2

Brad Flatoff Credentials

President, PowerBox Innovation, a new product research and consulting firm focused on consumer insight based innovation across industries and channels

• Opportunity Area Insight Development• Ideation Session Facilitation• Concept Development• Qualitative evaluation/optimization including focus groups,

ethnography, site visits

RIVA trained Focus Group facilitator

Prior client-side experience: 23 Years of Senior Executive, Innovation, Marketing, Consumer Insight and R&D experience

• Senior Vice President Marketing, Consumer Insight and Innovation – Sargento

• Business Director – Oscar Mayer/Kraft• New Product Development – General Foods/Kool-Aid

Bridging the Gap

Strategy IdeasThe Gap

The Need

• Great ideas without the $1MM binder

• Innovation specialist I can bring in at any part of the process to help or…

• Someone who can provide continuity and refinement throughout the Innovation process

• Someone who thinks like me and understands strategy, and the need for results.

• Someone who brings new thinking but is rooted in reality

“Strategic Innovation, real results”

“Thinking inside the box”

by

The Services

Strategy-”The Box”

OpportunityAreas

Concept Development

PositioningNaming

Ideation

Focus GroupFacilitation

Strategy”The Box”

Strategy defines the “box” that leads to relevant opportunity areas and focused reality based ideation

Strategy defines “the box” that leads to opportunity houses, reality based ideation, and relevant branding and business plans

•Develop an Innovation Strategy

-Corporate strategy/objectives

-Brand SWOT

•First cut opportunity areas

-Existing customer/consumer data review and secondary research

-Innovation targets

•3 C’s :Deep understanding of Competencies, Capabilities and Constraints

-Yes, including getting out into the plant

-Branding, financial, spending, channels, technical, shelf life, production

The innovation strategy or “PowerBox” flows from SWOT and 3 C’s

“Let’s Get Real”

Think Inside It!

Define Your PowerBox

Current Capabilities/Current Customer Segment

New Capabilities/New Customer Segment

Current Capabilities/New Customer Segment

New Capabilities/Current Customer Segment

Product Adjacency Matrix

Opportunity Areas: “Which Lake to Fish in ?”

OpportunityAreas

Opportunity areas flow from SWOT opportunities and are more detailed “buckets” that ideas can flow from

Defining Opportunity Areas

“Opportunities” section in SWOT

Trends

Brands/Licensing

Analogies

Day parts

New Channels/customers

New consumers

Providing current customers/consumers more completion

Adjacent categories/service

Capabilities

Needs/Problems/frustrations

Finding the needs “sweet spot”

Competency Need

Prioritization MatrixArea 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Area 5

Fit

Potential Size

Degree of Innovation

Competitor Strength

Needs

Margins

Tech Advantage

Time Frame

Etc.

Developing an opportunity map

• Opportunity areas may have a sequence– Deep understanding of each including emotional drivers– Nearer in– Build upon one another– Can’t take the all on at once

• Opportunity map is a visual sequence of opportunity areas that will be explored over time

• Ideation usually focuses on 2-3 opportunity areas

Ideation

Ideation focuses on 2-3 opportunity areas at a time and delivers “deep dive” solutions that can be turned into concepts

•“Inside the box” ideation creates focus. Boundaries enhance creativity

•Ideation for new products, product improvements, new targets, innovation in service and marketing/promotion/PR break-outs

•PowerBox “decentralized” creativity toolbox

Provocation

Analogy

I wish/solution to needs

Outsiders—creative, consumers, customers, experts

Completion/adjacency/service

Fresh look at old ideas

•Brad is a “creative idea factory” that will not only facilitate but contribute

Concept Name:

Description:

Why it’s better than what’s out there:

sketch

Concept Development

Narrow concepts based on agreed upon criteria, and develop concept boards

•Concept narrowing with a smaller core team

•Brad will develop initial positioning statement and identify variations

•Brad will write concept boards and has partners that can provide artwork

-Various stages of finish and detail depending on number and next research step

Focus GroupFacilitation

Qualitative can be used throughout the process to gain early and often customer, consumer and employee input and insight

•Brad is a RIVA trained focus group moderator

•PowerBox uses qualitative for

-Opportunity house and needs identification

-Concept optimization

-Name and positioning optimization

•Customer benchmarking to provide focus and core competency insight

•Ethnography

•“Circle of Friends”/Family/Spouse groups

PositioningNaming

PowerBox provides positioning development and naming services

•Positioning nuances can make a huge difference

-Lunchables example

•Final name should flow out of positioning

-Intensive naming group and solo sessions

•Qualitative a good tool to communication check name/positioning

• Challenge: build a 3 year innovation pipeline for core business• Strategy: developed innovation strategy and defined the “PowerBox”• Opportunity House refinement and optimization • 2 day off campus ideation, built from PowerBox and Opportunity

houses – significant use of outside experts from culinary and nutrition

• Narrowing - wrote/built 28 black & white concepts • Qualitative refinement – lead Focus Groups in Charlotte and

Chicago • Final BASES Boards – developed 15 color boards for quant• 23 personal visits to Johnsonville

• “The quality and amount of ideas generated was unlike any I have seen before. I have recommended Brad to other clients who desire to expand their new product portfolio” –Mark Boyer, President PMG

• “Working with Brad as been a great experience for Johnsonville. His energy drives the quantity and his experience the quality .Brad did a great job of communicating, organizing and keeping us on schedule” Ryan Pociask, Marketing Manager

• “Brad lead an ideation session that most participants rated the best they ever attended. We broke our previous record for the amount and quality of ideas generated. Team members were impressed with his easy-to-get-along with style as well as his “in the box” approach”-Kevin Addesso- Technical Innovation Manager

• Brad lead a new product process that was outstanding. He helped us create the right framework for innovation, and really delivered on the ideation session, concept development and focus group facilitation. Brad thinks like a marketer, not a consultant – Jim Mueller, General Manager

• Challenge: Identify “Break-Out” growth strategy that leverages current capabilities with new customer base.

– Winsert is an industrial parts supplier to the Diesel engine manufacturers

• Strategy: identified current core competencies, industry trends and potential adjacencies, positioning and opportunity areas

• Research: conducted 28 qualitative 1:1 interviews with potential customers, OEM’s and industry experts

• Results: provided specific adjacency recommendation and detailed entry strategy direction

• Brad has been retained for phase 2 business plan, marketing and sales material development

• “Brad Flatoff provided focus, insight, marvelous experience and an inordinately quick grasp of our abilities and exciting potential. He has proven to be a powerful asset and thought leader in our new product and new market initiatives” – Stephen Erickson Director of Sales and Marketing

• “Brad was very effective in steering us down the proper path.We are very pleased with the progress we have made through the support of PowerBox and look forward to continuing the relationship in our development efforts” – Terry Schuelke, Business Development Manager

Call PowerBox for…

Assistance in part of, or the entire front end innovation process

Ideation session facilitation (new products, services, marketing )

Concept/Idea development

Focus group facilitation

Customer benchmarking/research

Naming and positioning work

SWOT, Opportunity area and innovation strategy facilitation

Brad Flatoff

920-377-1158

Brad@power-box.org