Covid-19 has impacted the lives of many people all around the world. One thing in particular that I believe we have all learned is that it’s possible to live with less and savor more of what we already have.
Back in March during the start of the pandemic, with no social life, no travel, no gym… I had a lot of time on my hands and with that I decided to start doing some spring cleaning! As I went through my closet, pantry, cupboards,…even fridge and freezer, it hit me how much stuff I have accumulated over the years. Many versions of the same thing whether it was clothing, snacks, dishes,….
Even shopping, I found myself scrutinizing my shopping list and asking myself:
- Do I really need this beauty item?
- Would we really eat that snack?
With the ease of lock-down, I was so excited to get back into the stores and malls, but when I did, it was different! It wasn’t just because I had to wear a mask or wipe my hands every few minutes. It seems that my shopping preferences had changed too. I didn’t like over-stuffed stores, I was attracted to simple, clean and easy to navigate stores.
It was not just the physical stores, it was the online ones too. I was drawn to the sites that had smaller selections of products and less versions of the same items. Sites that were easy to navigate and provided me with the product information I needed in a simple and straightforward manner. It seemed that my new found minimalist approach to clutter has also turned into a desire for a simple and straightforward shopping experience.
Another positive impact of Covid is that we are also more conscious of our health and safety. I have noticed that many people are paying more attention to what they are eating and putting on their bodies. We are also more conscious about the health of our environment and planet. In spite of the downturn in the economy, we still want to be good to ourselves and our world but we want to get the best value out of our purchases; biggest health & environment bang for our buck!
This is not a new trend because of the pandemic, but the pandemic has significantly helped open our eyes to this trend. We know that a great number of today’s shoppers do research, care about their own & their loved ones’ health and about the planet. Shoppers nowadays are more curious and not afraid to try new products and brands.
However, these self educated and curious shoppers have to some extent become cynical of too many options of similar products, too many claims and promises, too much green washing and false advertisement. Many are looking for simple goodness, easy selections and truthful & transparent information and facts.These savvy shoppers are becoming better at differentiating between credible claims and empty promises.
Good marketing is still the key and will always be, however, it makes developing marketing messages that are compelling yet truthful more challenging. It means the way marketing messages and assets were developed in the past need a big overhaul. The great news is that this is where the good brands can stand out and where many mushroom brands new or old are going to be weeded out.
In many companies, the product commercialization is referred to as a “Funnel” with marketing and product development usually at the top and operation, supply chain, product safety/regulatory at the bottom.
The process would start with ideation among marketing/sales/buyers and R&D and continued with development of the actual product and the marketing assets. In better processes, marketing and R&D stayed aligned during the development and in many companies product development and marketing asset developments happened independently and in silos.
It wasn’t until close to the end that other functions such as operation, supply chain and regulatory teams were pulled in and that’s where the battles started. Battles over:
- product claims and promises that were not necessarily accurate or doable
- products that were not designed for the existing capabilities in the supply chain
Many had to redo products/ packaging/marketing materials and lose precious time and money. Sometimes compromises were made that put the brand reputation at risk and created potential legal and financial liabilities. And let’s not forget the blaming and the non-collaborative and toxic culture that was created because of this model. A battle with no winner.
Unfortunately, this is not a lesson in history. Many small and large established companies are still following the same approach. The good news is that many innovative, agile companies are changing the rules of the game.
Starting my own business has given me the opportunity to work with some great innovative and agile companies who are new to the game and are open to new ideas and changes and there is one change that has worked miracles; “Changing the product commercialization mindset – from “Funnel” to “Round Table” !
So what does this mean and how does it work? Here are a few simple tips:
- Have the main players at the table early in the process, as early as ideation and concept development stages.
- Make sure the team is aligned on what the “Reason for Being” for the product(s) and/or the concept is. What are the “must haves” that would make or break the concept and what are the “nice to haves”?
- Document these in a simple, yet comprehensive “Project/Product Brief”; I know, documentation sucks but believe me you would be so thankful you spent this time upfront when it is time for tough decisions later in the project.
- Get all impacted functions involved in review and approval of the brief. Here is where the mindset needs to change: regulatory & operations are part of initial development decisions – not the afterthought. You need to make sure:
- regulatory verifies that the claims are relevant and doable
- product development formulates or designs those attributes and claims into the product (claims are not add-ons, they are built ins)
- operation ensures production and supply chain capabilities are in place to produce, store and ship the product(s) in a way to keep the product quality & integrity
- marketing is clear on what words, claims and attributes they can use and what are the no-nos.
- Take an agile approach. Break down the project into smaller stages, create gates where the decision makers meet often to review and make go/no-go/ course correction decisions.
- Last but not least, develop marketing messages in collaboration with R&D and regulatory. Your messages need to be compelling but truthful. Develop a reiterative process where marketing assets are developed and reviewed in stages and you will have time to make changes as new information such as test results, clinical studies and prototypes are developed. Remember, marketing claims must be designed in the product/concepts and can not be added on after the fact!
Whatever you do, remember less is more! Highly curated product offerings, critical few claims and attributes that make your product/concept stand out. Less back and forth and more upfront collaboration. Last but not least, simple, clean and credible promises & marketing messages to help gain and maintain your customers trust.
And when you do that, you get the bonus surprise, your commercialization time can get cut as much as by 30-50%!!
If you are struggling with a lengthy commercialization process, frustrating redundancies, reworks, waste of time and resources, you are probably also experiencing product launch failures or launching products that don’t last in the market long.
Investing in the right approach makes a huge difference in your product launch success and helps create a collaborative, agile environment. This is an investment which pays dividends again and again. Get experts to help you develop and implement this iterative, agile and effective approach.
If you don’t have the expertise in house and/or don’t know where to find the expertise you need, visit our website www.JITExpertsHive.com or email us at info@jitexpertshive.com.