vendredi 28 juin 2013

Ever Growing Food Packaging Market

During the 90’s, the trend of packaged food was limited to few beverages and food items, people preferred to have them on occasions. But the ever changing lifestyle of people has increased the consumption of packaged food. The constant race against time has made people to ignore their eating habits. The traditional method of cooked food is slowly being changed to packaged food.
Packaging is the method of evaluation, design, and production of packages. It is the skill, science and the ability of protecting products for storage, distribution, use and sale. History of packaging dates back to the Stone Age where the early man would store his food in leaves and animal skin. The middle age used wooden barrels to store excess food for the rainy day. Food packaging has evolved since then, it is used to enable selling of products and to provide safety against contamination and to maintain the shelf life of the food.
What accelerates the food packaging industry?
Globalization has had a remarkable effect on the markets. Higher standard of living, health, eating habits, stress factors due to a sudden change in the work culture, regulations on food safety and purchasing power behaviors across different markets, regions and demographics have determined the growth of the food packaging market.
The convergence of global factors such as eating habits, health awareness, has added to the transformation of food packaging. These factors have driven the growth of active packaging techniques in all regions. A market research report states that the global market for food packaging is estimated to rise to nearly US $44.3 billion in coming 4 years increasing at Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.8%.
Increasing demand for unaltered and fresh food has given birth to active packaging. There is an anticipation of continued growth for controlling packaging in all regions, since the packaging techniques are focused mainly on keeping the freshness of everyday consumable products such as vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and other preprocessed foods for a particular section of people.

Un bollino compostabile per frutta e verdura bio

La provenienza dei prodotti che compriamo quotidianamente è importante, che sia da agricoltura biologica o dal mercato equo e solidale, è ormai evidente che le nostre scelte di acquisto possano fare la differenza.
Sono numerosi i fattori che portano un sempre più crescente numero di persone a scegliere frutta e verdura con elevati standard ecologici e sociali. E nonostante la crisi, il mercato di questo comparto è in crescita anche in Italia.
Il prodotto però non il solo elemento da valutare prima del consumo, l’impatto dei nostri acquisti dipende anche da quanti km ha percorso prima di arrivare sulle nostre tavole o anche dal tipo di packaging utilizzato.
Quante volte di fronte ad una banana biologica e certificata da organismi del commercio equo ci siamo trovati di fronte ad un’etichetta di carta adesiva che non poteva essere gettata nei rifiuti umidi?
L’azienda umbra Polycart ha ovviato al problema progettando delle pellicole adesive realizzate in Mater-BI, la bioplastica elabora a partire dall’amido di mais di cui sono fatti ormai molti sacchetti della spesa.
Il nome del prodotto è ‘Compost Label’, ma per semplicità verrà chiamato biollino. È infatti un bollino 100 % biodegradabile e compostabile, secondo gli standard dell’Unione Europea e sarà pronto per fine estate, dopo aver già incontrato il favore di produttori di frutta e verdura che l’hanno visto alle fiere di settore a Berlino e Udine.
Finalmemte una buona bio-idea!
Source: Tuttogreen (http://goo.gl/FmH6s)

Et l'enseigne la plus populaire sur les réseaux sociaux est...

Au tout début de la rédaction de mon blog, je m’étais intéressé à la présence de la Grande distribution sur les réseaux sociaux (voir aussi ). Aujourd’hui, j’ai décidé de refaire un tour sur les tentatives lancées par les enseignes alimentaires. Il y a 1 an ou 2, elles étaient toutes frileuses. Certaines enseignes lançaient timidement leur page Facebook et avançaient à reculons sur Twitter. E.Leclerc, pourtant quasi Leader sur le marché en France, avait d’ailleurs été une des dernières enseignes à se lancer sur Facebook. Le 23 Juillet 2012 pour être précis ! Depuis, Twitter a connu une vague de succès. Pinterest s’est épinglé comme un concurrent d’avenir. La vidéo - YouTube notamment - a encore pris davantage d’ampleur sur la toile. Et Google plus est...comment dire ?...euh, muet ?!.
Évidemment toujours difficile de faire un état des lieux précis : les pages s’amoncèlent. Système U et Leclerc comptent - clandestinement ? - une floppée de page dédiée à chaque magasin - ou presque. Auchan et Carrefour administrent plusieurs pages, parfois calqués sur le succès des autres. 
J’ai tenté de récolter le maximum de données. J’ai enregistré les «likes» des pages éponyme (qui portent le nom de l’enseigne) et également les nombreuses pages annexes qui comptaient au moins 2000 likers. J’ai surfé, constatant parfois avec stupéfaction, l’absence de certaines enseignes sur des réseaux aujourd’hui influenceurs sur la toile. Enfin, la présence de Monoprix dans cette enquête est selon moi inévitable.
Voici le palmarès :
*Facebook
Intermarché est le leader incontestable avec ces 4 pages (voir détail en dessous) qui lui permettent de dépasser largement le million de likers. Quasiment deux fois plus que les outsiders, qui forment à quelques likers près, un peloton bien groupé. 66000 likers séparent Monoprix de la 2ème place à E.Leclerc, 5ème du classement Facebook. Casino et Système U ferment difficilement la marche.L’absence de pages complémentaires de la part de Système U n’aide pas le groupe à décoller au classement. Monoprix avec sa seule page s’offre une belle 2ème place.
Le point important à noter dans ce classement reste le succès des pages annexes. Intermarché réalise un vrai coup avec sa page «Vive les bébés » : plus d’un demi-million de likers sur la page, soit quasiment autant que la seule page de Monoprix . Mention plus que spéciale pour ce joli pari réussi. Aussi, les pages dédiées à la cuisine réalisent de belles performances. De quoi peut-être augurer le commerce de demain : et si les consommateurs étaient gourmands de conseils sur le lieu de vente ? Hein ? 
*Twitter
Sur le réseau de l’oiseau bleu, Auchan vire en tête. Son coup de buzz récent sur le piratage de son compte lui a valu de nombreux RT et de nouveaux followers (10494 à ce jour). Monoprix (9462) est toujours bien placé, talonné par Carrefour(7424). 
Les indépendants, eux, semblent bouder ce réseau social. À noter que E.Leclerc ne détient aucun compte : il s’agit en vérité du compte dédié au LeclercDrive .Casino détient deux comptes : un compte CasinoFrance (628 abonnés) et un autre appelé Casino_Conso (121). Seul le premier a été comptabilisé dans mon enquête. Intermarché et Système U sont, à ma grande surprise, absents. 
*Pinterest
Sur ce réseau encore peu connu, Monoprix tire son épingle du jeu. Ce réseau de partage de photographies commence à accélérer son développement en France, avec une version dans la langue de Molière. Les «Pins» font de nombreuses émules parmi les internautes féminines, blogueuses modes ou amatrices de photos entre autres. Monoprix avec plus de 1200 abonnés fait bonne impression dans ce classement et semblent avoir flairé le bon filon pour sa clientèle. Casinoet Auchan semblent avoir tenté quelque chose. Les autres : silence radio pour le moment.
*YouTube
La vidéo va prendre le pas sur la photo. J’en ai la conviction. Preuve en est, l’application Vine détrône aujourd’hui Instagram en nombre de partages sur Twitter. La vague est en train de monter et ne va sans doute pas s’arrêter là ! Et les enseignes dans tout ça ? Pas grand-chose... Difficile véritablement de départager les enseignes. Elles sont présentes, c’est déjà ça.
*GooglePlus
GooglePlus... Je l’ai intégré au classement car je ne voudrais pas me fâcher avec Google. Eux qui pensaient faire de l’ombre à Facebook, ne font finalement de l’ombre... qu’à eux-mêmes. Trêve de plaisanteries. Notez qu’Auchan a l’audace d’y être et de détenir 746 (abonnés ? Googlerers ?... appelez cela comme vous voulez). Monoprix, toujours placé, en détient 297.
En résumé, les enseignes n’ont pas manqué le coche sur LE réseau phare : Facebook. Chacune d’elles se joue de partages, de contenus sympathiques, pour attirer les clics des internautes. Notez que E.Leclerc commencent à centraliser des pages Facebook pour chaque magasin. Monoprix, avec sa vision moins axée sur la consommation, fait figure d'exception et certaines enseignes devraient peut-être s'en inspirer. Système U a le profil pour réaliser cela.
Twitter, lui, reste selon moi un réseau à part et n’a pas encore le portrait type du réseau social grand public. Pour les autres outils (Pinterest ou YouTube), les enseignes s’y lancent timidement... en attendant le buzz ? 

Détails des différentes pages Facebook recensés par enseigne.

Our Retail Future Isn’t Science Fiction

Companies need to stop thinking about the future of retail shopping as if it were written out of a science fiction novel. Customers have high expectations when it comes to shopping, and only the innovative companies are meeting that demand. The retailers and brands that are falling behind are the ones that think mobile integration, apps, and effective customer relationship management of the 21st century are futuristic delusions of grandeur. The reason why customers have these expectations for most, if not, all retailers and brands is because they are realities they’ve already seen.

Meeting Expectations

People aren’t flying around on hover boards or cars from “The Jetsons,” but they do expect to be have services that they know are possible with the technology we have today — to shop from their phones, and receive personalized messages and notifications of discounts and offers sent to their phones. The reason why companies have added on to their customer relationship management strategy to include customer loyalty management is because they know the value of a return customer. The world is more social and open than it has ever been before, so word of mouth in this day and age will only take a company so far.
Today, companies need customers to be brand advocates on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, but in order for that to happen, the retailer is going to have to offer services through these new platforms as well. From the customer’s perspective, being able to shop on the Internet or on a phone is not a crazy thought. If they can do it with one company, they want to be able to do it fromall companies. As a result, customers will become the most loyal to those that provide the best services. Competitors not keeping up with new technologies will be left in the Stone Age still trying to figure out how to build a fan base.

The Future is Now

This is the essence of Turning Customers Into Fans and why customer relationship management is so important — companies that treat people like customers are the ones that still think the future of shopping is still a few years out. The innovative retailers know that the future is already here and they are doing something about it. Implementing new methods to retain customers as fans and loyal members is not something retailers should want to put off — they’ve already lost the game if they continue to delay what is already a reality.
TIBCO Loyalty Lab is helping to turn customers into fans and it’s also one of the sponsors for the2013 Customer Relationship Management Conference (CRMC) in Chicago. Leading retailers in different industries will come together from June 17 to June 19 to discuss marketing strategies and new CRM ideas.
If you’re attending the event or have your own ideas, find us on Twitter and share your thoughts.
Source: Thetibcoblog (http://goo.gl/c8oTG)

Online retailers hone in on mobile data via bricks-and-mortar stores

Online retailers such as Warby Parker, Gilt and Bonobos are opening up bricks-and-mortar stores to not only expand their physical footprints, but also to glean how consumers shop with mobile and in-store technologies to eventually enhance their Web offerings.
Bricks-and-mortar stores are still a fairly new tactic for online retailers, with brands often only opening up temporary pop-up stores or pilots. Given mobile’s role in bridging the two together, savvy retailers are likely thinking ahead of the curve with how mobile can impact their digital assets with these types of stores.
“Many innovative retailers, like online retailers, believe the future of retail is the intersection of ecommerce and bricks-and-mortar,” said Tom Thomas, vice president of marketing intelligence at Organic, San Francisco. “These showrooms keep little to no on-site inventory while allowing shoppers to try product and provide direct feedback for both product design and consumer behavior.
The mobile implications are more efficient retail operations and the ability to offer a more personalized shopping experience,” he said.
“Online retailers with physical showrooms are best equipped for mobile purchasing since their operations are already highly digital.”
Mobile insight
Warby Parker recently made the jump to bricks-and-mortar stores with a store that lets consumers try on different glasses frames that they can then buy online.
However, the online retailer is also using physical locations for more than sales, and is using in-store data to get a better grasp on its users.
In an interview with Gigaom, Neil Blumenthal, co-founder of Warby Parker, New York, told the publication that it is using Wi-Fi, sensors and other technologies in-store to better understand its shoppers.
Warby Parker declined to comment on any additional specifics with its bricks-and-mortar stores for this article.
Using Wi-Fi and touch sensors will let Warby Parker not only understand how consumers interact with products tangibly but also look at how shoppers use their mobile devices to access information while in a store, which can then be used to influence the retailer’s inventory and merchandising strategies online.
Leveraging in-store QR codes can also help online retailers gather data on their consumers and also eliminate queues.
“Instead of a checkout station, the shopper simply purchases through a QR code on the item, which automatically processes payment, schedules shipping and collects data on the shopper,” Mr. Thomas said.
“These analytics along with a behaviorally adaptive content system could allow the retailer to notify the shopper of products whenever they are within proximity of the showroom,” he said.
In another example of how online retailers are embracing bricks-and-mortar stores, Gilt is opening up a month-long pop-up store later this month in Louisville, KY.
The store will be located nearby to the company’s largest distribution center. The temporary store will offer discounts up to 90 percent off on merchandise.
Given Gilt’s large focus on mobile as an integral part of its online-only business, it is not hard to imagine that the retailer is likely looking to gain some insight into the shopping behavior of in-store shoppers, where they are plugged into their mobile devices, to influence its Web strategy.
“Over time, Gilt has built a number of features that enhance the shopping experience – editorial via GiltMANual and product discovery via the what’s trending feature enhance the ever-present ability to gauge how something will look by seeing it on model whose measurements are provided,” said Steve Smith, partner of planning and insights at Firehouse, Dallas
“Mobile can bring some of this functionality into the bricks-and-mortar environment, enhancing the experience and making it more on-brand,” he said.
Mr. Smith is not affiliated with Gilt. Gilt did not meet press deadline for a comment on this story.
Specifically, Gilt has a strong mobile strategy with applications, which could be leveraged by the retailer to get an even closer look at how mobile is used as part of a multi-device shopping journey.
The retailer could potentially have a trove of data to tailor an in-store experience around, including past purchases, product discussions and social media activity.
Additionally, there could also be an in-store mobile app component to ultimately drive consumers to an online store if a product is out of stock.
“It’s not about establishing a store strategy – mobile is going to enable [online retailers] to understand the behavior between the online and in-store shopper,” said Adam Silverman, principal analyst at Forrester Research, Cambridge, MA.
“And for those retailers that have a larger adoption of mobile apps, they are at an advantage because they can track more people,” he said.
“Measuring across touch points is the hardest challenge and tying back that store shipper to a shopper in your database. They need to deploy a mobile app to create a hook and a single view of the customer.”
Seamless user experience
Although there are many challenges with operating bricks-and-mortar stores, including expensive costs, there is also a big opportunity for online retailers to use physical locations to build brand affinity that can be translated to online sales or through incremental revenue.
Additionally, online brands can use bricks-and-mortar stores to try out location-based tactics that they otherwise would not be able to implement.
“This starts away from the store with enticing content but also includes near the store via geo-fenced offers and in-store with tools and tips like augmented reality,” said Doug Rozen, chief innovation officer at MXM, New York.
This helps fill in the entire customer journey with mobile adding a contextual layer to the shopping experience.
At the same time though, retailers also need to understand the differences between shoppers on each medium, according to Ben Kennedy, group director of mobile marketing at The Integer Group, Denver.
“The biggest challenge online retailers will face is to find an answer to a tough question, what is the role of the store?” Mr. Kennedy said.
“People will enter a store to be inspired, to feel better, see products that they have never seen before, presented in a beautiful way – it’s not going to be for convenience [because] same0day delivery and online platforms provide this value,” he said.
“Today, this doesn’t happen in a lot of stores, which provides both an opportunity and a challenge to an online retailer. Data generated through online and mobile platforms will empower online retailers to offer a very unique and differentiated customer experience through physical outlets.”
Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York

jeudi 27 juin 2013

Plus besoin de frigo pour ses légumes!


L’artiste Jihyun Ryou, diplomée de la Dutch Design Academy Eindhoven, réinterprète les savoirs-traditionnels de conservation des aliments dans des designs actuels, pratiques et contemporains. Découvrez comment désemplir votre frigidaire en suivant ses conseils.
Reconnecter avec les traditions de stockages des aliments



Sur son blog Shaping traditional oral knowledg , Jihyun Ryou explique les motivations qui ont guidé son travail:
Ce projet met en lumière les savoirs traditionnels oraux qui se sont accumulés, d’expériences en expériences, et transmis verbalement de générations en générations. Particulièrement intéressée par la conservation des aliments, il me semblait alors réalisable de transposer ce savoir faire dans notre vie de tous les jours. (…) De plus, cela permet de reconnecter les différents niveaux d’êtres vivants: en tant qu’être humain à notre échelle mais aussi les aliments qui sont d’autres êtres vivants.
Si, au premier abord, cela peut paraître étrange et même ironique de parler des légumes comme «êtres vivants», il est difficile de dire que l’affirmation est fausse. Les fruits et les légumes continuent de vivre et de respirer même après qu’ils aient été ramassés. En les plaçant dans des conditions favorables, leur «respiration» peut être ralentie ce qui augmente leur durée de conservation.
L’arrosage des poivrons, courgettes, aubergines et tomates pour les conserver
Alors que beaucoup de fruits et légumes tirent un avantage à être stocké à basse température comme dans un frigidaire  (4,5 degrés Celsius en moyenne), ce n’est pas vrai pour tous.
Les légumes tels que les poivrons, courgettes, aubergines et tomates ont besoin d’une température plus élevée et pourrissent plus rapidement au frigidaire.Cependant ils ont besoin d’un environnement humide plus important.  Par un rituel d’arrosage quotidien, ils resteront frais plus longtemps.
Le même principe est appliqué au bol de fruit. Son concept vient de la sagesse d’un vieux fermier qui conservait ses fruits sur un bol d’eau avant de les vendre.
Du sable pour les carottes
Conserver les légumes dans du sable légèrement humide a fait partie des méthodes de conservation utilisées pendant des siècles. Alors que les températures basses sont idéales pour les carottes, un taux d’humidité élevé est aussi important. Les stocker dans du sable légèrement mouillé assure le compromis entre les deux.
©Edoardo Costa (Flickr)
Le riz pour absorber l’humidité des pots à épices

©Edoardo Costa
D’autres ingrédients comme l’ail, les épices, les oignons ou les patates douces ont besoin d’être conservés dans un espace à faible taux d’humidité mais à température élevée. Pour les empêcher d’absorber l’humidité, la solution se trouve dans le riz. Dans le design proposé par l’artiste, le bouchon en liège de chaque pot contient un petit espace prévu pour le riz. Ainsi, il aide à maintenir les épices sèches.
Conserver les pommes de terre sans qu’elles ne germent
Certains fruits et légumes (comme les pommes mais aussi les tomates, les avocats, les bananes, etc.) émettent des gaz d’éthylène qui provoquent l’accélération du processus de mûrissement des fruits et légumes qui sont conservés avec ces-derniers. Dans ce cas, il est plus judicieux de stocker les fruits et légumes qui émettent de l’éthylène séparément. Cependant, selon Jihyun Ryou, lorsqu’ils sont combinés avec des pommes de terre, ils ont un effet positif, parce que le gaz éthylène empêche la germination de ces dernières. La designer a créé une boîte en bois qui contient des pommes de terre dans l’obscurité (pour les empêcher de germer), tandis que les trous sur le dessus leur permettent de bénéficier des gaz émis par les pommes.

mercredi 26 juin 2013

Will food innovation provide an opportunity for the packaging industry?

I recently came across an interesting article on The Guardian. No, this one was not about Edward Snowden and the NSA, but rather about a recent investment trend in Silicon Valley, which may provide a business opportunity for those in packaging. 
According to The Guardian, one of the "hottest" trends enticing Silicon Valley investors is centered on food, or more specifically, the future of our food. 
In a world of seven billion people, set to grow to nine billion by 2050, many entrepreneurs believe food innovation will provide a well-founded business opportunity.
For instance, Hampton Creek Foods in San Francisco is working on chicken-less egg substitute. The company, which features tech-giant Bill Gates as an investor, believes the current meat, agriculture, dairy and egg supply chain may not be able to meet the growing demand for protein. For instance, in developing countries such as China and India, meat consumption continues to rise.
On Gates' site, he wrote, "Raising meat takes a great deal of land and water and has a substantial environmental impact. Put simply, there is no way to produce enough meat for nine billion people."
Hampton Creek touts that its plant-based substitute will focus on sustainability in the supply chain due to its process, which requires less water to feed the plants and less CO2. 
Another meat-less company receiving attention is Beyond Meat, makers of plant-based protein foods that "take the animal out of meat." The company's chicken-strip like packaged food recently hit Whole Foods store shelves. Backed by Twitter co-founders, Biz Stone and Evan Williams' investment firm, the chicken-free strips have been in development for more than a decade.
According to a new release, Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown believes the future of protein is animal-free.
"We want Beyond Meat to be sold as a meat alternative in places where you ordinarily will find meat - whether that is in the meat case at your local grocery store, or your favorite fast food chain," he said. "This is very different from how meat alternatives are positioned today where you have to hunt them down in a separate refrigerated section far from areas where you would find meat."
The packaging for the strips is interesting; on the outside it uses the ingredients made to produce the product to help form an image of a chicken. It's packaged in a recyclable and reusable tray, mostly made out of PET, but I couldn't confirm.
So do I believe that these meat-less products will over take our nation's love for meat? No, I don't. But according to Visiongain, a British research company, the food packaging market seems to have reached a "plateau in terms of technology and its ability to carry out its primary duty which is that of protecting and extending the life of the foods stuffs within the packaging."
"Being quite a mature market growth is neither slow nor excessive with an equilibrium being achieved by the meeting of slowing growth in the more developed economies of the west and the burgeoning economies of the east," the report stated.
As such, Visiongain has determined that the global food packaging market will attain sales of $251.8 billion in 2013.
In the west food packaging has advanced to its limit to a point where any new technologies or developments come at great financial, research and design costs and the benefits of these discoveries on the already existing packaging are marginal at best, according to the report. Focus in these mature markets has now drifted to branding and the development of new and more exotic food stuffs.
Whereas in the eastern markets it is a case of playing catch up in terms of technology and pushing out the reach of supply chains and logistic channels as the lives of foods within packaging have met their limits.Now infrastructure and logistics have to cover the gap to enable food to reach end customers from the farm gate.
"Overall there is a clear trend that plastics of both a flexible and rigid type are the most favored and in the most demand simply due to their costs and performance as a malleable material and ability to cope in almost all environments," the report stated.
So if Visiongain is indeed correct and there's not a lot of new movement in developing new food packaging technology, perhaps the next market opportunity for packaging suppliers is working with these food innovators, such as the meat-less products. Particularly those still in the start up phase who perhaps still need a packaging supplier to work with.
Source: PlasticsToday (http://goo.gl/Xasw1)

How to Create Products that Your Customers Will Love

How to create innovations that customers do not expect, but that they eventually love? How to create products and services, which are so distinct from those that dominate the market and so inevitable that make people passionate?A major finding has characterized management literature in the past decades: that radical innovation, albeit risky, is one of the major sources of long-term competitive advantage. But is that really the case? Read more in this article by Roberto Verganti, Professor of Management of Innovation and author of the book “Design-Driven Innovation.
For many authors the phrase radical innovation is an ellipsis for a longer construction spells radical technological innovation. Indeed, investigators of innovation have focused mainly on the disruptive effect of novel technologies on industries.
Many of these studies forget that people do not buy products but meanings.People use things for profound emotional, psychological, and sociocultural reasons as well as utilitarian ones. In studies on radical innovation, an examination of meanings has been largely absent. They are not considered a subject of R&D.
People do not buy products but meanings
However, companies such as Nintendo, Apple, Artemide, Whole Foods Market, Alessi show that meanings do change—and that they can change radically. These therefore purse a strategy: design-driven innovation— that is, radical innovation of meaning. Think for example at the Nintendo Wii that transformed consoles from a passive immersion in a virtual world approachable only by niche experts into an active physical entertainment for everyone, in the real world, through socialization. Or at Whole Foods Market, which has radically changed the meaning of healthy nutrition from a severe, self-denying choice to a hedonic one, and shopping from a chore to a reinvigorating experience.

Creating new markets 

These firms have not provided people with an improved interpretation of what they already mean by, and expect from, a console or an organic food store.Rather, they have proposed a different and unsolicited meaning, which was what people were actually waiting for. The design-driven innovations introduced by these firms have not come from the market but have created huge markets. They have generated products, services, and systems with long lives, significant and sustainable profit margins, and brand value, and they have spurred company growth.
I’ve been investigating these and other leading firms for 10 years. In my book, “Design-Driven Innovation – Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating what Things Mean”, published by Harvard Business Press, I unveil they have built an unbeatable and sustainable competitive advantage through innovations that do not come from the market but that create new markets, by competing through products and services that have a radical new meaning: those that convey a completely new reason for customers to buy them. The cases, data and stories in the book show how to create this new vision and how to successfully propose it to customers.

Redefining existing products or concepts 

Radical innovation of meanings doesn’t come from user-centered approaches. If Nintendo had closely observed teenagers using existing game consoles, it probably would have improved traditional game controllers, enabling users to better immerse themselves in a virtual world, rather than redefining what a game console is. User-centered innovation does not question existing meanings but rather reinforces them, thanks to its powerful methods.
Design-driven innovations are instead proposals, which however, are not dreams without a foundation. They end up being what people were waiting for, once they see them. They often love them much more than products that companies have developed by scrutinizing users’ needs.
Which kind of experience would they love?
My research shows that these radical proposals come from a very precise process and concrete capabilities. Firms that develop design-driven innovations step back from users and take a broader perspective. They explore how the context in which people live is evolving. Most of all, these firms envision how this context of life could change for the better. Their question, therefore, is, “How could people give meaning to things in this evolving life context? Which kind of experience would they love?”

Take a step back and apply a broader perspective 

When a company takes this broader perspective, it discovers that it is not alone in asking that question. Every company is surrounded by several agents (firms in other industries that target the same users, suppliers of new technologies, researchers, designers, and artists) who share its interests. Consider, for example, a food company that, instead of closely looking with a magnifying lens at how a person cuts cheese, asks, “What meanings could family members search for when they are home and are going to have dinner?
Other actors are investigating this same question: kitchen manufacturers, manufacturers of white goods, TV broadcasters, architects who design home interiors, food journalists, and food retailers. All are looking at the same people in the same life context: dinner with family at home at night. And all are conducting research on how those people could give meaning to things. They are, in other words, interpreters.

Using a design-driven process 

Companies that produce design-driven innovations are better than their competitors at detecting, attracting, and interacting with key interpreters. The process of design-driven innovation therefore entails getting close to interpreters. This process, described in detail in this book, consists of three actions.
The first one is listening. It is the action of gaining access to knowledge about possible new product meanings by developing a privileged relationship with a distinguished circle of key interpreters. Successful firms first identify overlooked interpreters, usually in fields where competitors are not searching. They search“outside of the network”.
The second action is interpreting. Its purpose is to allow a company to develop its unique proposal. This process reflects the profound and precise dynamics of research rather than the speed of brainstorming. It implies sharing knowledge through exploratory experiments rather than extemporaneous creativity. Its outcome is the development of a breakthrough meaning for a product family.
The third action is addressing. Radical innovations of meanings, being unexpected, sometimes initially confuse people. To prepare the ground for groundbreaking proposals, firms leverage the seductive power of interpreters. By discussing and internalizing a firm’s novel vision, these interpreters inevitably change the life context (through the technologies they develop, the products and services they design, the artworks they create) in a way that makes the company’s proposal more meaningful and attractive when people see it.
The key leaders in this process are not designers, but executives who identify the talented interpreters, lead the interpretation process and take responsibility in identifying and promoting a novel vision. You do not need to be creative or to be a guru. Every executive can promote innovations that clients will love, by implementing the proper process and capabilities.
About the author
Roberto Verganti is the author of “Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating what Things Mean” published by Harvard Business Press in 2009.
He is a Professor of Management of Innovation at Politecnico di Milano, where he directs MaDe In Lab, the laboratory for executive education on the MAnagement of DEsign and INnovation. He has been a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School twice and is a visiting professor at the Copenhagen Business School. Professor Verganti serves on the Board of the EIASM – the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management, and on the Advisory Boards of the Design Management Institute of Boston.
Roberto Verganti is also the founder of PROject Science, a consulting institute dedicated to helping companies achieve strategic innovation. He has served as an advisor, coach and executive educator to senior managers at a variety of firms including Ferrari, Ducati, Whirlpool, Xerox, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Barilla, Nestlè, Unilever, STMicroelectronics, Intuit, Microsoft, Bausch&Lomb, Vodafone. He has also helped national and regional governments around the world to conceive design and innovation policies.
Source: Innovation Management (http://goo.gl/YXWVx)