Making Innovation Successful \u2013 The Innovate Podcast with Emma Beale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Innovate Podcast is a biweekly series of discussions with CPG Innovation experts, on how to innovate with success in an ever-changing world.<\/p>\n

In the first episode, our host Vypr Founder Ben Davies was joined by Waitrose Head of Product Innovation, Emma Beale.<\/p>\n

Ben and Emma discussed learnings from other sectors\u2019 innovation, adapting to industry challenges, and ways to make innovation more successful.<\/p>\n

Listen to the full episode using the links below<\/strong>, and don’t forget to subscribe<\/strong> so you never miss an episode.<\/em><\/p>\n

Listen on Podbean<\/a>, Listen on iTunes<\/a> or Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

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Read the highlights below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Learnings from other sectors<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plant-based industry<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One sector that has grown quickly through innovation is the plant-based sector. Ben and Emma both agreed that this sector has been extremely innovative in generating new products for targeted audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’ve had to work very hard to deliver something that\u2019s as good as eating meat, as there is a group of customers that are looking for that, and they\u2019ve done it through innovation.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

Emma also commented that the sector has been very innovative in meeting barriers to purchase and have invested, especially in technology, which is a key learning \u2013 she spoke about the importance of refocusing investments in technology to advance product innovation across sectors.<\/p>\n

Along with learning from other sectors, it\u2019s important to keep an eye on what\u2019s affecting consumer behaviour in the industry to target innovation strategically. Ben and Emma discussed one big industry challenge, the cost of living crisis \u2013 read on below to get the highlights.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adapting to industry challenges<\/strong><\/p>\n

The cost of living crisis<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The current cost of living crisis that has seen prices soar across industries is clearly affecting consumer behaviour,\u00a0as we discovered in previous Vypr research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When it comes to product innovation in this situation, Emma emphasised the importance of communicating the value of products to consumers (more than just the price on shelf).<\/p>\n

\u201cHow you communicate value in all of its forms is going to be what will make innovation successful in the next couple of years… even now you see people fine-tuning their communication stances so that customers are getting the value message of what you\u2019re trying to sell.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

After all, more consumers are looking for the most value out of their purchases, and this has been found across multiple sectors.<\/p>\n

Communicating value is one factor in making innovation successful based on the current climate, but some other important factors that were mentioned in this episode are summarised below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Making Innovation Successful<\/strong><\/p>\n

Emma discussed some important factors that are relevant to innovating successfully, such as:<\/p>\n

Staying Agile<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

With the industry constantly changing, the importance of staying Agile to adapt is key.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market just changes underneath your feet, this time last year we weren\u2019t prepared for wheat prices up where they are, packaging prices up where they are, and a cost-of-living crisis that people would be facing into the summer… I think that demand for being agile and constantly updating and changing will continue.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

Streamlining Processes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Emma mentioned the importance of streamlining processes with technology to allow data to flow freely and allow a faster time to market, meaning more revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the stage-gate process… in principle there\u2019s nothing wrong with that, it\u2019s the sheer complexity of the bits in-between… and that\u2019s what I would like to see streamlined through technology as soon as possible.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

Constantly Learning and Testing<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

To mitigate risks, the team at Waitrose has put more effort into investigating upfront, and evaluating to constantly improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch more upfront testing of concept ideas, of packaging ideas in particular, so that it lands right first time.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

\u201cSharing learnings back so we don\u2019t make the same mistakes twice.\u201d<\/em> – Emma Beale<\/p>\n

Emma emphasised that the team are now approaching sign-off on ideas with much more data<\/strong> than ever before – all important factors to successful innovation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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We hope you enjoyed this summary from the very first episode of the Innovate Podcast.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Want to hear all the insights? Listen to the full episode on-demand!<\/strong> Click the links below to listen on your preferred platform.<\/p>\n

Listen on Podbean<\/a>, Listen on iTunes<\/a> or Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

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Making Innovation Successful \u2013 The Innovate Podcast with Emma Beale The Innovate Podcast is a biweekly series of discussions with CPG Innovation experts, on how to innovate with success in an ever-changing world. In the first episode, our host Vypr Founder Ben Davies was joined by Waitrose Head of Product Innovation, Emma Beale. Ben and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n