Creativity and Innovation in the Development of a Product - Assignment Example

Creativity and innovation Creativity is the use of a wide range of ideas in an attempt to create products that have unique features that would be preferred by the majority of its consumers; innovation, on the other hand, refers to the act of creating something new and introducing it to the market (Clarkson, 2003, P143). It involves the process of improving the primary products to a form that is most liked by the consumers. In the mid 2000s, there was an increase in consumer concerns over obesity and poor diets. This hugely affected the market of chips globally (Barron, 2009, P.432). McCain Company, which specializes in cooking and selling of chips, was profoundly affected. The movement of consumers from chips consumption, to other products with minor fat content, saw a decrease in sales of McCain oven chips. People started associating chips and other non-fresh foods with cancer. This posed a formidable challenge to McCain’s company. They had to devise ways to increase their product front to consumers. At this instance, they needed creativity and innovations of the highest order, to facilitate improved their products. With the phenomenal pressure on the fast food industry, where the media keenly focused on obesity and other health scares that faced the world population, McCain oven chips had to come up with new ways of preparing their chips. Through innovation, McCain oven chips producers came up with a strategy to carry out an extensive campaign. The company linked up with design consultancy Elmwood and advertising agency Beattie, to access methods that it could choose to strengthen its brand value. As a result of this collaboration, the company was able to come up with unique designs for its products. They were successfully able to repackage their products, in a way that indicated their products had less fat content. They used more muted colors that clearly shown that their products were made of unprocessed organic potatoes (Barron, 2009, P.332). By doing this, they successfully eliminated the idea that their products contained high fat content’s a result; consumers gained the trust on their products. This led to increased sales and product penetration in UK. Through creativity and innovation, B and Q, has been able to gain market dominance in the home improvement sector. It has successfully been able to provide value for money. Immediately B, Q Company identified that the older people were not getting adequate services. They engaged in a fruitful research with Hamlyn Research Centre. Together, they were able to come up with ways of creating more comprehensive products (I, 2009, P.412). The preliminary research they carried identified a need to get more suitable products, to ensure older people got no problem in using their products. To further address the problem, B & Q, linked with Helen research associate programme, which work closely with companies in carrying research on how to better develop their commodities. This research came up with thrilling innovation that helped the company. It was able to develop ergonomically designed products range for all customers (I, 2009, P.431). In collaboration with other researchers, B & Q was able to develop award winning products. Through creativity, the company was able to come up with unique designs, which made it easier for the elderly, to use the products. This process of innovation and creativity enable the company to create award winning products. Their products became widely accepted by all consumers. As a result, the company sales rose staidly. It registered massive profits immediately it introduced its new products to the market. Customers now, including the elderly, were able to easily use the products with a lot of ease (I, 2009, P.112). In early 90s Nike, attracted criticism from its poor labor and environmental standard measures. Both the media and individuals accused the company of its products, which they claimed, contributed to environmental pollution. The company also received attack on its policy that allowed use of poor labor (Kumar, 2012, P.234). The criticism started to impact on the company sales. The sales started to decline as consumers felt uncomfortable with the policies that Nike adopted in its operations. To overcome this, the company employees were asked to come up with ideas on how to improve the business operations. This helped the company to come up with its new design strategy, which continues to impress the market up to Date (Clarkson, 2003, P243). The Company adopted new ways of creating their products. To ensure they created unique products that were environmental friendly, the company sought the help of the natural step organization. The company was dedicated to education and research in sustainable development of the products. Through creativity, research and innovation, the company was able to come up with products that were fashionable, sustainable, and environmental friendly and convenient for users. The company was able to come up with a new Pegasus shoe, which uses fewer materials than the earlier version (Clarkson, 2003, P113). The latest shoe also had less weight thus making it more suitable for athletes. Lastly it used environmentally preferred materials. The latest shoe used 83% of recycled materials. This means that the company had successfully achieved it primary purpose, which was to protect the environment. In all the three case studies, innovation and creativity is accelerated by customers demand and criticism. The three companies are awakened from their comfort by customers complains. Whenever there is a protest, companies develop new ways and methods of carrying out operations (Kumar, 2012, P.341).When customers complained of high fat content in chips, McCain oven chips came up with new designs to repackage their products. All the three companies under consideration consulted the external parties, seeking advice on how to improve their products.B&Q Company sought help from Helen research centre on how to improve its product to meet the demand of elderly people (I, 2009, P.438). Though the three companies under review consulted with outside parties, in order to improve their products, they ended up using different methods to incorporate the innovations to their products. Nike for instance opted to totally modify the materials it had been using to make its products. This resulted to the creation of an entirely new product (Clarkson, 2003, P143). On the other hand, McCain chips Oven Company, did not change the constituents it used in making it products. It only concentrated on developing new packaging designs. References MacRury. I. (2009). Advertising. Routledge. Barron, K. (2009). Health Inequalities. The Stationery Office. Clarkson, J. (2003). Inclusive Design: Design for the Whole Population. Springer. Kumar, V. (2012). 101 Design Methods: A Structured Approach for Driving Innovation in Your Organization. John Wiley & Sons. Read More