Philips, a global leader in health technology, sought to transform men's shaving habits with the innovative OneBlade, a hybrid styler designed to trim, edge, and shave any length of hair. The OneBlade aimed to merge features of both electronic and traditional FMCG products, creating a unique market niche.

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Challenge

Despite significant investment and development, initial concept testing for the OneBlade revealed no product-market fit. Philips needed to pivot to a new customer segment and validate their interest in buying and rebuying replacement blades, replacing assumptions with data-driven insights.

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Solution‍

We initiated a six-month accelerator program with Philips, involving a dedicated team of 6 FTEs and an Innoleaps core team. The program focused on continuous experimentation and iterative testing to identify the target problem and audience, developing a validated go-to-market strategy for a specific customer group.

The first month focused on running hundreds of online experiments to identify the target problem and audience. By the third month, we had a validated go-to-market strategy for a specific customer group. Our approach involved continuous experimentation, from product naming to ad visuals, ensuring all decisions were data-backed. This pivot led to a refined proposition and business model targeting a newly identified customer segment.

Key phases:

1. Experimentation and Data Gathering: Conducted extensive online experiments, employing A/B testing across various channels to gain consumer insights and validate hypotheses. Identified key pain points and preferences of the target audience.
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2. Consumer-Centric Strategy: Developed a comprehensive go-to-market strategy based on validated consumer data, segmenting the market and tailoring the product messaging to resonate with the newly identified customer segment.
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3. Iterative Testing: Continuously tested and refined all aspects of the product and its marketing, including product naming, packaging design, and ad visuals, ensuring alignment with consumer preferences and maximizing market appeal.
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4. Core Consumer Insights: Identified through hundreds of online experiments in the first month, enabling a pivot to a more receptive customer segment.
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5. Refined Proposition and Business Model: Developed a refined value proposition and business model targeting the newly identified segment by the third month.
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6. Full-Funnel Testing: Ensured all decisions were data-backed, optimizing each aspect of the product launch for success.

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Results

‍ The re-launch of the Philips OneBlade at the end of 2015 was a massive success:

• Market Impact: The product sold out immediately and exceeded sales estimations by over four times, generating more than €100 million in the first 18 months.
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• Global Reach: OneBlade is now sold in over 33 countries and has grown into a >€350 million business.
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• Sustainable Growth: The project instilled a culture of continuous experimentation and innovation within Philips, contributing to long-term growth and success.

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"The Innoleaps accelerator constantly challenged us. We became a true team, lean and eager to fail small and early in order to reach success faster and cheaper. As a result we were not only able to take the product to market with amazing results but also bring back the behaviours of constantly experimenting and innovating into our new standard approach to ensure long and sustainable growth for this awesome product."
Christian Haggerty, Senior Consumer Marketing Manager.

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Conclusion

This case study highlights the transformative power of data-driven innovation. By leveraging consumer insights and iterative testing, Philips successfully turned a challenging product launch into one of their biggest success stories, underscoring the importance of agility and consumer-centric strategies in driving sustainable growth in the technology and consumer goods industry.

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