Product Innovation Toolbox: A Field Guide to Consumer Understanding and Research brings together key thought-leaders and seasoned consumer researchers from corporate R&D, academia and marketing research companies to share their experiences, cutting edge consumer research tools and practical tips for successful and sustainable product innovation. This is an essential resource for product developers, marketers and technologists who want to implement consumer-centric innovation and are responsible for designing product-testing strategies from upfront innovation to support new product development. The scope of the book by chapter shows the steps that transform a consumer researcher to a Consumer Explorer that guides the project team to successful innovation and new product introductions. Product Innovation Toolbox is designed to appeal to broad audiences from consumer researchers, product developers, marketers and executives. With an emphasis on consumer understanding and examples that range from cheese to lipstick and printers to energy beverages, Product Innovation Toolbox offers guidelines and best practices for strategizing, planning and executing studies with confidence and high efficiency yielding faster and better insights.
About the Author
Jacqueline H. Beckley, MBA, is the founder of The Understanding & Insight Group, LLC, Denville, NJ, an innovative business development and strategy firm working with both large and small companies to integrate traditional approaches with new concepts and tools for business growth. Previously, Beckley held positions within industry and consulting, including director of consumer perception at Nabisco, Inc., group manager of sensory research and R&D for the Quaker Oats Company, and research scientist for Amoco Chemical Company.
Maria Dulce Paredes, PhD, serves as Director, Consumer Sciences for Avon Products, Inc., Suffern, NY.Leading Avon’s Global R&D’s Consumer Sciences Group, she leverages new consumer insights and research tools to enable development of innovative and meaningful products that meet consumer wants and needs. Previously, she worked for Kraft Foods and the Pepsi Cola Company.
Kannapon Lopetcharat, PhD, is Manager of the Avon Products’ Consumer Science Department (Innovation, New Method Development & Fragrances). In this role Dr. Lopetcharat manages international consumer product insight studies to identify business opportunities, develops predictive models to guide NPD and global strategies for product innovation, and leads consumer insight teams for product innovation to fill the NPD pipeline. Previous assignments were at Unilever Research and Development and Oregon State University.