Innovation strategy & roadmap

The challenge

Lack of direction

Innovation management is always fraught with risk when searching for the 'next big thing'.

What should you focus on next in terms of product and business field development?
Have potential markets and emerging trends been missed?
What are the priorities in research and development?

The solution

Innovation strategy as a foundation

An effective innovation strategy aligns corporate goals, market opportunities, technologies, and customer needs.

Clear innovation goals and strategic priorities sharpen your focus.
Innovation KPIs make innovation measurable.
Leverage practical knowledge and trend forecasts to guide the strategic direction of your innovation roadmap.

The result

Innovation strategy with a clear roadmap

The innovation strategy and roadmap are your navigation tool.

You create a focus for your innovation efforts.
You gain a clear picture of your potential development fields of tomorrow.
You increase the chances of success of your innovations and reduce the risk of flops.

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Identify trends

Why a roadmap is needed in innovation management

Especially in times of artificial intelligence (AI), it is particularly relevant to use a control tool such as the innovation roadmap in the innovation process to navigate through possible innovations. It shows you and your team the path to the planned objective and simplifies communication through a joint understanding of issues.

In operational innovation management, an Innovation Roadmap is indispensable:

You use it to manage the search for and development of ideas.
Ideas are assessed for their contribution towards the innovation strategy.
The portfolio of innovation projects is evaluated regularly with it.

Stay the course

How you support your innovation strategy with roadmapping

There is no innovation strategy without a roadmap. The strategy is the basis for successful innovation. Yet there are countless issues with which your organization can be engaged. Especially when trend management software is used, the innovation roadmap helps to structure and categorize the multitude of trends and validate promising topics.

To this end, issues relevant to the company are identified in a strategy process. They either fit the business model of the company or are promising for future success. In innovation management, the roadmap gives you focus and orientation to keep an eye on strategic objectives.

Why we are the right innovation partner

You implement your strategy. As an innovation partner, we reveal potential and increase your chances of success.

You see the big picture. Together with experts, we develop a complete picture for you.

You know which trends you have to chase. We systematically observe future trends and analyze your innovation history.

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This is how we do it …

Three steps an innovation strategy and roadmap

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We work with you to define your strategic focus for innovation: your vision, guiding principles, innovation goals, and key performance indicators set the direction for your innovation strategy.
Using AI, we identify relevant trends and customer needs and evaluate them with the help of your internal and external experts.
This process results in an innovation roadmap that outlines your opportunities and search fields (including responsibilities and a timeline).

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Use the innovation strategy to set priorities and the roadmap to identify existing opportunities

The innovation strategy is the core of innovation management and the basis for successful innovation. Based on the innovation strategy, you will encounter innumerable trends, technologies, and potential new lines of business. The art is to approach the most auspicious subjects at the right time.

The tool for the job: the Innovation Roadmap. This navigation tool supports holistic innovation management, both strategically and operationally. Plans are harmonized with the Innovation Roadmap in terms of their contribution to achieving the innovation strategy. It is also a valuable communication tool in innovation projects – everybody is on the same hymn sheet.

The combination of an innovation strategy and a roadmap provides clarity on future opportunities while ensuring a clear focus during implementation. This allows companies to prioritize innovation activities, allocate resources strategically, and systematically tap into the most promising opportunities. As a result, companies gain clear guidance on which areas of opportunity to pursue and how to translate these into concrete actions and projects step by step.

With the Innovation Roadmap, you keep an eye on the core business and new markets, as well as the future and the past.

Use the innovation strategy to set priorities and the roadmap to identify existing opportunities

What is important is that the innovation strategy and roadmap must be known and accepted throughout the company. Only then will this tool facilitate your work on innovation.

The methods

The lead user method

The driving force behind innovation is often advanced users with a sense for customer requirements and the markets of tomorrow. We use these attributes in the lead user approach: experts in our global lead user network enhance your innovation projects with a wealth of experience and active collaboration.

Service design

Customer-focused services leave a lasting impression. With the service design approach, we develop an understanding for customer expectations and needs together with you. With this knowledge, we design the interaction along the customer journey to be more intuitive. Consequently, you excite customers and trust in your brand grows.

Design thinking

Design thinking solves problems systematically and accelerates the innovation process. The customer-focused approach is suitable for the development of better products, services, and business models. In an iterative and agile design process, we analyze the problem, identify solutions, and test the result together with you.

Agile project management

With innovation projects, the result is mostly uncertain and requires agility, flexibility, and quick results. Agile project management simplifies the customer-focused development of high-quality innovations, especially in product development. Work in agile teams is efficient, and the results are quickly visible.

The innovation contest

The innovation contest allows new ideas to emerge in your company. An internal competition for ideas makes the creativity of your employees visible and unveils the unexpected potential of staff. You fill your ideas pipeline efficiently and with structure, while promoting a positive culture of innovation at the same time.

Innovation studio

In the Innovation Studio, we work together on the next big innovation from your company. When doing so, we take on the risks in the early phase of your innovation project. This way you reduce development costs and increase innovation success.

Neue Potenziale identifizieren mit der Innovation Roadmap

Eine Innovationsstrategie ist der Kern des Innovationsmanagements und eine Grundlage des Innovationserfolgs. Es gibt tausende Innovationsthemen, mit denen sich eine Organisation beschäftigen kann. Aber nur ein Teil davon kann das Unternehmen wirklich voran bringen und hat hohes Erfolgs- und Umsatzpotential. Durch einen Strategieprozess werden die Themen identifiziert, die einerseits mit dem Geschäftsmodell des Unternehmens harmonieren und andererseits ein großer Hebel für den zukünftigen Erfolg sind.

Dieses Strategiewerkzeug ist das Navigationssystem und gibt vor, wann welche Themen bearbeitet werden sollen. Je nach Zweck und Ausrichtung kann sie nach folgenden Elementen strukturiert sein.

“Viele Sachverhalte werden von uns intern als selbstverständlich wahrgenommen und nicht mehr hinterfragt. Oft hilft ein Blick von außen, um sich von alten Denkmustern zu lösen.”