In their book, Fire In The Machine, Jonathan Tofel and Carolina Sasson share insights on innovation gained from decades spent working with Fortune 500 companies such as Clorox, PepsiCo, and Kellogg's. They share the strategies that have helped their CPG clients harness the startup mindset with big business systems to unleash the best of both worlds.
Innovators in large companies know that when it comes to creating and delivering products consumers love – size is on their side. The power of a Fortune 500 company allows it to leverage its resources to grow by developing new products that greatly enhance consumers' lives.
But big-company strength alone won't cut it when it comes to innovation. The sweet spot lies between large company capability and the entrepreneurial ethos underscoring successful startups. This mix is the key to unlocking exponential growth and inspired innovation.
Fire In the Machine offers strategies for harnessing the entrepreneurialism that Tofel and Sasson's CPG clients have utilized to speed up their innovation process from idea to a launch ready product.
The book is an insightful journey into the challenges that all great innovators in large corporation’s face and shows leaders in these companies how to leverage new approaches and realize the growth possible when entrepreneurial innovation is in the driver's seat.
NEWS & STORY IDEAS
Who is winning at the innovation game?
What's the difference in innovation between an entrepreneurial company and a large established corporation? The data will tell you that big companies used to dominate and win in the innovation game. Today, entrepreneurs have pulled ahead and taken over most of the growth in consumer-packaged goods. However, using nimble strategies and a hands-on approach, Fortune 500 companies can make and test ideas faster, reduce risk and launch bold new products.
What challenges are food companies facing as consumer preferences and food legislation change?
Increasingly stringent European food laws, California pushing for greater clarity in food labeling and fast-changing consumer food trends such as reducing sodium and creating more sustainable packaging. These are just a few of the issues challenging food companies to anticipate and change what and how they develop products.
The power of distribution on innovation.
Hundreds of stories about how the "fail-fast" culture in small entrepreneurial companies beats out the big firms. But for all entrepreneurs bring to the table, when done well, a Fortune 500 company's ability to distribute a revolutionary idea in a heartbeat is a powerful path to innovation.
Three things every innovator can learn from startup food entrepreneurs
Data shows that small to medium food companies are driving 45% of the growth in share in recent years. There are clear methodologies that can be harnessed and implemented in large companies with great success:
1) Learn to rely on (and train) your gut to solve real consumer problems
2) Move quickly to producing a real product so you can "make a little, sell a little and learn a lot," and
3) Get hands-on in the model of great entrepreneurs who future proof their ideas through a deep connection to all aspects of their products.
From idea to shelf. How innovation in consumer-packaged goods happens.
How do companies take an idea for a consumer product and go beyond testing it to making it available quickly on the grocery store shelf? Innovation is sexy but hard. The failure rate for new products can be as high as 90%. In addition, it traditionally takes 3-7 years to go from the idea stage to a finished product available on the local grocery store shelf. By applying cutting-edge approaches to innovation, timeframes can be compressed, and good (and disruptive ideas) can take flight faster. In contrast, mediocre ones can be cut loose early in the process.
The power of distribution on innovation.
Hundreds of stories about how the "fail-fast" culture in small entrepreneurial companies beats out the big firms. But for all entrepreneurs bring to the table, when done well, a Fortune 500 company's ability to distribute a revolutionary idea in a heartbeat is a powerful path to innovation.
Why do category leaders often fall into a pattern of being fast followers instead of innovative leaders?
Dreaming up good ideas is not the problem with new product innovation. Creating and testing for consumer desirability is something all big companies do well. How do large company progress and prove viability when it wants to grow in a disruptive new service or model? This is when the best companies bow out of good ideas too early because they appear risky, are too far from their known processes, or don't have a pathway to gain internal support and resources.
What is the difference between "say"-based research and "do"-based research in product innovation?
Historically big companies have tested new ideas by asking shoppers to imagine and say what they might do in the future. The better way forward is to put the product in front of shoppers and watch what they do. The powerful yet simple idea is to "make a little, sell a little, learn a lot."
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
You have been known to say, "I help invent the things you buy in the grocery store." How do you do that?
Research shows that roughly 75%-90% of innovations fail. Why? And is there anything to be done to make innovations more successful?
What are the 3 or 4 main reasons innovations fail?
Your book outlines your EMBR model designed to show large organizations how to achieve the product innovation agility of entrepreneurial startups. Can you talk a bit about the model?
What is disruptive innovation as opposed to simply a line extension? Can you give me an example?
Why should big companies create their own innovation instead of buying smaller startups through M&A activity?
What is the difference between an entrepreneurial and large company's approach innovation?
What challenges are large companies facing today in terms of innovation? Do entrepreneurial companies face these same challenges?
How do you determine if a particular innovation is a good idea? Something consumers will want to buy.
How has innovation changed in the last three years because of the pandemic?
How has the pandemic changed consumer behavior regarding innovation?
In your book, you talk about five different types of innovation. Can you expand on that?
How do you speed up the process of innovation in a large CPG company?
Many food-related changes that we've seen in Europe are making their way to the US. What changes do you see coming, and what can big food companies do to update and protect their large, legacy brands?
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Fire In The Machine: Driving Entrepreneurial Innovation In Large CPG Organizations. Tofel is the Founder and CEO, and Sasson is the Chief Operating Officer of Mission Field, a global innovation, strategy & insights consultancy. Mission Field has twice made the Financial Times America's Fastest-Growing Companies and INC 5000 lists.
For more than two decades, Jonathan, CEO of Mission Field, has been a consumer goods package entrepreneur at the forefront of Innovation in Fortune 500 CPG companies. He has worked with clients in the United States, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia to develop 1000s of unique product ideas. His clients have included a who's who of CPGs, including PepsiCo Inc. (Frito-Lay, Quaker), Heineken, General Mills, Tropicana Brands Group, and Kellogg's.
As COO, Ms. Sasson helps Fortune 500 CPG clients kickstart their internal innovation processes from ideation and strategy design to prototype development and real-life battle testing. All with the entrepreneurial speed that often alludes large corporations. She has worked with some of the leading CPG companies in the world, including, Clorox, Kraft-Heinz, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Danone, and Ocean Spray.
TESTIMONIALS
“CPG innovation teams could benefit from fresh thinking and new methodologies that enable them to adapt and move quickly. Carolina and Jonathan can help them capture those truly disruptive innovation moments.”
— Monisha Dabek, Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager, USA for Ocean Spray
“The challenge of working in the fuzzy front end of innovation is getting started. Too often, I’ve wasted precious weeks of project time wandering in the wilderness. Jonathan and his team are experts in building learning momentum through their Agile process”
— Jon Overlie, iSquad Manager of Disruptive Growth for General Millsy
“The CPG Bigs have every advantage when it comes to creating Innovation that delights consumers, and compels retailers. Yet entrepreneurs continue to outflank and out-innovate us with their agility. Jonathan and Carolina created a playbook that borrows Innovation strategies native to lean startups and made them consumable for Big CPG.”
— Todd Newman, Vice President of Innovation for Keurig Dr Pepper
“Innovating in traditional CPG companies has become exponentially more difficult with e-commerce and social commerce and has required big companies to change how they innovate. Jonathan and his team excel at teaching big companies how to innovate in this new world.”
— Staci Maher Ball, Director of Innovation, Insights and Consumer Care for Clorox