, fresh starts, good intentions and big plans, and this year perhaps more than other years, companies are looking expectantly towards a promising future (eager to leave 2009 in the dust).

Are you ready for 2010?  Are you up to the challenge of this year?  Perhaps you worried your way through 2008, optimized operations, cut your staff and limped your way through 2009.   But, as the saying goes, “What got you here won’t get you there.”  You need to be prepared with an action plan in place to meet the growth demands and expectations that everyone has—from the stockholders to senior management (and even you!).  Cost-cutting measures can save a lot, but they are not the engine of growth.

Innovation is.

Typically, innovation comes from your current assets & expertise, whether that be operational excellence, technological savvy or marketplace relationships. But to grow your business significantly, you need two things: 

• Consumer-based perspectives
• Fresh Thinking

Consumer-Based Perspectives 

While anyone with a bit of creativity can develop a short-term promotion  or slap a new flavor on an existing product to respond to a hot trend, what you really want is sustainable growth that you can bank on.  That growth can come from new product development, new market development or new business development.  Regardless of where it comes from, I guarantee that the most sustainable growth still answers a consumer need, provides something compelling for consumers, and resonates with them.

But you can’t just go ask them what they want…because most times, they don’t know themselves.  It takes a certain skill to hear what they are not saying, to read between the lines, to “tease” out a wish list from consumers that they didn’t even know they had. 

That’s where Beacon Marketing’s expertise comes in.  We’ll ask the “what if’s?”, the “why nots?” and the “Whaddya think?” type questions that may sound like “chit-chat” to the untrained ear but will bubble up into multi-million dollar business opportunities for you.

Fresh thinking

I hear this over and over again; this is what is desperately needed.  Most companies have internal product development teams who approach business development with a certain bias.  They are so deeply into the business that sometimes they cannot see opportunities that are right before them.  By adding an outside perspective and embracing some challenges to the standard “that’s the way we’ve always done it” mentality, huge breakthroughs can happen!

But if you are looking for real growth—I’m talking about real innovation that adds to your overall business—then ground that innovation in consumer thinking and invite a fresh perspective.

Our proprietary process helps identify the strengths and weaknesses of you, your competitors and the category, as well as the likes, dislikes and other consumer perspectives that can turn consumer dreams into profitable realities for you.

We can’t wait to help you; give us a call!