When developing strategies to compete against your competition, “Innovation” is the first word that should come to mind. Innovation is the key to success for companies that own the Number 1 position in their category. However, “Innovation” is just a word...“How to Innovate” is the more significant factor in growth and success.
A leading product design and invention firm in Cleveland, Ohio called Nottingham•Spirk Design Associates, Inc. can provide a few examples of how the word “innovation” can be put into action. Since 1972, Nottingham•Spirk has designed and developed products that have resulted in the highest sales in their market categories. Here are just a few examples:
Nottingham•Spirk noticed that packaging in the paint industry had become quite stagnant. The same traditional round metal paint can (which required a screwdriver to open and a hammer to close) had been in use for over 110 years... an eligible candidate for NS innovation. With some product brainstorming, design concept generation, engineering, prototype development, and product testing, NS created the newest innovation in the paint can industry, the Sherwin–Williams plastic Twist n' Pour™ container. This new container has forever changed and revolutionized the paint can industry.
Nottingham•Spirk has used this same business model to create thousands of successful, innovative products. Market research helps define the opportune target area, while their creative brainstorming sessions facilitate the development of new innovative ideas. In other words, before tackling innovation as a whole, the problem area needs to be identified. Once the area is defined, creative minds get together to brainstorm and invent ideas that lead to a list of directions or paths towards innovation. The list then goes through a process of visualizations, evaluation and elimination; ultimately resulting in optimum innovative ideas. This same sequence of steps can be applied to all companies focusing on developing new product opportunities.
One of Nottingham•Spirk's latest product innovations is the Shaveman™ and the Lady Shave Ms™ battery-powered razors. Before these two products, all electric razors were rechargeable and rather expensive, giving NS an opportunity to use their expertise and develop a new product that hit a lower price point with quality comparable to the high priced versions. The Shaveman™ line is already the largest selling electric shaver in the United States.
The Shaveman™ was inspired by the overwhelming success of some of NS's other product creations, including the the Dawn™ Power Dish Brush, the first powered, rotating dish brush; and the Crest SpinBrush™, the first battery–powered low priced toothbrush.
The development of the Crest SpinBrush™ was a great learning experience for Nottingham•Spirk. As with any product creation, the SpinBrushS's development process underwent many problems along the way, before it became the worldS's top selling toothbrush. Each problem or set–back becomes a lesson learned in the long run and the creation of the SpinBrush is a great example.Throughout the design and development process, Nottingham•Spirk is constantly evaluating and “weeding out” failures. This constant evaluation ensures that the project is under control and encourages innovation throughout its development. At the very beginning of a project, the Nottingham•Spirk design team goes through a creative divergent phase, where all ideas are generated and collected. The next step for this list of ideas is the converging phase, which is an attempt to weed out the product failures at an early stage. The few positively–evaluated concept ideas are then prototyped, to test their mechanic abilities. In order to perfect the working element of the SpinBrush, the NS team tested the prototypes by brushing their teeth every other hour. Their gums started bleeding, but it was the only way to evaluate the productS's stability over time and continued use.
The SpinBrush prototype evolved into what NS thought was a great working model, however it proved to be less than perfect. A short production run of the product was then test–marketed at a small 60–store chain in a confined region of the US. At the low price point, the SpinBrush sold well during this time, however, some consumer complaints started filing in. The email address strategically placed on the back of the package allowed for immediate feedback on the product. After consumer use, it was determined that the SpinBrush bristle heads were disintegrating when used with a certain brand of baking soda toothpaste, a toothpaste that was not used during the testing phase. Because the production run was small, NS was able to change the plastic formulation of the bristle heads and send out an improved product in the next production run.
Within the first week of sales, consumer feedback provided insight into other issues, such as the battery life and waterproofing. Nottingham•Spirk immediately worked to create a model powered by AA batteries, instead of the less powerful AAA. The handle did become slightly larger, but it allowed for the product to stand upright and triple the battery life. In addition to improved bristles and battery life, NS was also able to make water sealing improvements.
Despite the product problems, sales for the first generation product were impressive enough to encourage the competition to attempt to duplicate the SpinBrush by creating their own battery–operated toothbrushes. However, while these competitors were developing their own replicas of the problematic first generation SpinBrush, Nottingham•Spirk had the advantage of creating the next generation toothbrush, which addressed all first generation problems. This advantage kept the SpinBrush ahead of its competition.
Innovation without investigation and market research can produce a product without a home. A truly successful product is unique and exciting, and answers the unmet needs of the customer. Constant communication, evaluation, and consumer feedback are very valuable tools throughout the innovation process. An innovative product can only be successful if it sells and a product will only sell if it meets the needs of the consumer. In fact, innovation is becoming so important that a motto for any company in today's world might be: “Innovate... or die.”
