Bright Ideas: Consumer Co-Creation in Product Development
Innovation Starts with the Consumer
As consumers, we've all encountered products that almost meet our needs, but not quite. Perhaps you've wished you could tweak a formula, adjust a feature, or modify a design to better suit your specific requirements. At Henkel, this universal consumer experience drives our approach to product development. We place consumer-centricity at the heart of everything we do, involving consumers from initial concept and prototypes through final launch. When developing products for specific regions, we ensure that local preferences, cultural nuances, and unique needs are thoroughly understood and addressed. Through dedicated consumer engagement centers, we create meaningful dialogues with our consumers, ensuring that every voice is heard, every opinion is valued, and every piece of feedback directly shapes the products we bring to market.
Bright Ideas Co-Creation Center: Where Consumer Insights Drive Innovation
Bright Ideas is a consumer research facility located in Dubai, UAE, and operates as part of a global network alongside our research facilities in Trumbull, USA, and Düsseldorf, Germany. The center specializes in gathering consumer insights, opinions, feelings, and real-life experiences with everyday consumer products. Their inputs directly guide our concepts and shapes the products you find on store shelves.
At Bright Ideas, new innovations and prototypes are developed in close collaboration with consumers from the earliest stages. Through fragrance tests, product trials, interviews, focus groups, and co-creation sessions, the team gains deep insights to fine-tune their designs and create solutions that truly resonate with consumer expectations.
The Consumer Technical Insights Process
The Bright Ideas Co-Creation Center operates within a broader R&D ecosystem, where the Consumer Technical Insights (CTI) team functions as an overarching framework bringing together multiple departments. The CTI team's refinement process begins with a product in its early formulation stage, which is then tested by consumers. Feedback is later gathered on various dimensions such as scent, texture, packaging, and color. If the response is positive, the product proceeds to market. If improvements are needed, refinements are made and the product is tested again until it meets consumer expectations, making CTI a key driver of Innovation at Henkel.
This agile, iterative approach ensures that we stay aligned with consumer needs. It also supports our broader goals of consumer centricity, bridging the gap between customers and end-users, and addressing regional preferences.
Creating Authentic Testing Environments
To support this, our Bright Ideas Co-Creation Centers in Düsseldorf, Trumbull, and Dubai are designed to feel like real homes. Consumers test products in realistic environments, such as bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms. This allows us to collect genuine, real-time feedback. This setup helps our moderators capture authentic reactions and insights, making our innovation process even more effective and consumer driven.
Transforming Product Development Through Collaboration
In an increasingly competitive marketplace where consumer expectations continue to evolve, Henkel's commitment to authentic consumer-centricity sets us apart. Through our global network of co-creation centers and the innovative work at facilities like Bright Ideas, we've transformed the traditional product development model from one of assumption to one of collaboration. By creating real-world testing environments and maintaining an iterative feedback loop, we ensure that our products exceed personal expectations. This approach reflects our fundamental belief that the best innovations emerge when consumers become true partners in the creative process. As we continue to expand our consumer engagement capabilities, we remain dedicated to turning everyday product frustrations into extraordinary solutions that genuinely enhance people's lives across diverse markets and cultures.
