Innovation research creates new opportunities to gain insights from key stakeholders that enrich the outcome while making them feel invested in the program.
Innovation research thrives on collaboration. A key concern about the remote working movement is the potential loss of connection between employees, which many feared could diminish the “spark” of innovation critical to developing new products and services.
But there are unexpected benefits from remote working, notes the Harvard Business Review. “In a remote work setting, employees themselves are being thrust into the outside world. They’re no longer stuck in the unifying experience of office life, which allows them to tap into unique perspectives and entertain new ideas they may not have had the opportunity to previously consider,” explains Harvard Business School Professor Karim Lakhani.
Brand teams can keep the spark alive and benefit from new perspectives by inviting internal and external stakeholders into the process. Facilitated innovation programs, whether online or in person, deliver stronger, more impactful ideas while re-establishing connections and strengthening relationships. This culture of collaboration is the heart of an innovation program that delivers long-term brand growth.
Tap into deep knowledge and expertise.
Innovation research provides a structure where stakeholders can connect with each other and have time to think about new ideas and how they might work. These sessions open the door for:
- The benefits of institutional memory: Internal teams, like R&D and customer service, bring insights from past experience and research that streamline the process and avoid redundant efforts.
- Stronger idea generation: Combining internal expertise with external voices—such as retail partners, agencies, or technical specialists—accelerates the development of high-potential ideas.
- Fewer missteps: External collaborators help identify blind spots, flag risks, and uncover overlooked opportunities, reducing costly mistakes and improving outcomes.
Our facilitators guide sessions that keep stakeholders on-topic. These productive conversations ensure alignment with project and brand goals, refine broad concepts, and focus efforts on the most promising ideas. The sessions also serve as a launching pad for new connections where teams can forge stronger relationships and feel ownership in the new ideas they create together.
Validation helps teams refine ideas and build consensus on winning concepts.
Refining stakeholder input requires a balanced approach—one that combines qualitative depth with quantitative validation. Blended research ensures ideas are rigorously tested and optimized.
Qualitative research techniques like in-depth interviews, focus groups, immersion excursions, and observational research create opportunities for stakeholders to immerse themselves in customer perspectives. This fosters a deeper sense of empathy and helps refine aspects of the innovations they are working on.
Quantitative research like surveys, conjoint analysis, and choice modeling validate these insights with measurable data. These tools quantify preferences, prioritize concepts, and refine solutions for scalability.
Advanced tools make this process even more robust. Prototyping allows stakeholders and customers to interact with early-stage products in realistic environments, delivering immediate feedback. At the same time, camera-based research techniques—like eye-tracking and sentiment analysis—blend qualitative observations with quantitative metrics, capturing both engagement and emotional reactions.
By iterating concepts through these methods, we help teams create customer-tested solutions ready for market success.
Insights support effective communication.
Stakeholder engagement throughout the innovation process helps teams across the organization understand new innovations. This shared understanding ensures that marketing teams develop communications grounded in Voice of Customer (VOC) insights, customer service departments are equipped with the right language and approaches to support the innovation, and retail partners can align their efforts to enhance the product’s success.
When insights flow seamlessly across departments, everyone involved can integrate specifics about the product or service into their efforts, leading to stronger, more unified support for the innovation.
Build a community of engaged stakeholders.
Stakeholder engagement does more than spark ideas; it strengthens relationships across teams at a time when we have fewer opportunities to meet with each other for in-depth, focused conversations. Encouraging these connections creates a culture of innovation. When teams see the results of their combined efforts—such as a successful product launch—they build momentum for future collaboration.
This culture extends to customers as well. By involving them in the research process, we foster a sense of shared ownership. Over time, this feedback loop becomes a self-sustaining engine for innovation, continuously improving products, services, and brand equity.
Innovation research brings immediate value by improving product or service lines and generating entirely new ideas. Its deeper value lies in inviting stakeholders and partners into the conversation, giving them room to share their knowledge, forge new relationships, and find greater meaning in the work they do.
Does your innovation program optimize stakeholder engagement to ensure success? Let’s talk.
