{"id":824,"date":"2015-06-23T18:52:33","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T18:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/connociam.com\/?p=824"},"modified":"2021-08-31T07:02:10","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T07:02:10","slug":"trend-analysis-to-drive-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/connociam.com\/en\/trend-analysis-to-drive-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Trend Analysis as a Tool to Drive Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

When facing an innovation process, one of the biggest challenges that companies have to deal with, is where to start working. Which are the first steps to undertake?<\/em>\u00a0As in many other things, there is not a unique\u00a0correct answer: methodologies propose different ways to start innovating,\u00a0<\/span>but <\/span>almost all agree that<\/span> trend analysis is a key tool in the initial stages of the Fuzzy Front End of Innovation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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But not all fancy changes in society or the marketplace constitute a trend. Before getting into trend analysis, it is useful to agree on what we mean by a trend. We could say that a trend is an incipient change, although already significant, in the behavior, activities and values of a key player in a sector, for example, an important segment of the population, a competitor or a new technology.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Trend analysis is one of Innovation\u2019s classic tools, though it is often used superficially. Quite often its purpose is to highlight current issues that affect businesses, published by reputable institutions such as McKinsey<\/a> or IBM<\/a>. At other times, it sets out to analyze the latest launches of new product and service by competitors, and sometimes it outlines examples provided by \u201cthe typical trend hunter\u201d or featured in “top trends” articles <\/a>which describe the hottest trends in New York, London or Worldwide. However, trend analysis should go beyond just describing the hottest topics and, if done properly, it constitutes a valuable tool of strategic depth.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

For most large or established companies in a market, understanding the “maturity level\u201d when analyzing trends, is crucial<\/strong>. Somehow, you need to find a balance between “niche” and “mainstream” to find the right spot. If you identify an incipient change which is still very niche (however hot and appealing), it is going to be difficult to make a business case out of it. You need to figure out at what stage of the adoption curve the trend is.<\/span><\/p>\n

When describing an interesting trend for your business, you need to identify its maturity level and make sure you capture it just at the right moment, after it is “too niche” and before it is “just mature”.<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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If you identify a trend being\u00a0at a very early stage (ie.\u00a0something appealing to early adopters only…), probably you need to validate how long it is going to take to gain volumen and show consistent\u00a0growth; while, if the trend is already very popular and close to the mainstream, this probably means the competitive landscape is more complex and less attractive.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding the right moment to capture a trend and transform it into a business opportunity it is part of the success of this analysis.<\/strong> In fact, for large companies, most of the products launched are taking\u00a0advantage of\u00a0a trend which has already been taking place for some time. If you think on how companies were\u00a0taking advantage of “healthier food” or “healthy snacks”, you will see that most of the successful launches took place when these trends were well known… but not yet a consolidated market segment. Very hardly, large companies leverage on a really new\u00a0topic.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hottest trends are very nice for trend reports, but hardly identify a valuable trend on which you can leverage, except\u00a0if you are a startup. Small and flexible companies tend to be able to exploit “niche opportunities”\u00a0with higher success. This is one of the reasons why larger companies look after startups in certain areas, to identify when a trend shows an interesting business case and enough potential\u00a0to be attractive. This is especially right for social and technological trends.<\/span><\/p>\n

A good trend analysis should take under consideration several kinds of areas. As different sources have pointed out, we can broadly establish three main areas of trend analysis:<\/span><\/p>\n

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