Creating Impact

IdeaTree focuses on helping our clients develop unique and highly-salable consumer products and services. Our process facilitates the identification and creation of sales “hooks” that allow your new products to stand out from the pack. But we do not stop there. We also make sure that there is a framework in place for product continuity. Thus, one-hit wonders are replaced by fresh new product in each successive new generation.

Avoiding Pitfalls

A key element of new product success is simply avoiding outdated assumptions and other pitfalls that many companies face in the new product process. Our experience helps provide the necessary pre-planning, pragmatism and the “reality check” needed to validate each step of the product introduction cycle.

Eliminating the “Spaghetti Method”

Perhaps the greatest service that we provide our clients is to help eliminate the costly “spaghetti method” of new product development. “Let’s throw these ideas at the marketplace and see which ones stick” is not a formula for long-term product success. IdeaTree offers strategies based on more rigorous initial scrutiny and a critical look at where each product leads your company. We also examine its applicability to the markets and accounts being pursued.

Maximizing Impact of New Product Introductions

A crucial element of IdeaTree’s new product approach is taking steps to maximize the impact of all introductions:

• Making sure each new product has sufficient points of differentiation and the critical mass to create impact.
• Creating viable line extensions and “product-plus” items, while building product continuity in existing formats.
• Providing not only new product ideas and enhancements but also setting up an ongoing mechanism for future idea generation and “outside the box” thinking.

Another important part of new product planning is gauging whether the item is likely to have a home at retail. To accomplish this, IdeaTree looks not only at retail feature or planogram placement, but can also advise and help your company to create attractive promotional displays.

Maximizing the Utilization of Creative Assets

In today’s new product environment, content is “king”. As such, your investment in ingenuity, artwork and editorial are among your most valuable assets. IdeaTree can help your company devise strategies to maximize utilization of those resources in a variety of unique product formats.