Recently I was on a JetBlue flight to Long Beach. A few minutes into the flight, the stewardess came around selling blankets. Hmmm, I thought, "It's kinda chilly. I'd like a blanket." Then I found out that it was not just any blanket - it was an Arm & Hammer blanket. This struck me as odd. Why would I want a blanket from Arm & Hammer? Is it sprinkled with baking soda? And if so, what's the purpose of that? When I found out that it cost $5, I asked myself, "Why would I pay $5 for something that used to be handed out for free by airlines?" I'll pull out my sweater instead, thank you very much. Later I was in a Big Lots' store picking up some household items with my sister and noticed all the different Arm & Hammer products on the shelves. I found Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, household cleaner and toothpaste. When I checked out their website, I saw that they had expanded into pet care, with kitty litter and training pads, as well as other household items like shelf liners. Shelf liners? It got me thinking about why brands overextend themselves. More importantly, it begs the question, how do you innovate without overextending your brand?

There are many things that I do for my clients before I even start ideating for an innovation project. It usually involves evaluating their brand equity, understanding their consumer and understanding past and future innovation areas. If there are any gaps in their brand or consumer learning, I may commission additional research in these areas. Without this, it is hard to embark on creating new products that will have a meaningful impact with consumers and on your bottom line. With a large percentage of new product failures each year, it's important to do your due diligence before leaping into an innovation opportunity.

There are three important questions you need to ask yourself before going into any innovation brainstorming meeting:

1. What does your brand mean and how do you want to strengthen this with consumers? All brands have a promise. It's important to identify what your brand's promise is and how to leverage this equity into new product opportunities. Brands that innovate from the core of their brand's meaning will strengthen their relationship with their consumer. Brands that deviate from this philosophy run the risk of diluting their brand.

Arm & Hammer's equity around freshness means that going into categories where freshness is important makes sense. I want fresh breath and fresh clothes, so toothpaste and laundry detergent make sense. I'm not thinking of 'freshness' when I want to buy a blanket on an airline or a shelf liner for my cabinets. To me, those extensions erode what Arm & Hammer could potentially own in the minds of its consumers. Teflon stands for protection. Its core promise is durability. If the brand started manufacturing products that deviate from this, like paper products, it might erode its equity. Flor stands for stylish modular flooring. If the brand started marketing food products, it would confuse consumers. You get the picture. Brands should start any ideation with the goal of strengthening their brand promise to their consumers.

2. What are your guardrails? Before going into any innovation session, I have my clients identify their innovation guardrails. Innovation guardrails include what's in-scope and what's out-of-scope. This helps focus the ideation on the areas that matter most. In-scope guardrails always include building what your brand means. If Bose were a client, 'delivers superior sound' would be a guardrail that is a non-negotiable for the brand. Bose stands for superior sound, and any product it creates should deliver on this promise. Guardrails can also include other benefit areas, consumer targets, categories, sales ambitions, building a brand's tone, and many other things. Out-of-scope guardrails include anything that is a no-go for the brand.

These Entenmann's scented candles come in pie flavors that should be reserved for the cake aisle.

Recently I saw these adorable small Entenmann's cakes in a bin at a Rite Aid store (see banner photo). Upon closer inspection, I realized that they weren't cakes at all. They were scented candles in flavors like Carmel Pecan Pie and Blueberry Pie. These glass candles were packaged in small white bakery boxes with a plastic window, just like the ones you find in the grocery store. When I saw the boxes I immediately thought that this was a case of a brand trying to drive growth without thinking about either their promise or their guardrails. Having worked for a leading consumer baking brand, I know that consumers have strong positive associations with baked goods and baking . Entenmann's innovation efforts should leverage this emotional connection. Anything that doesn't promote baking's real food values should be out-of-scope. So individual-sized baked goods, yes. Candles in pie flavors, no. Being clear about your guardrails helps to focus your brand ideation and limits unsavory ideas from ever seeing the light of day.

3. Who's your consumer and what insight are you leveraging for this innovation? When you are ready to ideate, it's important to truly understand your consumer target and the insights you want to tap into for this innovation. Consumer insights are the building block of any innovation idea. A product or service should solve a problem, fulfill a need or satisfy a desire for the consumer. It's an insight into one of these areas that makes an innovation successful.

Method's initial launch was brilliant. When all the other household products were promoting efficacy, Method changed the conversation. They built a brand based on the insight that consumers wanted a more environmentally-friendly way to be clean. Method's brand perspective is that cleaning doesn't have to be dirty and uninspiring - it can be eco-friendly and fun. Their iconic hand soap is beautifully designed and contains natural ingredients. Each launch into contiguous personal and home care categories (dishwashing, laundry, body wash, all purpose cleaner) holds true to the consumer's desire for 'clean' ways to live. Knowing your consumer intimately helps you create compelling and successful new product ideas.

With the three things I mentioned above in mind, it's time to ideate (I'll cover innovation ideation in another blog post). When ideating, it's helpful to come up with as many ideas as possible with a collaborative group of creative thinkers. At the end of your ideation, you'll have a broad array of innovation ideas. First, you should evaluate each idea by making sure it fits with the criteria that I outlined earlier. Ask: Does it build my brand's meaning? Is it in-scope? Does it tap into a true consumer insight? Then, you should ask a few additional questions:

1. How incremental is your innovation? Lots of brands, particularly in the food category, innovate by coming up with new flavors. This might create interest for your brand, particularly in a category like beverages where flavor trends are always emerging. New flavor extensions, however, often cannibalize your existing business. Brands with too many flavor extensions eventually have to contend with its SKU proliferation. Good innovation should be incremental while still holding true to your brand meaning.

When Swiffer came up with the Wet Jet, it was incremental to their main Swiffer product because the needs around sweeping and mopping are different. Both products fit Swiffer's desire to empower consumers to 'clean with ease.' An incremental innovation taps into a different need state than your existing product, a different target or a different occasion - all while holding true to your brand's promise.

2. If you are looking at white space opportunities, what are you leveraging to build credibility in a new space? A brand may want to stretch into new spaces without having any credibility in that space. They do so by building on an existing quality that they can leverage into a new category. When Bertolli sauces wanted to go into the frozen aisle with a line of ready made meals, they did so by promoting their Italian cooking heritage and credentials.

Suppose the Bose brand wants to enter a new category? (I'm not advocating that Bose does this, as there are many ways for them to stretch their brand without a heavy investment in new capabilities.) But what if Bose wanted to go into, say, Optics? Going straight into the camera business will be difficult, but they may be able to build credibility in this area by offering a digital camcorder that has superior sound capture and replay capabilities. Using an existing strength to step into a new category is one way to build credibility in a completely new space.

So, you have taken all your ideas and prioritized your best ideas. Now what? It's time to write them up into concepts or prototype them, and expose them to consumers. With costly new product launches, it's important to get some consumer feedback to help you hone your ideas before it enters the market. The money you spend upfront will be a sound investment when you consider how costly it might be if your innovation flopped in the market. Stay tuned for more tips on developing great innovation. In the meantime, happy inventing!

Please post your thoughts and criteria for developing breakthrough innovation ideas.

How to Innovate Without Overextending your Brand