Innovation-driven Market Analysis

Most companies are using AI for efficiency. Some are accelerating value creation. A great case study is how Colgate-Palmolive is driving innovation. Here are specific ways they are embedding GenAI across innovation processes to substantlly improve research and product development. These come from an excellent article in MIT Sloan Management Review by Tom Davenport and Randy Bean (link in comments). 💡 AI-Driven Product Concept Generation Accelerates Ideation By linking one AI system that surfaces consumer needs with another that crafts product concepts, Colgate-Palmolive can swiftly generate creative ideas like novel toothpaste flavors. This AI-augmented workflow produces a broader product funnel and allows rapid iteration, enabling more employees to participate in the innovation process under guided human oversight. 🔍 Retrieval-Augmented Generation Enhances Data Reliability The firm’s use of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) integrates company-specific research, syndicated data, and real-time trends from sources like Google search data. This approach minimizes the risk of hallucinations and ensures that responses are deeply grounded in verified, internal content—delivering more accurate market analysis and trend detection. 🤖 Digital Consumer Twins Validate and Refine Concepts Moving beyond traditional focus groups, the company has developed “digital consumer twins”—virtual representations of real consumer behavior. These digital twins rapidly test hundreds of AI-generated product ideas. Early evaluations show a high level of agreement between virtual feedback and actual consumer responses. This innovation speeds up early-stage concept validation and reduces reliance on slower, more limited human panels. 🔐 Democratizing AI Through a Secure Internal AI Hub Colgate-Palmolive’s AI Hub provides employees with controlled access to advanced AI tools (including models from OpenAI and Google) behind corporate firewalls. Mandatory training on responsible AI use, including guardrails and prompt engineering best practices, ensures that employees harness these tools safely and effectively. Built-in surveys and KPI tracking further enable the company to measure improvements in creativity, productivity, and overall work quality. 🌐 Bridging Traditional Analytics with Next-Gen AI for Measurable Impact By integrating traditional machine learning with cutting-edge generative AI, Colgate-Palmolive is not only boosting operational efficiencies but also driving strategic growth. This seamless blend supports tasks ranging from market research and innovation to marketing content creation—demonstrating a holistic, value-driven approach to adopting AI that is a model for other organizations.

🎙️ I had the pleasure of speaking with Machua Millett, CINO and Alternative Investment Practice Leader at Lockton Financial Services. We dove into a critical aspect of innovation that often goes under-discussed: the intersection of product desirability and financial viability. 🌟 Episode Highlights: Mach brings to light a pivotal challenge in innovation - understanding the market's desire for a new product and its willingness to pay for it. He shares a candid story of a product that, despite its potential, never took off due to consumers' lack of monetary appetite. 🔍 Key Insights: 💡 Understanding Market Demand: Mach emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between a product being 'nice to have' and 'worth paying for'. 📊 The Role of the Innovation Council: He discusses how initial conversations should focus on assessing the financial appetite for a product. 💬 Stress-Testing Market Interest: Learn about the need to engage with potential customers early on to gauge their willingness to invest in the product. 💵 A Deep Dive into Pricing Strategies: Mach also sheds light on the complexities of setting a product's price, especially when third-party stakeholders, like insurers, are involved. This part of the conversation reveals the intricate negotiations and strategic decisions that underpin successful product pricing. 🎧 Tune in to gain valuable insights on balancing innovation with market realities, and the often overlooked yet crucial aspect of pricing strategy in product development. https://lnkd.in/drwKVyFp #innovation #podcast

🔌 Innovation as the Key Driver in the BEV Market ⚡ New data from the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) clearly shows: Automakers with strong innovation performance significantly outperform in global BEV sales. 📊 The correlation between global BEV sales and innovation strength is a robust 0.73. Industry leaders like Tesla, BYD, and Volkswagen are not only technology pioneers in range, charging speed, and efficiency – they also dominate BEV volumes. 🔄 Key trends: Tesla is still a leader but shows a decline in innovation (2016–2020: 149.6 ➡ 2020–2024: 114.9 index points), BYD (31.5 ➡ 69.9) and Volkswagen (124.1 ➡ 184.2) are gaining ground. Geely stands out with one of the most significant innovation leaps. 📈 Bottom line: Technological strength pays off – often with a time lag. Those who invest in innovation today are likely to lead the market tomorrow. 👉 The full CAM study / AutomotiveINNOVATIONS dashboard offers valuable insights for OEMs, suppliers, and investors shaping the future of electric mobility (see links in comments). #EV #Innovation #AutomotiveIndustry #BEV #Tesla #BYD #Volkswagen #Geely #ElectricVehicles #CAM #FutureOfMobility

Using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis is the best approach for new product development. New study: Organizations that rely heavily on data-driven analysis tend to produce familiar, incremental innovations with moderate commercial potential, at the expense of risky, novel breakthroughs or hit products. We argue that this tradeoff does not hold when quantitative and qualitative analysis are used together. Organizations that substantially rely on both types of analysis in the new-product innovation process will benefit by triangulating quantifiably verifiable demand (which prompts more moderate successes but fewer hits) with qualitatively discernible potential (which prompts more novelty but more flops). Although relying primarily on either type of analysis has little impact on overall new-product sales due to the countervailing strengths and weaknesses inherent in each, together they have a complementary positive effect on new-product sales as each compensates for the weaknesses of the other. Paper: https://lnkd.in/eCsgmafw

Pakistan Can Compete Globally—But Only If We Innovate Fearlessly. In today’s rapidly evolving world, playing it safe is the riskiest move. The most successful companies don’t rely on guesswork; they use structured innovation frameworks to unlock exponential growth. Here are 5 powerful frameworks—with global and Pakistani examples: 1️⃣ 10X Thinking Aim for radical, 10X improvements—not just incremental 10% gains. SpaceX slashed launch costs by 90%, making space travel commercially viable. Pakistan: No true 10X disruptor yet—but the opportunity is wide open. Are you thinking 10% better—or 10X bigger? 2️⃣ Blue Ocean Strategy Create uncontested market space—offering unique value where competition is irrelevant. Microsoft Windows made PCs universal, creating a global standard. Meezan Bank created Pakistan’s Islamic banking ecosystem, unlocking faith-driven demand. → Market Cap: $1.5B USD What unmet need can you lead? 3️⃣ Design Thinking Human-centered innovation—solve real problems by deeply understanding users, prototyping, and testing. Apple built seamless experiences like iPhone & Apple Store. Pakistan: Interloop, a leading hosiery supplier, aligned its supply chain with sustainability and ethical practices, securing clients like Nike and Adidas. → Market Cap: $310M USD Are you designing around customer needs? 4️⃣ Innovation Ambition Matrix Balance short-term, medium-term, and long-term innovation across 3 horizons: Core: Strengthen existing products. Adjacent: Expand into new markets. Transformational: Pursue future breakthroughs. Amazon: → Core (e-commerce) → Adjacent (AWS Cloud) → Transformational (Alexa, Prime Video). Pakistan: Lucky Cement: → Core (cement) → Adjacent (chemicals, pharma via ICI acquisition) → Transformational (automotive assembly, energy projects). → Market Cap: $2.5B USD Ismail Industries has steadily built a diversified consumer goods portfolio: → CandyLand (sweets) → Bisconni (biscuits) → SnackCity (savory snacks) → Astro Films (packaging). → Estimated Market Cap: $460 million USD. Are you balancing core stability, near-term growth, and future bets? 5️⃣ Lean Operations & Product Expansion Do more with less—focus on rapid, cost-efficient product development and expanding offerings based on market feedback. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, trained a cutting-edge AI model for under $6M using 2,000 Nvidia chips, while OpenAI’s GPT-4 cost $100M+ using 25,000 GPUs. No clear parallel example yet in Pakistan. Are you scaling efficiently while staying lean? Takeaway: Pakistan Needs More 10X Thinkers While Meezan, Interloop, Lucky & Ismail Industries show what’s possible, Pakistan’s first true 10X disruptor is still to come. Could it be you? Which framework resonates with you? How can we accelerate Pakistan’s innovation ecosystem? Please list which innovators have I missed! #Innovation #10XThinking #BlueOceanStrategy #DesignThinking #InnovationAmbitionMatrix #ExponentialGrowth

AdvisorTech markets are driven by innovation cycles: high-quality solutions create satisfaction, drive demand, intensify competition, and spur innovation.  However, advisors are generally slow adopters. Our analysis identifies three key market dynamics: importance vs. adoption (are vendors expanding the market or competing for existing users?), satisfaction vs. adoption (do advisors favor incumbents or seek alternatives?), and intent to change (how much "money is in motion" for vendors to capture?). Understanding these dynamic helps vendors navigate whether they're creating new demand or competing in saturated segments. Read more in our 2023 Advisor Tech Study: https://kitc.es/3ZWJoP2

Here’s a quick summary of the Outcome-Driven Innovation process I've used to help my clients generate over $50 billion in revenue growth. 1. First, define your market as a group of people and the job-to-be-done - Define your job executors - Identify the core job they're trying to get done 2. Understand your customer's outcomes (needs tied to the job-to-be-done) - Capture ALL customer-desired outcomes - Typically, 50-150 distinct customer outcomes exist 3. Quantify growth opportunities, answering the questions: - What outcome-based segments exist? - Which outcomes are underserved and to what degree? - Which outcomes are overserved and to what degree? - Which segments and outcomes do we target? 4. THEN choose your strategy A - Differentiated strategy Best when: You find highly underserved customers Approach: - Create a superior solution at premium price - Target customers willing to pay more - Focus on underserved outcomes Examples: Nest, Dyson B - Dominant strategy Best when: You find under- and over-served outcomes Approach: - Deliver 20%+ better performance - Offer 20%+ lower costs - Target all customer segments Examples: Netflix streaming, Google Search, UberX C - Disruptive strategy Best when: Market is overserved or has many non-consumers Approach: - Offer simpler solution - Reduce costs significantly - Accept lower performance Examples: Google Docs vs MS Office, TurboTax vs Tax Advisors D - Discrete strategy Best when: Customers have limited access or choices Approach: - Target "restricted" situations - Charge premium prices - Accept lower performance Examples: Airplane Wifi, stadium concessions, remote ATMs 5. Sustaining strategy Best when: You're an incumbent protecting a position Approach: - Make modest improvements - Keep similar pricing - Focus on existing customers The opportunities you discover in the market dictate what strategy to pursue. Addressing the identified opportunities with the right strategy puts you on the path to success.

When it comes to innovation, the key isn’t just the idea, it’s in the data. Take Kraft Heinz with their Crystal Light Vodka Refreshers. The company saw that nearly 20% of their existing Crystal Light consumers were already using it as a mixer in alcoholic drinks. That’s a consumer signal they could act on. With this insight, Kraft launched a product that not only aligns with customer behavior but taps into an established demand. Then there’s PepsiCo with Cheetos Mac n’ Cheese. PepsiCo Mexico identified a growing demand for household cooking staples and a lack of innovation in the mac and cheese category. Once again, this wasn’t a shot in the dark; it was informed by consumer research. The result? 35M+ pesos in sales in the first two years. Understanding consumer preferences gave Pepsi the edge to succeed. Consumer insights data helps you understand your audience to make confident, data-backed decisions to launch innovations that expand your brand’s reach and drive volume growth. Consumer insights data helps you understand your audience to make confident, data-backed decisions to launch innovations that expand your brand’s reach and drive volume growth. How are you using consumer insights for your next innovation? #RetailMedia #ConsumerInsights #MarketingStrategy #ExperientialMarketing #Innovation #CPG

If you aren't using Reasoning and Deep Research daily - you need to start today. Deep research is a powerful tool that businesses can use to gain a competitive edge, optimize decision-making, and uncover hidden opportunities. Here are ways businesses can leverage deep research and reasoning to their advantage: 📌 Market Analysis & Trend Prediction - Identify emerging trends before competitors. - Understand shifting consumer preferences through sentiment analysis. - Forecast industry disruptions and plan accordingly. 📌 Competitive Intelligence (🎥 below breaks this one down) - Analyze competitors’ strategies, pricing, and product launches. - Identify gaps in the market that competitors haven’t addressed. - Reverse-engineer successful marketing campaigns and tactics. 📌 Customer Insights & Behavioral Analysis - Understand what truly drives customer decisions beyond surface-level feedback. - Use deep-dive research on customer complaints to improve satisfaction. - Segment audiences based on behavioral patterns, not just demographics. 📌 Product Development & Innovation - Identify unmet needs through ethnographic research and user testing. - Analyze patent filings to stay ahead of innovation trends. - Use scientific and technical research to improve product materials or designs. 📌 Pricing Optimization & Revenue Strategy - Analyze pricing psychology and competitors’ elasticity models. - Use conjoint analysis to determine which product features customers value most. - Conduct deep pricing research on customer willingness to pay. 📌 Supply Chain & Vendor Optimization - Research alternative suppliers for cost savings and sustainability. - Analyze geopolitical risks that could impact supply chains. - Use blockchain data to verify ethical sourcing and compliance. 📌 Mergers, Acquisitions & Partnerships - Perform due diligence on potential acquisitions to uncover hidden risks. - Analyze company financials, market position, and employee sentiment. - Research cultural fit and integration risks before making a deal. 📌 Marketing & Advertising Effectiveness - Conduct A/B testing research beyond surface-level data. - Use neuromarketing studies to optimize ad creative and messaging. - Analyze long-term brand sentiment rather than just short-term ad clicks. 📌 Expansion & International Market Entry - Research cultural and legal differences before entering a new country. - Identify local consumer behaviors and preferences. - Analyze macroeconomic trends that could impact expansion success. It isn’t just about gathering information—it’s about extracting insights that drive strategic decision-making. Businesses that invest in rigorous research don’t just react to change; they anticipate it and capitalize on it before anyone else does.

Custom formulations aren't just technical. They're strategic. In specialty chemical manufacturing, innovation isn’t about making more products. It’s about making the right ones, built directly from market insight. My latest article explores how market-driven innovation helps chemical companies transform customer signals into tailored formulations with measurable ROI. Discover how leading firms - Use voice of the customer pipelines to guide R&D - Align cross-functional teams around real-world demand - Create formulations that accelerate time-to-market and deepen client relationships The result? Higher margins, longer contracts, and true competitive advantage. #ChemicalInnovation #MarketDrivenRandD #SpecialtyChemicals #CustomFormulations #ProductStrategy #VoiceOfTheCustomer