Episode 16

Today’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) landscape is dynamic and growing increasingly complex to operate in. Much of that complexity is the result of evolving technology, its implementation and access to it. Technology has become every consumer’s best friend, and many companies, often smaller ones, are using it to their advantage.

But staying nimble and adaptive—being able to pivot quickly to adjust to consumer needs—isn’t easy, especially for large, multinational brands with massive scale and global footprints. And in many cases, the pressures of operating in today’s market causes companies to cut corners in an effort to innovate more quickly.

In fact, in our State of Innovation survey last year found that 77% of U.S. FMCG professionals spend less time than they should on at least three phases of the innovation process—simply because time-to-market, especially for large companies, has been as critical as it is today.

So what’s a brand to do if it wants to stay competitive, innovate and deliver what consumers are looking for?

On this episode, we take a look at the innovation process, including whether agile processes can work in the FMCG market. We’ll discuss the importance of understanding problems before developing solutions for them, as well as how it’s not always the first-to-market products that stand the test of time.

Our guests on this episode are Jenny Frazier, SVP, Innovation at Nielsen, and Chris Fosdick, Partner at the Cambridge Group.

Looking for more episodes? Subscribe to The Database on SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Play or Stitcher.