innovation doesn't need to be complicated

Influx Insights — 2007-05-10T00:28:44Z

In the last couple of years, the term, Innovation, has risen and fallen from star to clich�.

Mention the word to many marketers and their c-level brothers and sisters, and they will give you a perplexed look. There’s the perception that innovation is hard and complex. It’s not achieved easily and not to be undertaken by anyone without sufficient stamina. The most popular misconception is that it’s hard because it’s all about breaking through with a radical idea.

Sometimes innovation can happen in a much simpler way.

Take the fast food giant, McDonald’s and it’s latest pride and joy, the snack wrap.

Developed by Dan Coudreaut, the company’s director of a culinary innovation.

He was given the brief to develop a new chicken item that would work well for takeout.

Coudreaut developed 85 ideas that met the brief including one called a “tacadilla” which failed in consumer testing.

His solution was to create something simpler.

According to the Wall Street Journal.

“He took breaded chicken used in the restaurant's Chicken Selects strips, topped it with shredded cheddar jack cheese and lettuce, added a few squirts of ranch sauce and wrapped it in a flour tortilla. McDonald's called it a snack wrap and put it on the menu for $1.29.”

The Snack Wrap is one of the most successful product launches in McDonald’s history and was mentioned yesterday as a major contributor to the company’s 4.8% worldwide growth for the month of April.

Influx Insights Tag Feed: snackwrap

innovation doesn't need to be complicated