Tying the Bowtie

Abstract

This report is the result of the final graduation assignment within the scope of the Master of Science (MSc) programme Strategic Product Design (SPD) at Delft University of Technology (DUT). The graduation assignment was executed in the academic year of 2009-2010. 'We believe that Innovation and Brand Development are in fact very strongly related: “Be” leads to “Do”. Innovation leads to brand strength - and strong brands inspire development.' This is the vision of Fronteer Strategy, an Amsterdam-based strategic consultancy firm with two main Practices: an Innovation Practice and a Brand Development Practice. In advising their clients, mostly R&D (Research and Development)/Marketing managers from multinational companies in wide range of industries, they aim for a more integrated approach of these Practices. The goal of this graduation project is to integrate the Practices of Fronteer in such a way, that their offer suits their clients’ needs. This is done by means of analyzing what the processes and outcomes of the two Practices of Fronteer are, what the Literature has to say about them and by a series of company interviews to understand different organizational perspectives on integrating the two Practices. This results in a conceptual model illustrating the connections between Innovation and Brand Development, and a Tool that provides a step-by-step action plan to let the conceptual model serve as both a discussion instrument, as well as an assessment instrument of a company’s current strategic situation. It is concluded that the two Practices of Fronteer can be operationalized in Touchpoints: moments of interaction between a brand and it’s (external) stakeholder. The conceptual model is called the BOWTIE model and is based on connecting the different Touchpoints in the following three areas: 1. Touchpoints on the Transaction generate revenues for the company and respond to a stakeholders‘ expectation by means of creating and selling products. Touchpoints on the Relation do not generate revenues but build a long-term relationship between the company and it’s stakeholders. It represents stakeholder expectations on a company’s product/service by means of marketing/communications. 2. Touchpoints can be initiated by the company (Internal) and by stakeholders (External). 3. Touchpoints can happen before the Purchase, around the Purchase and after the Purchase The BOWTIE model illustrates that connecting the Transaction and Relation Touchpoints connects expectation and response and connecting the Internal and External Touchpoints connects user needs and company capabilities. The Tool is a Touchpoint Strategy Workshop divided into four steps of 30 minutes. Step I and II provide an understanding of the BOWTIE model by means of a BOWTIE Booklet and Example Cards for the different Touchpoints possible. Step III and IV provide an assessment of a company’s current Touchpoints by means of identifying their location in the BOWTIE model and determining whether they have valuable connections with other Touchpoints or not. The outcome of the Tool is a summary of learnings for each of the BOWTIE areas and a summary of opportunities. The Tool was tested with two companies and the main conclusions were that the BOWTIE model provides insight into how product innovation and brand development are connected and the Touchpoint Strategy Workshop is a structured, inspiring way to assess a company’s current Touchpoints based on the BOWTIE model.