A Comprehensive Report on Innovation Strategies: Essence Drinks

This report presents a comprehensive analysis of innovation strategies, leadership, and commercialization within the context of Essence Drinks, a UK-based beverage brand. The report begins by defining innovation and its importance, differentiating it from invention, and examining how organizational vision, leadership, culture, and teamwork shape innovation and commercialization. It then delves into the 4Ps of innovation (product, process, position, and paradigm) and the use of the innovation funnel to refine innovative ideas. The report also explores frugal innovation, its application within organizations, and the significance of the commercial funnel and the application of NPD processing for commercialization. Furthermore, the report includes the building of an innovation business case for Essence Drinks, including ways to access funding, and concludes by discussing tools for developing, retaining, and protecting knowledge and intellectual property. The report provides valuable insights into the practical application of innovation principles within a real-world business scenario.

INNOVATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1.Define innovation and ascertain its importance to organisations and difference with
invention.................................................................................................................................3
P2. How organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation and
commercialisation...................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3.The 4Ps of innovation and explain the use of the innovation funnel to examine and shape
innovative ideas......................................................................................................................6
P4. Frugal innovation and its use in organisation...................................................................8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5.The importance of the commercial funnel and the application of NPD processing for
commercialisation of innovation..........................................................................................10
P6 Build an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access funding.
..............................................................................................................................................12
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
P7.The different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect knowledge and
intellectual property. ............................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Innovation can be refer as to add some new innovative thing to an existing product just to
change to make a new innovative product for which the customer has value and they should pay
to buy that. The innovation and the added value should be that which satisfy the need and
demand of customers. The present report is based upon the current scenario of Essence Drinks,
which is a UK based beverage brand and this was launched two years ago by Akshay Kumar.
This company is offering the delicious mango Lassi, which had increased his sales but then after
3 years the sale was reduced and then the owner of essence drinks decided to innovate his
products in context with Lassi. Therefore, the project report will help us to know the various
ways of innovating the product of Lassi and bring some innovation in that (Aarikka-Stenroos,
Sandberg and Lehtimäki, 2014) . This report will mainly emphasizes on the innovation and
invention, along with their vision, culture, teamwork, leadership will help to innovate the product
of Lassi. In addition with this, the 4P's of innovation will also be discussed and at end the report
will be wind up by explaining the business case of company and properties to protect the
innovative product.
TASK 1
P1.Define innovation and ascertain its importance to organisations and difference with invention.
Innovation : This is the process which refer to change or modify the existing product and
create something more effective products and services. Innovation is not just meant to inventing
something but innovation can mean to change the model of the business and adopting change to
deliver the best products to the customers. Therefore, this to suggest to the owner of essence
drink to add some ingredients in Lassi like dry fruits by which the taste will become more
delicious and it will be healthy for customers (Brunswicker and Van de Vrande, 2014) . By this,
the health conscious individual will also buy it and the sale will be increased. There are many
different importance for organisation which are outlined as below -

1. Innovation will result in increasing the sale and enhance the productivity and
profitability.
2. Innovation will also lead to increase the customer loyalty and customer satisfaction by
meeting their demands and needs.
3. Innovation also helps to increase the reputation or goodwill of the firm as this is very
essential to sustain in the market for long term.
4. Innovation will also help to attain the desired goals and objectives of the firm in effective
time frame.
Therefore, by these benefits the owner of essence drinks can be able to enhance its sales
by bringing change in his product of Lassi as he is adding the dry fruits ingredients to it by which
they gain more attention of the customers and this will enhance their sale.
Difference between Innovation and Invention
` Invention and innovation both is different from each other as Akshay Kumar, the owner
of Essence drinks has decided to innovate his product rather than invent it by replacing it with
another product. Here is the difference which is explained as below -
Basis of Comparison Innovation Invention
Meaning Innovation is related to the
implementation of ideas or
thoughts to an existing
products just to make it a new
innovative product (Paradkar,
Knight and Hansen, 2015).
Invention is the process of
creating something new for the
first time. Developing or
inventing a product to launch
in market so that the sale can
be increased.
About This is all about adding a value
to an existing product just to
make it new.
This is all about invention of a
new product.
Concept New and innovative ideas are
implemented in existing
product.
The new real existing idea is
implemented (Libaers, 2014).
Required Skills Technical skills and marketing
skills.
Management and Scientific
skills.

Occurrence When modification are
required in a product and when
the owner want to enhance the
sale (Pellikka, 2014).
When scientist are having a
new practical idea on which
they have to work on.
Concern Concern with the different
products and procedure.
Concern with the specific
process.
Activities Exploit in the whole firm. Restrict to the R&D
department (Chesbrough and
Bogers, 2014).
P2. How organisational vision, leadership, culture and teamwork can shape innovation and
commercialisation
Innovation and commercialization is described by distinguished practising innovators.
The concept of innovation is a linear process and present a simple model for understanding it as
a highly iterative process. In this process the organisation cycle repeatedly through many factors
in the area of technology, market and implementation. The vision, leadership, culture and
teamwork plays the crucial role in shaping the innovation and commercialisation, as it is very
important to set these things for effective and smooth working at the workplace. This is essential
for the owner of essence drinks to have the clear vision, mission, leadership, etc., so that the firm
can gain the better and sustainable position in the market. The essential things are outlined below
 Vision : The vision of essence drinks is to produce and sell products that enhance quality
of life and well-being. They are also having the vision of offering their tasty and healthy
dry fruits Lassi to UK population, so that they can gain the attention of more customers
and enhance their sale (Brusakova and Kosuhina, 2015) . Each company is having the
vision and mission of satisfying the needs and requirement of their customers.
 Leadership : For the development of the company, the leader will play the crucial role in
implementing the dry fruits Lassi as because, the leader is the one who leads his team in
such a manner that each and every employee perform their task in effective way and in
effective time frame, so that the goal for enhancing the sale by the innovative product of
Dry Fruits Lassi can be achieved.

 Culture : The Organisation Culture must be friendly and positive as this include many
beliefs, norms, values, rules and regulations which are made by the top management of
the firm. The positive environment at the workplace will easily able to adopt the changes
which are made in the product of Lassi (Carayannis, Grigoroudis and Goletsis, 2016) .
The Culture should be so delight that each employee should adjust and perform their task
of making the Lassi product innovative by adding the dry fruits ingredients to it.
 Teamwork : Teamwork is very important for completing the task in effective way and on
time, there is crucial ton have team work in firm so that the employees interaction can be
increased and the task is divided between employees in such a manner so that the goal of
Dry fruit Lassi can be innovated that attained in an authentic manner.
TASK 2
P3.The 4Ps of innovation and explain the use of the innovation funnel to examine and shape
innovative ideas.
Innovation mix model is the which states that what innovation process can bring to an
organisation. This model was founded by John Bessant and Joe Tidd. This is also said as to be
the 4P's model which includes paradigm, Product, Process, and Position. All these are stated as
below -
1. Product – Innovation can bring the satisfaction of customers, Essence Drinks is
introducing Dry fruits Lassi, which will be healthy for their customers, and also the
health conscious people will able to buy it, as this is very healthy. This innovation in their
product will bring the enhancement in their sale.

Source: 4P's of innovation,(2015).
2. Process : The proper procedure should be followed by the firm in order to gain the
quality of product and also by this the firm can able to maintain the performance of the
employees (Chesbrough and Bogers, 2014) . To attain the goal of Dry Fruits Lassi, the
appropriate process should be maintained and followed so that the firm can easily be able
to offer the delicious and healthy Dry Fruit Lassi to their customers.
3. Position : Essence drink is analysing the current and actual position of the market and
their customer. Therefore, by analysing this, it can be able to fulfil the demand and needs
of customers. The actual position of the market helps to known that what are the
customers expecting from the firm, by which the organisation can easily apply the
modification to their existing product so that they can attract and gain the satisfaction of
more customers.
4. Paradigm : This is the factor which describes about the current dominant paradigm of the
firm Essence Drinks in and effective and authentic manner.
Innovation Funnel – This is the process of defining the steps which are to be used for
the development of the product, and for the implementation process of innovative product. The
main purpose of this is to the real position of the products in the competitive environment. For
Illustration: 4P's of innovation

the new product development process, the innovation funnel model is used, which as been
explained as below -
1. Opportunity Assessment : In this stage the owner of Essence Drinks will analyse and
examine the market condition and also the expectations of customers along with various
information which is to be required to innovate that product of Lassi. This is used to
identify the opportunity for the new product.
2. Insight based ideation : In this stage the different types of products are to be imagine as
they want to know that which opportunity will be properly applied for the strategy of
Essence Drinks. This will image the product which is offered and which will benefit
them for this opportunity (Fabrizio and Tsolmon, 2014) . This can be examine by doing
research with the help of online websites, surveys, etc.
3. Conceptualization : At this stage, the owner has hired an consultant of the firm who will
design the real concept from all the different ideas and thoughts which are came out as
an outcome of the stage of ideation.
4. Evaluation and Benchmarking : This is the stage where the testing will be done of the
innovated product by the targeted customers. Essence Drinks will offer the Dry Fruits
Lassi to their customer and get feedback from them.
5. Go/No Go : After getting the reviews and feedback from the customers, analysis show
that this will be beneficial for getting success in future or not. The consultant of the firm
will take an decision to follow this strategy or not (Fu and Mu, 2014) . Also the decision
must contain the cost, profit margins, etc., which are not linked to the preference of
customers.
6. Launch : The innovative product Dry fruit Lassi will be going t6o launch in UK market,
by which the essence drinks can gain and attract more customers.
P4. Frugal innovation and its use in organisation.
Frugal innovation is the process of reducing the cost and complexity of the product and
its production. This is the most crucial part of 8innovationn and invention. This innovation is
adopted by many different firms in order to develop extra element in the actual services of
production (Kilelu, Klerkx and Leeuwis, 2014) . Therefore, the essence drinks is coming with the
innovative product of Dry Fruit Lassi in the competitive market.

1. New market opportunities : To know the competitive market and the product offered by
the firm, the investigation and exploration of the market should be done in the proper
manner. In context of Essence Drink organisation, it will be helpful for the firm to have
the desired outcomes by expanding its business of Dry Fruits Lassi in the competitive
market. By adopting this innovation, respective company will be able to exapnd its
product such as Dry Fruit Lassi in competitive market place. Through this, they will able
to target their potential customers which will help them in their growth and development.
Source: Frugal Innovation,(2017).
2.Resources : In context of Essence Drinks must utilize maximum resources so that they can
sustain in the market for long term and maximise more profits. For example, by adding new
flavours in their product i.e. Dry Fruit Lassi. Through this, there will high possibilities of
respective company to retain their goods for long period of time.
3.Innovation funnel : This is all about developing a new product in the competitive market and in
context with essence drinks it is stated that the firm is bring its innovate product Dry Fruit Lassi
in the competitive market, which will be good for the health of UK population.
Frugal innovation consists of two segments which are outlined below :
1. Problem : There are many problems which are to be faced by the Essence Drink while
innovating their product, as it is very difficult to come up with a new goods in the
competitive market so it is necessary for respective company to innovate their product in
an effective way. In this way, they will able to differentiate their product from their
competitors. Along with this, they will acquire new customers which will help Essence
Drink to build their customer base. (Libaers, 2014) .
Illustration: Frugal Innovation

2. Related to product : Essence Drink should find the best medium by which they can
promote their product and the method through which their business goals can
successfully attained.
Generating idea of innovation : For the process of innovation, Essence Drink should analyse
the market in effective manner so that they can determine the needs and demands of customer
and produce their goods and services accordingly. Apart from the above, there are some of the
steps related to frugal innovation which are adopted by respective company are mentioned
below:
1. Screening new idea : In this stage, the appropriate planning is to be done to innovate the
products as per the requirements and need of the potential customers.
2. Idea screening : At this stage the innovative idea of Dry Fruit Lassi will be screened.
3. Testing : In this stage, the innovative product is to be tested by getting the feedback from
the customer, that the product is appropriate or not.
4. Internal analysis : This stage states that the innovative product is to be identified and
utilised in the best effective way.
5. Review marketplace : At this stage the investigator will check whether the product is
accurate or not.
TASK 3
P5.The importance of the commercial funnel and the application of NPD processing for
commercialisation of innovation.
Commercial funnel is also known as sales funnel, this is refer to as the buying process
that the firm will lead when the customers will purchase the product. This is divided into three
phases for improvement in the present goods. Pricing policy - Essence Drink can set their pricing strategy by commercial funnel, they
will sell their innovative product at moderate rate, so that every customer can able to buy
it, as this is very healthy for the people. Helps in improving the growing business – Commercial funnel is the essential concept
for the growth of the business (McKelvey, 2014) . As by this they can identify the level
of each customer in the funnel and then satisfy their needs and requirements, by this they
can be able to increase their sale and generate more profits.

 Growth by advanced technology – This funnel is used to launch the innovative product of
Dry Fruit Lassi, with the use of advanced technology and by the promotion of product the
growth of business will be enhanced.
 Implement investigation programmes - The investigation on the requirements and needs
of customer is necessary, therefore commercial funnel will help the firm to bring their
innovative product in the market.
Source:New product development,(2019).
Steps for the process of new Product development Idea generation : This stage will define to innovate the product of Lassi by conducting
the research and by knowing that what are the needs of customer. Idea evaluation : At this stage, the idea which has been developed by the Consultant will
be filtered for eliminating those ideas which are worth. Concept definition : At this stage, the idea of adding the ingredients Dry Fruits in the
Lassi will be finalised (Paradkar, Knight and Hansen, 2015) . Strategic analysis : At this stage, the owner of Essence drink will ascertain that the idea
of Dry Fruit Lassi is fit in the business strategy or not and should also ascertain the cost,
profit and demand. Product development and testing : This is the stage where the innovative product is
develop and tested.
Illustration: New product development

 Market Testing : At this stage, marketing testing will be done of the innovative product as
per the reviews given by the customers. Also this will define the effective time for
launching the product in the market. Commercialisation : The price of innovative product Dry Fruit Lassi will be ascertained
along with their marketing plan.
 Product launch : At this stage the product Dry Fruit Lassi will be finally launched.
P6 Build an Innovation Business Case for an organisation, including ways to access funding.
Business case can be defined as all the necessary things which are required by the firm to
accomplish their goals and objectives.
1. Executive Summary : The executive summary is of the product of Essence Drink which is
innovate by adding the dry fruits in it (Partanen, Chetty and Rajala, 2014) . To launch this
product company have to organize the proper market strategy which include PESTEL,
Swot and Porter's five force model. So that, the product implementation will lead in the
success of the business.
2. Mission statement : The mission of essence drinks is to produce and sell the products
that enhance quality of life and well-being, by which the customers become happy and
satisfied.
3. Resources : The resources should be managed and arranged in a proper way because
these are necessary in daily activities.
4. Market analysis : This is essential to analyses the market for the firm in effective manner
for identifying the level of customer perception, competitive level towards the innovative
product (Pellikka, 2014) .
5. Cost and benefit analysis : Cost should be analysed after analysing the market condition.
6. Financial projection : To launch the innovative product in the market, it is required to
have the fund of £20,000.
Ways of funding
For launching the innovative product in the market there is requirement of funds, as this
is the backbone of every business, without this the firm can not be able to run and operate then
business. The various ways of funding are as follows -
 Bank and Financial institution : Firm Essence Drink can collect the fund by taking credit
from bank and by other financial institutions .

 From family and friends – The firm can collect the fund from their family and friends. In
this they have the benefit of not paying any interest (Qian and Haynes, 2014) .
 Benchmarking : This is used to compare the performance and best product of other firm.
Essence Drink can used the method of collecting the fund from bank and other financial
institutions as this will be the best method for them to collect the fund and this provide the
security.
TASK 4
P7.The different tools that organisations can use to develop, retain and protect knowledge and
intellectual property.
This is necessary for the firm to protect their innovative product from other firms, so that
no one can able to copy that, for such protection, government has made many legal laws and
legislations, which can be used by many firms, and are stated as below -
 Copyrights - This is refer as the legal term which defines the rights given to the creator or
artist for protecting their actual product and any created work (Rasmussen and Eliason,
2017) . In context with essence Drink, can also take the copyright of their innovative
product.
Advantages:
 It will help the respective company to gain public record of ownership.
 It will also aid the respective firm claim for damages.
Disadvantages:
 There are many individuals who are not aware that copying any software is illegal. To get a copyright, it is a time consuming process which approximately takes two- three
months.
 Trade secrets - This is related with the secret information of commercial belief. This is
not suitable for the firm to protect their Dry Fruit Lassi product from any type of risk.
Advantages:
 It can be used for any type of information as well as for making small improvements.
 It is not expensive to purchase.
Disadvantages: If trade secret is lost by company they cannot get it again.

 Patent – This is the right which is given to the owner of the firm, as without their
permission no one can able to access that product (Rubera, Chandrasekaran and Ordanini,
2016) . In context with essence drinks, the owner Akshay Kumar has the patent right that
his product will not be used by anyone without his permission.
Advantages:
 It helps in avoiding duplication of research.
 It also helps in improving technology to produce effective products at cheap cost.
Disadvantages:
 In order to get a patent right is a expensive process.
 It is for limited duration.
There are various tools like patents, copyright and trade secrets that can be used by the
management of the company for providing protection to the brand's name. When the
organisation has copyright or trade mark of its products and goods than no one can produce
similar product without permission. There are various laws and regulations that are developed by
the government within these tools so that the firm can protect their organisation' name. In
Essence Drinks, it can be recommended to the management of this company that they can use
patents and trade secrete as an effective tools which help in protecting the brand image of the
firm at market place.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report, it has been stated that innovation is the part of adding
some value to an existing product, as in today's life each customer wants something new, so it is
important for the firm to innovate their products. Apart from this, it is necessary for the firm to
protect their innovated products by using the various tools provide by the government, also the
innovation funnel is beneficial for the firm to launch their innovative product in the market.

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