plan
innovate
grow
Whether you want to save, sell or grow your brand, a clearly targeted and structured Product & Innovation Strategy is essential for your success. I’ll help you develop that.
Great brands are built on amazing products.
I am Helen Cooper, and during my 37 year career I have worked with a variety of big, small and failing businesses helping them to achieve their goals and ambitions.
Now I’m using that experience to help people like you create a brand and innovation strategy that brings your business ambitions to life.
No matter whether you are focused on the next 3-6 months or the next 3-5 years, you need to be making the most of your assets, knowledge and skills to manage costs and remain authentic.
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I work with you to uncover new opportunities and innovative concepts that will help to protect and grow your business.
Let’s kick off the conversation with a no cost and commitment-free 30 minute chat, so you can talk to me about your ambitions and concerns, and see if we can work well together.
If I can help you then I will, but it is a two-way street so I like to be clear about a couple of reasons why we might not be the right combination to drive your business forward.
3
reasons I might not be the right person for you:
ONE
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You don’t want to listen to my recommendations.
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Quite often hard truths are hard to hear, but I will be very honest in my findings and suggestions – even if it’s a bit painful.
TWO
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You believe that high fees equal greater expertise and better outcomes.
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Whilst my fees fairly reflect my experience, they are both affordable and straightforward.
THREE
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You think that everything
is currently fine.
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If that’s the case why are you reading this? Perhaps I could give you an objective assessment of your plans to reassure you
Whilst I only work with businesses that have a real desire to succeed, not all businesses are the same, so how we achieve that success depends on what you need. Here’s a few ways that I can help you:
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Accelerate your innovation plans with my 5-Day Sprint Programmes
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Development of a clear Product Strategy for your brand
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Regular reporting of major product and consumer trends that impact you
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Review of your ‘benched’ ideas to see if they can be revived
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Create customer-centric innovation that is unique to your brand
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Concept and proposition development to test new markets
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Product planning ahead of a potential trade sale of your business
Which of these
3
diagrams best represents your current product strategy?
"We know our brand is strong but need to work out where we grow in future."
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I will help you identify the right Innovation strategy that focuses your investments, keeps you relevant, and finds ways to stretch your brand into new sectors
FOCUSED
"Our first product was massive but since then our launches have mainly missed the mark."
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I will help clarify your brand vision and develop a product strategy that can deliver your future goals in ways that consumers find exciting and motivating.
VARIABLE
"We keep spending a fortune and launching products that don’t really deliver."
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I will review your ideas, challenge your assumptions, identify potential problems, and create a prioritised plan to deliver what you need
SCATTERGUN
Your Product Strategy needs Innovation.
A Product Strategy is often a structured 2-5 year plan that delivers what you need in order to be successful and remain true to your Brand Vision. There’s a few product strategy stories for you to read here.
However, there are good reasons, especially in times of change or crisis, to accelerate the process. I call it 'Stractical' as it involves taking a short term view that can still contribute to the longer term Vision. That doesn't mean though that you have to sacrifice innovation on the altar of speed. It just needs to be a different type. Take a look at my new 5-Day Sprint Programmes to see if that could work for you.
Whilst it is important to have a number of new products to launch that keep your customers interested, not all ‘newness’ is ‘innovation’, and you might be missing out on an opportunity to create significant extra value for your business.
If you’re not sure about how you can build innovation into your business, then take a look at the 4 different types below, and visit the interactive Innovation Quiz to find which sort could suit your unique needs and resources.
Radical Innovation is closer to the ground-breaking, paradigm-shifting type of newness that many people imagine all innovation to be.
It isn’t only bigger companies that get involved in this – look at the tech unicorns many of which are start ups - however it requires a big idea, deep pockets and perseverance as this type innovation doesn’t happen overnight.
Radical Innovation
In its simplest form, Incremental innovation is about making an existing product a bit better, through performance improvement, user experience, packaging material, and so on.
It is the fastest and lowest cost type of innovation but with low barriers to entry for your competitors, it also generally lasts the shortest time too.
Incremental
Innovation
Disruptive innovation has the power to create a longer lasting ‘edge’ for brands by identifying something which doesn’t yet exist and creating a new product or service to fill the gap.
It isn’t as expensive or extreme as the Radical innovation, but a strong brand story can uncover opportunities to create something unique.
Disruptive
Innovation
For manufacturers, innovation can often be created by adapting their processes and ways of working to new product forms, including some in very different industries.
During the COVID-19 crisis, many companies have changed what they produce and in some cases have unlocked new business opportunities not previously considered. This is Structural innovation.