Design Thinking has been successfully used in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industries Industry by corporations and Brands such as Swiffer, P&G and PepsiCO. Read case studies on these corporations involvement with design thinking and other thought leadership articles about the use of design thinking in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) on this page.
Oral B wanted to integrate digital technology into their electric toothbrush. The Brands first thoughts were to help users to track how well they were brushing their teeth. Future Facility, a product design firm in the UK suggested a different approach. Focus on the pain points of electric toothbrush users.
This case study discusses the importance of placing the user at the center of your innovation activities.
Claudia Kotchka introduced a process for P&G's people to look for opportunities by observing how consumers behave more broadly than it had in the past. Whereas, P&G had traditionally watched how consumers used its products; Kotchka taught P&G the importance of watching how consumers performed daily activities -- such as getting ready to go to work.
Ultimately, she helped P&G develop a process based on design thinking that helped reinvent the Olay brand.
The association asked respondents what they found the most difficult thing about Design Thinking in our July 2020 Survey. 11% of respondents replied that convincing their bosses/CEO/Executive Management was the most difficult thing. However, reading between the lines many other people responded that they did not have enough time and or resources to run the methodology successfully, leading us to believe that the actual number who had not managed to convince their seniors of the value of the process is actually more like 20%.
As CEO, Nooyi visits a market every week to see what PepsiCo looks like on the shelves. She always ask herself—not as a CEO but as a mom—“What products really speak to me?” The shelves just seem more and more cluttered, so she thought they had to rethink their innovation process and design experiences for PepsiCo's consumers—from conception to what’s on the shelf.
This led to a 50% share price increase.
This paper investigates what features of design thinking are employed in FMCG brand development via stakeholder interviews in three domains: agencies, companies, and retailers. This paper concludes with suggestions of how design thinking can be embraced in FMCG brand development.
This is a great case study that underlines the complexity of bringing game changing products to market. It helps to provide an understanding of just how much more is needed that a simple five step process of idea generation.
Read more from Continuum, the Design Firm responsible for the Swiffer