Innovation is not a democracy. How consumer concept testing impacts the capability of Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies to generate truly innovative products

Great companies often exist because a visionary invented something really new that was really useful. As companies grow they eagerly continue to look for more truly novel offerings to stay on top of the “delight scale” of the people they serve. In the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, truly novel offerings are a rarity. Product innovation is key, extremely hard to achieve and getting harder every day. To help ease the hardship of innovation, consulting and research normally extend over an entire system or process of innovation, i.e. the idea discovery or execution process. In contrast, in this article we will drill into a single, yet mission-critical moment within the innovation process that has received little in-depth attention: the decision about which truly innovative product ideas or concepts to fund.