Marketing-driven Product Innovations

The Role of Data in Product Innovation for Sexual Wellness SexTech is increasingly becoming data-informed. In mature consumer industries, product development is guided by: • User behavior analytics • Customer feedback loops • Heatmap interaction tracking • Purchase pattern modeling • Retention analysis Sexual wellness is now adopting the same sophistication. E-commerce data reveals: • Most searched product features • Preferred materials • Popular form factors • Peak purchasing seasons • Repeat purchase behavior User reviews provide structured insight into: • Ergonomic comfort • Motor intensity preferences • Noise sensitivity • Charging expectations • Packaging perception Brands that treat feedback as infrastructure rather than anecdote accelerate innovation. In addition, connected devices and app integrations are beginning to generate anonymized usage data that can inform: • Frequency patterns • Customization preferences • Feature utilization • Software updates This allows iteration to move faster. However, data-driven innovation in this category must balance one critical factor: Privacy. Trust is non-negotiable. At V For Vibes, data informs: • SEO-driven product optimization • Feature prioritization • UX refinement • Content education strategy • Inventory forecasting But consumer discretion and secure systems remain foundational. The future of product development in sexual wellness will not rely solely on intuition. It will rely on behavioral signals. Brands that analyze patterns intelligently will: • Reduce product returns • Improve satisfaction rates • Increase repeat purchases • Optimize pricing models • Strengthen long-term loyalty As the industry professionalizes, data will separate reactive brands from strategic ones. Innovation is no longer just creative. It is analytical. And analytical advantage compounds.

Are we entering a new humen-led, tech-powered era of impactful marketing? Here are 6 best practices for inspiration. Marketing seems at a pivotal moment, with data and #AI technology propelling rapid changes and expanding opportunities for growth. The economic value of #genAI is potentially reaching $4.4 trillion, with a large percentage of that value set to come from marketing and sales. McKinsey & Company recently shared insights and best practices how marketers can use a combination of #AI and human insights to fuel customer engagement and growth: Crafts retailer Michaels Stores has built a #content generation and decision-making platform to help with copy development and personalization of marketing campaigns Personal-clothing service Stitch Fix uses gen AI to help stylists interpret customer feedback and provide product recommendations. Instacart is using gen AI to offer customers recipes and meal-planning ideas and to generate shopping lists. Mattel, Inc. is using AI in Hot Wheels product development to generate four times as many product concept images as before, inspiring new features and designs. The Kellogg Company is scanning trending recipes that incorporate (or could incorporate) breakfast cereal and using the resulting data to launch social campaigns around creative and relevant recipes. L'Oréal is analyzing millions of online comments, images, and videos to identify potential product #innovation opportunities. Considering these examples - what will a #marketing function transformed by gen AI look like in the long run?

Is the process of innovation in need of innovation? Most innovation processes are linear. First, you do A. Then, you do B. Each stage-gated step earns you permission to move to the next step. If you’re lucky, you make it to the MVP step, where your prototype arrives in the hands of users. The steps from start through MVP are usually product-focused: What’s the idea? Who needs it? What are their pain points? Which features address the pain points? Answering those questions is a terrific way to build a product. But it’s a terrible way to assess the most important questions: Is somebody going to buy this thing? How many somebodys? It’s not that innovation teams ignore the question of demand. Pre-MVP surveys often assess new product interest. Surveys, however, don’t tell you if people want to buy your product; they just tell you whether people *think* they want to buy your product. Even worse, in many cases survey respondents are paid for their opinions. Are you really going to get a good read on how they will behave when they encounter your product for sale in the real world? 💡 Here’s an idea: Don’t put marketing at the end of the process. Put it at the beginning. Answer the hardest question—does anyone want this product?—as soon as you can. You may be thinking: how do I know which product to market? It’s early days. Good news: you can test-market multiple product concepts or multiple ways to position a product. Use ads. Be honest (“in development” should be prominent). See who clicks. See how many click. If it doesn’t meet your hurdle, try again or pull the plug. Learning early is better than learning late. Lean Startup and its MVP approach were arguably the last big innovation in innovation. But that was over 15 years ago. Isn’t it time for a new look at the process of innovation? #innovation #marketing #demandvalidation #concepttesting #heattesting

The best innovation starts by listening to what’s already happening in the market. Consumers constantly signal what they want — through the trends they adopt, the behaviors they repeat, and the ways they adapt products to fit their needs. Innovation teams shouldn't be so prideful that they only invent in isolation. They should recognize signals early and translate them into something scalable, ownable, and true to their brand. That's the thinking behind the launch of Mountain Dew's new product, Dirty Dew. “Dirty soda” has been growing as a consumer-led trend, combining soda with creamy, indulgent flavors. Dirty Dew brings that idea into the ready to drink Mountain Dew portfolio — pairing the citrus refreshment people expect from Dew with a smooth creamy twist. It takes something consumers already love, and amplifies it through the filter of the Mountsin Dew brand. The most effective innovation isn't ignorant to what is already going on in the market. It builds on it — combining emerging behavior with what your brand already does best.

3 product changes that drove $10M+ in revenue. (And completely transformed our business) Look, the reality is... The smallest changes create the biggest impact. Here's what we implemented: 1. Built-in retention hooks Snapchat streaks changed social media forever. We implemented similar mechanics: → Progress tracking → Daily achievement markers → Visual streak counters Users started logging in 4x more frequently. 2. User-to-affiliate pipeline Most companies hunt for affiliates externally. But we discovered something powerful... We turned our power users into affiliates instead. People who love your product sell it better than strangers. This drove 7-figures in affiliate revenue last quarter alone. 3. Content-first features Every new feature gets one question: 'How will this look in user-generated content?' Because product virality comes from shareability. The best marketing isn't marketing - it's designing products people want to show off. Our engagement tripled after implementing this approach. Great products market themselves. You just need to give users the right tools to spread the word. The companies winning right now understand this. Do you?

💡 Unlocking Breakthrough Innovation in CPG: 3 Key Points I spend a lot of my time working with emerging brands and helping them to grow in the natural channel. By definition, I live in the world of innovation. Here are 3-points that I see brands considering in their new product development process: 1. Consumer Behaviors Understand the "why" behind consumer actions. What’s the job to be done? Ethnographic work, testing ideas at farmers' markets, and focus groups can help surface insights, leading to relevant products that fill a growing white space. Tim Richards 🦠⚡️🥜 Philosopher Foods mistakenly discovered Gut Nuts while producing their nut butters. These fermented nuts are more digestible and nutritious, support gut health, and taste amazing. Their line is currently doing great on the Sprouts Farmers Market innovation set and is a beautiful example of a first-to-market product that aligns with consumers' long-term love for nuts! 2. Consumer Values Values drive consumers’ choices. Health is big, but it’s flexible and personal—and flavor and texture must not be sacrificed! When you develop product ideas, consider how they align with the core values of your target consumers. Kerry Song and her team at Abbot's did a great job innovating and developing their new Whole Burger. It aligns with consumers who value healthier protein sources but won't sacrifice flavor, texture, and ingredient standards. 3. Consumer Emotions Products that connect emotionally to consumers—whether through the occasion, ingredients, or brand legacy—are the ones that stick. Nostalgia, joy, or comfort can be powerful motivators. Dom Oakley's company, Pacific Resources International (PRI), is the original importer of Manuka honey from New Zealand and Australia. They've been in business for over 30 years, and I eat a teaspoon of their "magical" MGO 300 product daily for my gut and immune health. While re-doing their packaging, we decided to keep their original and nostalgic logo to stay connected to the brand legacy. Sales are growing nicely! Also, consider Breanna (Atkinson) Golestani and Jared Golestani's brand Kokada. Their peanut-free, gluten-free, made with organic, natural ingredients, and refined sugar-free competes directly for Nutella consumers who want a better-for-you option. It's a staple in our home, and the line aligns with the 3-points above. Its retro-looking packaging, healthier ingredients, and fantastic taste and texture align perfectly with modern consumer values. I love this industry! Alexandra Bauerova Brandon Mahin Tess Yancey

Arm & Hammer Animal Nutrition - 30%+ revenue growth in one year. Here's exactly how we did it: Case Study: From Product-Focused to Outcome-Driven The Situation: - Successful company with great products. - Had just launched their "best in market" solution. - Seven years of development. Much fanfare. Result? Ho-hum sales. The Problem: They asked customers what solutions they wanted. Instead of what job they were trying to get done. The Outcome-Driven Innovation Solution: Phase 1: Customer Truth Discovery - Defined the market around the job-to-be-done - Uncovered 165 specific customer outcomes - Quantified which outcomes were underserved The Surprising Discovery: Every trade journal ad featured: "We can help improve milk production, protein production, fat production, dry matter intake" But customers actually cared about: Optimizing herd productivity. The real job wasn't nutrition. It was "optimizing dairy herd productivity." Most opportunities weren't even related to nutritional ingredients. Phase 2: Strategic Realignment - Redesigned all marketing around customer outcomes - Repositioned products based on jobs-to-be-done - Changed sales conversations to focus on outcome achievement - Transformed messaging without changing products The Results (12 months): ✓ 30%+ revenue growth ✓ Double-digit growth across every product ✓ Successful acquisition using ODI framework ✓ Expansion into new markets (poultry, swine) The CEO's words: "Once you start thinking about a market through this lens, defining your customer as a job executor and asking what job they're trying to get done instead of what solutions they want is such a basic, simple, and obvious way to approach innovation." They didn't change pricing. They didn't redesign products. They didn't reformulate anything. They changed their messaging so customers understood what the products could help them get done. If this transformation resonates with your situation, click the link in the comments to schedule a strategy discussion.

Most companies are using AI for efficiency. Some are accelerating value creation. A great case study is how Colgate-Palmolive is driving innovation. Here are specific ways they are embedding GenAI across innovation processes to substantlly improve research and product development. These come from an excellent article in MIT Sloan Management Review by Tom Davenport and Randy Bean (link in comments). 💡 AI-Driven Product Concept Generation Accelerates Ideation By linking one AI system that surfaces consumer needs with another that crafts product concepts, Colgate-Palmolive can swiftly generate creative ideas like novel toothpaste flavors. This AI-augmented workflow produces a broader product funnel and allows rapid iteration, enabling more employees to participate in the innovation process under guided human oversight. 🔍 Retrieval-Augmented Generation Enhances Data Reliability The firm’s use of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) integrates company-specific research, syndicated data, and real-time trends from sources like Google search data. This approach minimizes the risk of hallucinations and ensures that responses are deeply grounded in verified, internal content—delivering more accurate market analysis and trend detection. 🤖 Digital Consumer Twins Validate and Refine Concepts Moving beyond traditional focus groups, the company has developed “digital consumer twins”—virtual representations of real consumer behavior. These digital twins rapidly test hundreds of AI-generated product ideas. Early evaluations show a high level of agreement between virtual feedback and actual consumer responses. This innovation speeds up early-stage concept validation and reduces reliance on slower, more limited human panels. 🔐 Democratizing AI Through a Secure Internal AI Hub Colgate-Palmolive’s AI Hub provides employees with controlled access to advanced AI tools (including models from OpenAI and Google) behind corporate firewalls. Mandatory training on responsible AI use, including guardrails and prompt engineering best practices, ensures that employees harness these tools safely and effectively. Built-in surveys and KPI tracking further enable the company to measure improvements in creativity, productivity, and overall work quality. 🌐 Bridging Traditional Analytics with Next-Gen AI for Measurable Impact By integrating traditional machine learning with cutting-edge generative AI, Colgate-Palmolive is not only boosting operational efficiencies but also driving strategic growth. This seamless blend supports tasks ranging from market research and innovation to marketing content creation—demonstrating a holistic, value-driven approach to adopting AI that is a model for other organizations.

I’ve worked on product innovations at Reckitt Benckiser worth £66 million. Here’s what I learned: Most founders don’t know the difference between invention and innovation.   An invention is a brilliant idea that works. An innovation is a brilliant idea that spreads. You don’t have an innovation until marketing turns the key. Invention opens the door to utility, i.e., the product functions the way it’s supposed to. However, adoption requires a second key - brand, framing, service, and even a touch of playfulness. Those elements don’t add fluff; they lower perceived risk. They make something new feel safe and familiar. They invite new habits. They turn “Why would I try this?” into “Why wouldn’t I?” At Reckitt, I saw dozens of great inventions die quietly because they never got that second key. I have also seen average ideas explode into million $ businesses - because someone framed them right, packaged them right, told them right. That’s the real secret of innovation: → Utility unlocks function. → Brand unlocks behaviour. Founders obsess over the first key  - the tech, IP and the features. But if no one turns the second key, the door never opens. So next time you build something new, don’t just ask, “Does it work?” Ask, “Will people want it to?” #product #business #entrepreneurship #startups

🎯 Product Innovation Secret: Your Users Are Already Building Your Next Big Feature Dream11 SVP of Product Vaibhav Kokal revealed how their most successful feature came from an unexpected place: their users were already building it on Telegram. Their popular "Guru" feature wasn't conceived in a boardroom or through complex market research. The inspiration? Their own users... on Telegram! 🤯 Here's why this is brilliant: 1.Dream11's users were creating informal prediction communities on Telegram 2.Instead of fighting this behavior, they turned it into their "Guru" feature 3.Result: Massive engagement boost and organic user acquisition 🎯 Key Takeaways: • Your best product ideas might be hiding in plain sight • Innovation often means observing and adapting, not inventing • Users will find ways to fulfill their needs - your job is to make it easier 🔍 Real-World Application: → Check your app's Reddit/Discord/Telegram communities → List the top 3 unofficial workarounds users have created → Evaluate which one could become your next native feature 💡 This reminds me of how Instagram stories came from observing how people were using Snapchat, or how Twitter's hashtags emerged from user behavior. 👉 Watch the full breakdown on my Behind The Featuren YouTube Channel: Link in comments #ProductInnovation #UserBehavior #ProductStrategy #FeatureDiscovery #ProductGrowth #GameDesign #GrowthStrategy