Challenge
Soft-drink brand Fanta needed fresh inspiration to fill its innovation funnel; there was to be a strong focus on disruptive innovation, and it should target its core audience: teens. Therefore, two key areas were put forward to explore: ‘Sensory Pleasure’, which is all about new and exciting taste experiences; and ‘Collective Fun’, revolving around product/ packaging concepts to drive fun and sociability.
Solution
To address this challenge, we used a four-step innovation approach: NextGen immersion We started by exploring the world of teens via secondary research; our in-house thought leadership on NextGen further fueled this, such as the content from our frAgile – NextGen marketing – bookzine. Internal and external creative crowdsourcing We shared the first-phase insights with our proprietary creator network eÿeka, in a global ideation contest. Its brief: “Create a new Fanta drink for teens that will offer a new taste and a fun experience”. As a result, the eÿeka creators shared 112 unique, out-of-the-box ideas. We also involved Fanta’s internal stakeholders – they delivered 28 ideas, leading to a total pool of 140 ideas. From idea to concept The first selection was based on their disruptive nature, brand fit and uniqueness; furthermore, we used 54 of the initial ideas in a two-day ideation and concept-writing workshop with the Fanta team. On day one, the team explored, clustered and polished the ideas. The second day, we transformed the ideas into 14 concepts, with clear benefits and reasons to believe. A sketcher immediately visualized how the products might look. Fanta’s internal stakeholders further elaborated on these concepts; as a result, 21 concepts were ready for evaluation by everyday consumers. Concept evaluation In a final step, 172 teens from two of Fanta’s target markets (Poland and Romania) were to evaluate and further fine-tune the ideas in the Fanta Tournament Square, an online consumer community.
Results
By embracing an iterative innovation approach, including the power of internal and external crowds on different levels, Fanta was able to fuel their innovation funnel. In merely 10 weeks’ time, we went from immersion to out-of-the box concepts, validated by teens, their core target group. The team is now working on an idea execution – launch in 2021.
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