Product Development

GIO identifies and applies new innovation and trends.

We help our clients uncover innovation so they can create new and disruptive brand qualities to the consumer.

We identify existing and forward-looking trends that keep our clients at the forefront of their competitive pack. We also help clients migrate innovation from other categories, technologies and countries. The GIO innovation development and trend identification process involves several unique steps:

  • Surveying the world for relevant and applicable innovations and trends in benefits, packaging, usage occasions and language.
  • Conducting Innovation and Trends Ideation Workshops based on the inspiration from these products to identify the best white space opportunities.
  • Collaborating with clients to develop new product concepts that offer global promise and high potential for success

Our focus is on helping our clients view their category differently and ultimately creating disruptive innovation. We help them understand that new can mean many different things: new globally, new in a specific country, new variant, new technology, new ingredient, new packaging, new benefit, new positioning or new sub-line.

Our experience in innovation allows us to identify which “new” is most relevant to each brand given its geography and life cycle.

We help identify when movements may be too big for one brand, and which variations are too detailed for others.

Innovation is the introduction of the new and unexpected.

It is the convergence of how unique brand qualities are communicated to the consumer, what supports them and how they interface with need states. Innovation is a mix of science, technology, psychology, art, communication and imagination. It can be found in a number of product elements, including packaging, ingredients, usage occasions, dispensing, convenience and time-saving mechanisms. It is the way your consumer will view your product differently from the way it is currently viewed.

There are many different forms of innovation. The simplest kinds are flavor and fragrance varieties. There are also boutique innovations, which are new sub-lines of your current brand that convey qualities or attributes that differ from the original line. Whatever the source, innovation arises from new connection points between the brand and the consumer.

Brands often innovate to create news. News gets attention. Attention creates sales. Sometimes innovation is about making improvements, but often it is about marketing in different ways to attract the eye of the consumer. Some consumers buy what they always buy and put little thought into their choices. Other shoppers browse, are willing to try something different and are open-minded about change.

Using innovation to connect with consumers is about providing different options that will appeal both to a loyal shopper and to a more adventurous one. Sometimes these are gradual changes and sometimes they are dramatic. Every new product has at least one innovation point. But effective innovation connects to the consumer in several ways. Successful brand innovation happens regularly and helps consumers identify the products that will benefit them the most.

GIO helps identify and apply effective innovation.