It wasn’t long ago when innovation was a very closed-loop system. Many consumer packaged goods companies took it upon themselves to decide what was best for the consumer, to the point that they seldom embraced either consumers or their own supply chains for ideas or feedback.
That insolated approach is beginning to change. CPG companies are beginning to understand that to give consumers exactly what they want (or they won’t buy), consumers need to have a hand in the process.
Kruger Products L.P. is one company embracing this type of thinking, according to an article on marketingmag.ca. Kruger is bringing back its popular Scotties Design Challenge, asking consumers to create their own tissue carton for the Scotties brand. The contest proved very popular two years ago, with 23,000 entries from consumers who competed for a prize and the opportunity to have their design featured on a tissue carton.
This clever contest is another spin on the open-innovation concept, in which CPG companies are going outside the comfort zone of their own creative departments to develop packaging that helps push product off store shelves. Companies such as Procter & Gamble, Kraft, and Kimberly-Clark also are embracing various forms of open innovation, looking for ideas from outside, even those that innovate their supply chains.
CPG companies that are getting closer to their customers, and also their supply chains, by asking them what they think, are beginning to reap the benefits in stronger relationships that lead to more sales.
