Innovation Strategist
Unlocking the American plate
Provide a strategy to transform American consumers to enjoy Japanese cuisine at home
Brief
As the first design-led strategist for an international food manufacturer, I led the end-to-end product strategy to drive innovation and expand its Japanese condiment brand in the US market. The result was a comprehensive 5-year product strategy and roadmap, tapping into a market size in the billions of USD.
Impact
The product strategy continues to serve as a central driving force behind future marketing campaigns and product planning, resulting from close discussions with C-suite stakeholders. Additionally, as the company’s first designer, my work demonstrated the value of design, leading to the broader adoption of design thinking across departments, starting with the marketing team.
Organization
A legacy international food manufacturer
Role
Project Lead / Product Manager / Design Strategist
Team
Embedded within the marketing team as the first designer, I led the entire project while collaborating closely with the marketing manager and other key stakeholders.
The specifics of this work remain confidential.
Below is an overview of the project without revealing the client's identity.
Context
Post-pandemic demand for quick, flavorful food and a 24% increase in Japanese cuisine restaurants from 2018 to 2022 highlight the growing popularity of Japanese cuisine, creating opportunities for Japanese product businesses
As people return to office life post-pandemic, the demand for quick yet exciting dishes that add novelty to daily dining is increasing. This shift aligns with the growing popularity of Japanese cuisine, renowned for its health benefits and delicious flavors, offering a promising business opportunity that combines convenience and culinary excellence for Japanese product lines.
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Ask
Design new products that inspire more Americans to cook Japanese food at home
Despite the rising popularity of Japanese cuisine known for its deliciousness and health benefits in restaurants, many Americans hesitate to venture into making it at home. My client aspired to bring delightful Japanese flavors to American households. To fulfill this vision, they sought new product ideas to help Americans embrace Japanese cuisine at home.
Activities I led
To address this challenge, I leveraged my business acumen and design methodologies.
Insights
To gain insights into cooking behaviors and uncover the barriers and opportunities related to the adoption of Japanese cooking products, I conducted ten in-depth unmoderated interviews with 10 consumers, primarily belonging to the Gen Z and Millennial demographics, who had limited experience with Japanese cuisine at home.
Through this research, we unveiled a consumer journey from encountering Japanese dishes to attempting them in their own kitchen. This exploration allowed us to unveil three substantial barriers.
Observing a consumer's first attempt at making a rice ball
Problem Framing
To attract American consumers, we extend our focus beyond product innovation
90% of consumers make significant purchasing decisions long before they arrive at the grocery store. Our approach needed to go beyond taste, sauces, and packaging design to influence consumers earlier in their decision-making journey.
To address consumer barriers, we innovated both new and existing products, enhanced consumer interactions, and adopted a broader approach to make Japanese flavors more accessible.
Solution
An actionable 5-year innovation strategy can help alleviate consumer barriers and introduce Japanese flavors to more American consumers
The solution includes a dynamic 5-year product strategy and roadmap that lays the groundwork for market expansion. It introduces new products and elevates consumer awareness through targeted communication efforts designed to alleviate the identified barriers. To develop this strategy, I designed and facilitated ideation workshops with cross-functional teams, validating 16 product and marketing plans. We conducted tasting events to prototype ideas and analyzed key scalability factors, such as production costs and market size, while holistically evaluating the business structure to prioritize the most viable concepts.
Impact
The strategy continues to drive success as a central force within the organization
The findings and recommendations were presented in an interactive and immersive manner to C-suite stakeholders, both within the client organization and its subsidiary.
This experiential approach ensured that our insights left a lasting and powerful impact.
Consequently, our strategy remains a cornerstone of the organization's success, firmly establishing itself as a central driving force within the company.
Comments from leaders
“I am genuinely impressed with the valuable insights you have uncovered. Seeing firsthand how consumers shop and cook in real-life contexts provided us with a powerful understanding we had never gained through traditional research. Your strategy aligns perfectly with both consumer desires and our company’s capabilities, and we are eager to implement these plans quickly.”
“Thank you for bringing these awesome ideas. We can make these to life and really expand and democratize Japanese food, making it available to million Americans.”
President and Chief Operating Officer
CEO
Process
Highlight of my process
Collaborative engagement leads to a holistic approach to strategy development
I played a vital role in fostering close collaboration with internal stakeholders, including senior leaders, R&D, manufacturing, supply chain, research, and marketing teams.
In doing so, I made it a priority to understand the entire business—its value proposition, market advantages, and operational structure—while also actively listening to the passion and vision of those involved.
This collaborative effort, throughout the project, harnessed diverse expertise and resulted in innovative strategies that enabled the company to take decisive and impactful action.
Understanding warehouse management and inventory management
Exploring manufacturing perspectives and lean operation
Market research at the customer touchpoint
Communicating the value of design with their language leads to a new way of working
Introducing design methods to a team unfamiliar with methods was crucial. However, introducing new concepts can sometimes face resistance. To bridge this gap, I communicated in a language that resonated with our colleagues.
Then actually witnessing the power of design thinking boosted confidence in our strategies through consumer insights and prototyping.
Tasting events to understand American Consumers’ preference
Tasting different Ramen soup flavor
Internally generated ideas cultivate ownership and ensure implementation
While leading this project, maintaining an open and inclusive approach was vital. Actively involving individuals across the organization was key to success.
Prioritizing solutions originating internally and conducting ideation workshops stimulated creative contributions.
Many team members initially expressed doubts about their creativity, but within just one hour, 30 fresh ideas were generated and carefully synthesized into 16 validated concepts, all born within the team.
Importantly, all of these ideas were born within the team, creating a sense of ownership and motivation for successful implementation.
Ideation workshop:
Prepared worksheet filled with new ideas
Detail of my process
Commenced with a comprehensive analysis that delved into both macro and micro trends, encompassing the cooking needs and habits of the typical American consumer. This process extended to examining industry trends and conducting a thorough analysis of the company itself.
In the course of this extensive procedure, we meticulously pinpointed the target consumers within the Gen Z and Millennial demographics who had limited prior experience with Japanese cuisine at home.
......................... SWOT Analysis
Brand Strategy Analysis
.................... PEST Analysis
.................... 3C Analysis
Research strategy
Based on secondary research, a detailed research plan was created, intentionally involving two distinct consumer categories: those new to Japanese cuisine and those with advanced cooking skills in this area.
The choice of extreme users was deliberate and crucial.
They were selected because they place the most demanding requirements on products and often have amplified needs, even though they constitute a smaller portion of the total user group.
Setting the research participants
To gain insights into cooking behaviors and uncover the barriers and opportunities related to the adoption of Japanese cooking products, I conducted ten in-depth unmoderated interviews. Due to time constraints, unmoderated interviews were chosen for their efficiency and unbiased observational data collection. We initially received 1,432 responses from a screening question, from which ten participants were thoughtfully selected for interview sessions.
Observation
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Cooking Japanese dish
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Finding Recipe
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Grocery store shopping
Consumer interviews
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Asking about routine
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Pantry and fridge storage
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Perception of Japanese cooking
Utilized data from a 200-response survey to enhance clarity, aiming to minimize ambiguity and foster the confidence necessary for efficient progress.
Observing grocery store shopping behavior
Observing a consumer's first attempt at making a rice bal
Analysis of 200 survey answers
Scrutinized survey data, coded interview responses, and analyzed observation findings.
Synthesized findings from both primary and secondary research to create a consumer journey map, insights report, and design principles.
Coding and analysis on Mural
Ideation Workshop:
I developed a comprehensive facilitation plan for the ideation workshop, ensuring active participation from cross-functional teams.
Pre-work ideation board
Ideation workshop facilitation plan
Prototyping:
We conducted weekly tasting sessions with the internal team to familiarize ourselves with new flavors, ideate and test new products. Additionally, we hosted tasting events to gauge the reaction of American consumers.
Ideation Prioritization:
To streamline the process, I created a scorecard for effectively prioritizing and selecting the new ideas generated during the ideation workshop.
I developed Desirability, Viability, Feasibility (DVF) model score card
I specialize in engaging, active, and compelling presentations. My approach goes beyond traditional one-way slide deck presentations, ensuring key insights and recommendations are delivered in a memorable and easily comprehensible manner. This approach has been instrumental in motivating C-suite executives to embrace and move forward with the presented strategies.
My learning
Leading design in non-design fields by bridging people and culture to achieve impactful results
As the first designer hired by this company, I was responsible for managing every aspect of the design project, from initial planning to execution. Being entrusted with creating a comprehensive 5-year strategy was both an exciting opportunity and significant challenge.
To meet this challenge, I deepened my understanding through self-study, reviewing books and resources, and seeking advice from the right professionals at key moments. A crucial part of the project’s success was engaging stakeholders and securing their buy-in. This experience allowed me to not only refine my design methods but also develop the soft skills necessary to effectively communicate the value of design and support its implementation across the organization.
I also learned that the success of a product or service is shaped by more than just customer needs. It equally depends on the passion of internal stakeholders, the company’s culture, and its legacy. Moving forward, I aim to continue looking beyond the product or service, understanding the entire ecosystem, respecting the vision of those involved, and contributing to outcomes that are distinctive and aligned with both customer desires and organizational strengths.
Learning the manufacturing process and visiting warehouse
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