Understanding your customers and providing them with ongoing attention is the backbone of operational excellence. Yet customers themselves are embedded into an environment in flux. That is why it is paramount to take a step back and seek to adopt a broader perspective, spanning the entire global market value chain. Only this holistic view enables […]
To become a leader, analyse the market’s value chain Read Post »
Many start-ups, small or medium-sized companies are eager to grow through innovation. When uncertainty is high, for example about market demand for an innovative product or which market adoption lever is best, market research is a must-have. But the resources and skills required are often limited or non-existent. A well-conducted innovation market study should help
Innovation market study: How to make of it an experience that gives you strength? Read Post »
As the founder of a Deeptech start-up, or the head of a technological innovation project, at a family gathering or a cocktail party, you sometimes tell about your professional activity. Haven’t you noticed the variety of reactions: curiosity, enthusiasm, admiration, or incomprehension, disinterest, scepticism. You will face likewise a diversity of attitudes when you launch
Deeptech: Will your scientific & technical selling points be enough to succeed? Read Post »
Marketing managers describe their target market using persona profiles. A persona is a fictional typical customer whose background, values, habits and attitudes towards the product are outlined. Market segmentation classifies buyers or users into groups of individuals with similar characteristics. It enables the development of a marketing strategy tailored to each group. Market segmentation and
Persona: The trap of fake marketing Read Post »
Neo home robot The AI models you use will soon expand into the physical world, thanks to the down-scaling of AI computing processors, smooth real-time communication with humans in natural language, and a multimodal perception of the environment. This includes text and 3D images, as well as sounds, vibrations, colours, smells, force feedback when grasping,
Physical AI, humanoid robotics: What are the keys to success? Read Post »
Producers of basic goods upstream in a supply chain often generate by-products. Once considered waste, these by-products have generally found new uses. However, their economic value remains marginal. The triple necessity of decarbonisation, circular economy, and tackling the scarcity of some raw materials has led to a new generation of innovative industrial processes: pyrolysis, plasmalysis,
Promoting the country’s economic and technological sovereignty is not the job of governments only. And the job goes far beyond financing start-ups and businesses. Sovereignty is all too often invoked to secure tax breaks, subsidies, non-dilutive financing and other assistance from public authorities. Yet in many countries the states are highly indebted, and their political
The economic sovereignty of a country relies on the sovereignty of its companies Read Post »
In your industrial or tech company, many engineers work with customers. They are members of the engineering team, product developers, project managers or technical experts. They are not part of the sales team. What about asking them to get involved in the sales process? Under which conditions? To do what exactly? If properly designed, the
Can customer-facing engineers help with sales ? Read Post »
To innovative and ambitious teams, the quest for competitiveness paves the way for success. Really? The quest starts at the very beginning, when the first business plan is drawn up, by making sure that price assumptions are based on robust research. Setting the target selling price is an even trickier stage, as the project team
Innovators: Set as soon as possible your target selling price ! Read Post »
Your company has just completed the development of a promising technological innovation: manufacturing process, high performance material, algorithm, sensor, energy production or storage device, etc. This building block has many potential uses across a broad span of activities. Congratulations! The hiccup is that your resources are limited. How do you pick the best use case?
Technological innovation: How to pick the best use case? Read Post »
Before launching your innovation on a BtoB market, you ask yourself what the fine line is between the ambition to transform it, and the clear-sightedness to take it as it is. You pay heed to what start-ups, consultants and innovation experts say about the power of creativity, the need to change the rules of the
BtoB innovation: disrupt, or fit the mould? Read Post »
Deeptech start-ups and innovative industrial companies are increasingly using the TRL (Technology Readiness Level) scale of technological maturity. It facilitates dialogue with partners and funders. The TRL ranges from level 1, for an idea, to level 9, for a technology that has been proven in an operational environment. The early 2020s saw the emergence of
Balance the technological maturity and the commercial maturity! Read Post »
CEOs willing to make their company more innovative come up often to the conclusion: “We need to improve our innovation culture!” Alas culture is a fuzzy concept . It’s time to put some meat around this bone! We propose here a systemic approach to characterise your innovation culture, which combines1- soft skills,2- the content of
Invest in your innovation culture and transform smoothly your company! Read Post »
Deeptech startups are tackling tomorrow’s challenges through disruptive technological innovation based on scientific research. This is why Deeptech investors are willing to take greater risks and wait longer. Moreover, one of the main reasons why startups fail is that their offering does not meet a market need. Alignment with market needs is a basic principle
Deeptech startups need a deep marketing Read Post »
With the acceleration of measures to decarbonise industry and strengthen the resilience of value chains in the face of supply, geopolitical and health shocks, buyer demand is increasingly focused on the way in which a product is manufactured. Compliance with product specifications and price are no longer enough: the origin and quality of components, manufacturing
Is the promotion of the process more important than the promotion of the product? Read Post »
Communication is an integral part of the innovation process. Those of us who have worked with both R&D and communication teams may be surprised by this assertion. The profile of communication teams is obviously different from that of R&D teams. Communication teams are usually involved well after the development and testing phases of R&D. A
No Innovation without Communication! Read Post »