The art of ‘failing forward’ to ensure NPD success

Words by Chris Thomas

Have you ever typed “FMCG innovation success rate” into Google? It’s an activity best avoided if we’re honest. You’re instantly met with the statistics about how three in four launches fail within a year and commentary on all of the industry’s issues. It’s a depressing but (unfortunately) accurate summary of the current state of affairs.

But all is not lost, and as is the

PLAY way, we’re here to inject some positivity into the situation. That’s why, in this article, we want to show you a deeper and more meaningful way to develop products that you can take learnings from so you can avoid unnecessarily wasting time and money.

How can design sprints help?

Design sprints are a brilliant example of agile development work. They involve iterating rapidly with your stakeholders and consumers in real-time. The journey is very

collaborative and ideas are physically brought to life, rather than working from imaginary concepts.

When taking this approach, we often start by going into a qualitative forum with several concept territories, a few pack design directions and some product prototypes (if you’re far enough down the line).

The first round helps identify leading concept directions and key language that can inform further honing. At this point, pack designs can also be reviewed (both on a digital shelf and as a standalone label) to see what works, what fits with the best concepts and more.

Prototypes can then be tested (or tasted!) and early diagnostics help refine the offer.

Lastly, you - the client - go away for a week or two, refine the shortlisted proposition(s) and come back for another round of testing.

This process allows you to prototype earlier and bring your product to life sooner so you can test what resonates and what doesn’t with real consumers before spending more time or money on early-stage refinements

“Innovation sprints are becoming an increasingly common work practice across the world as managers become more aware of their swift, far-reaching results. Tracing their roots back to traditional ‘hackathons’, they not only help the business identify new avenues and solutions – they’re also a great way to build team morale.” (Atlassian)

What is failing forward?

‘Failing forward’ is the concept of front-loading your research with consumer-led product development in order to integrate learnings sooner. This means rather than just ‘failing fast’ (cutting your losses and quickly trying something else), you’re making informed decisions along the way. This allows you to bring a better product to market faster and more successfully.

The core premise of failing forward is about testing more often through the concept development journey so you can build on what works and learn from what doesn’t. This involves leveraging smaller, more frequent check-ins to hone and prioritise your potential offers.

In fact, we conducted an indepth, year-long piece of research evaluating innovation pain points within Australian FMCG companies and more than half of the respondents cited being poor at consumer-led product development (aka not bringing consumers in early and often enough) as the NUMBER 1 problem they needed help addressing.

And “more often” doesn’t mean commissioning large-scale, timeconsuming research. Far from it. Agile approaches like idea screening, concept testing, product clinics and design sprints all play a role. Chris Thomas and his team have conducted extensive research to better help clients innovate innovation, from exploration to development, proof and post-launch.

In support of slipping up

You’ve likely heard the expression: “There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons.” (Denis Watley)

It might sound cheesy, but it’s true. Not every concept you put through this process will work. Some ideas will inevitably ‘fail’. However, what we learn from those failures is what keeps us moving forward.

If there’s one piece of advice we want to leave you with, it’s this: Don’t shy away from making mistakes. If anything, run towards the risk of getting it wrong.

Ultimately, those blunders are the best way to do better and achieve a competitive edge that will sustain your business for years to come.

References

1. Thompson, John. (2021) “How to get past

“shiny object syndrome” and build what your customers really want” Atlassian: Work

Life Blog https://www.atlassian.com/blog/ teamwork/what-is-an-innovation-sprint

Chris Thomas is the founder and director of PLAY Innovation, an FMCG-specific consultancy providing a whole of NPD solution from Australia’s largest sensory testing facility. Subscribe to the PLAY Innovation newsletter to get the latest industry resources and offers direct to your inbox. f