Marketing Strategy for Small- to Medium-Sized Manufacturers

Targeted Innovation Versus the Shotgun Approach (a.k.a. Putting the Cart in Front of the Horse)

There are two approaches to addressing the lack of ideas. One is the shotgun approach and the other is structured, based on C-P-M™ and financial analyses. Shotgun ideation involves brainstorming, recording the ideas, and then having the company come up with some informal methodology (multiple voting techniques and sticky notes, for example), by which to select the ones to pursue. Because C-P-M™ or other strategic framework do not precede the ideation in this scenario, the resulting ideas may or may not align with the business’ strategic thrust, core competencies, or even fall within the realm of practicality due to financial or other weaknesses. In ...