Innovation & Protecting a Business Idea - Classroom Video

A huge hat tip to Angela Aldridge for suggesting this terrific short video clip on the process of invention and innovation at Dyson.  This has to be one of the most useful videos you’ll ever have as a lesson starter on product innovation....

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Dyson launches a new premium product

James Dyson is at it again - launching a desktop fan at a price that is almost ten times the average price of a standard blade-based fan…

Corporate culture: how a huge firm like Google tries to foster innovation

Hitting a couple of tough A2 concepts here: the idea of companies having a ‘culture’ and how deliberate steps are often taken to shape that culture: in this case, to try to prevent the breakdown of innovation.  This is often a classic ‘diseconomy of scale’ that hampers large organisations.

Pay-as-you-go holiday spending money

As sterling is so much weaker than it was a year ago, anyone travelling abroad for their summer holidays is going to find that their spending money buys far less. One result of this is that fewer of us are travelling abroad – see Innes Robinson’s piece ‘Recession hits Tenerife beaches’ on the GCSE blog, with its link to a video report on the BBC website showing glorious empty beaches, and the business closures, cancelled flights and growing unemployment in Tenerife as a result. Another result is that holiday makers will feel that their spending budgets are under pressure, and finding the best exchange rate could make a big difference. The BBC found that the cost of buying 500 euros varied hugely, from £423 to £463, which really makes shopping around worthwhile. 

Introducing Fling - Mars’ first new confectionery product launch for 20 years

I’m more than surprised that global confectionery giant Mars hasn’t launched a new brand for 20 years (according to the FT).  But that has just changed with the arrival of a new chocolate product aimed fairly and squarely at women…

From crisps to vodka - what else can you make from potatoes?

Will Chase, founder of Tyrrells Crisps, has found a new use for the potatoes grown on his farm in Herefordsire – distilling vodka. An article in yesterday’s Times Magazine makes interesting reading. Having successfully managed an exit strategy of selling 75 per cent of his stake in the upmarket crisp company to venture capitalists in March this year, he found that he couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the money but needed another entrepreneurial challenge and is ploughing some of the £40 million he pocketed into a traditional micro-distillery. 

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Q&A - What are the main stages of new product development?

To grow fast, businesses need to develop new products.  But before a business can launch a new product, it needs to go through several stages before it appears in the market place.

Innocent Drinks diversifies into Veg

I forgot to blog about this excellent interview in the Times with Richard Reed of Innocent Drinks when it appeared at the start of the week.  Much has been written about Innocent’s great success in the fruit smoothies market.  Can the three entrepreneurs leading Innocent achieve a similar success with their new product - Veg Pots?

8megapixel cameraphones threaten the digital camera market

Which gadgets did you pack to take on holiday this year?  Chances are you took both a mobile phone and a digital camera.  However, a new product development from Samsung may mean that you digital camera will soon be redundant......

New product development creates waves in the pool

If a new product comes onto the market and seems to deliver a 2% improvement in performance, would that be enough to create a storm of protest in a market?