Case Study: Goliath, Meet David (Start-Up Innovators)
The Problem
Large corporations have the advantage of established protocol and hard-earned expertise through trial and error – but what they gain in stability, they lose in flexibility. Interested in fostering the speed and imagination of a start-up within their product and marketing teams, the Commercial Innovation group at a major Food & Beverage company wanted to gain deeper insight into the ideas and expertise of start-up innovators within the food sector. However, the team lacked related experience of their own and found few actionable insights through traditional search channels.
Critical Issues
On-the-ground Expertise Creativity Collaboration
The Solution
After identifying the Commerical Innovation team’s needs and interests, their Maven Account Advisor recommended a Virtual Ideation Panel (VIP) to facilitate dynamic conversation with collaborative brainstorming in order to develop a set of fresh, actionable insights. Maven identified several candidates with marketing and product development experience in food-related start-ups, including several individuals from within the larger organization. The team then selected 10 participants and an expert moderator with an extensive background in assisting large organizations innovate. The VIP ran for 5 days and generated an abundance of information and ideas related to food start-ups and their success. This knowledge allowed the company to develop a clear understanding of the current market and how to proceed within it.
“The input provided by the VIP participants was very interesting. Even more impressive was the insight we gained from the individuals Maven helped us identify within our own organization. Moving forward, we can incorporate these people into our ongoing initiatives.”
– Senior Director, Strategic Innovation
