Using Innovation to Create A Differentiated Strategy

What’s your company’s strategy to get to “the next level”?

Situation

A large multinational consumer products company wanted to expand their product portfolio in a logical strategic fashion. It was particularly challenging as the market was highly fragmented and crowded with competitors.

This client was following a traditional gap analysis to find underserved areas of the market. With exceptional manufacturing capability available, this company had the ability to develop a wide range of innovative products.

Action

NovaLex team members pointed out that a product focused approach ran the risk of developing something completely logical but without consumer demand.

Based on the NovaLex recommendation to consider the customer, the team created a flavor-matrix approach to identify specific flavors that appealed to customers but were underserved or not available in the market. Borrowing a page out of the past and using innovation to create a differentiated strategy, NovaLex developed a profile of the consumers’ taste preferences from years gone by and integrated those flavors into a present-day beverage profile.