An innovative personal care diagnostic device and the creation and delivery of a landmark mobile money transfer and payments service for emerging markets are just two of the many breakthrough products developed by Sagentia in consumer markets.
These highlight our ability to offer new solutions to client companies who are under sustained competitive pressure to deliver both value and meaningful experiences to consumers.
The demand for differentiation as a means to attain competitive advantage in consumer markets is ever present. Whether it be the need to respond to the babyboomer generation, consumer wellness or emerging markets, companies are looking for fast turnaround product innovation. We have 25 years experience specialising in needs-led technology innovation and breakthrough device development to create competitive advantage for the consumer, medical and industrial markets. Our work draws on deep scientific talent and savvy integration with design. Our products and services are differentiated on grounds of efficacy and user experience.
Our expertise
- Breakthrough innovation: we realise products that redefine the basis of competition
- Full innovation lifecycle support: We offer an end to end service
- Speed of delivery: we achieve fast time to market with concept to launch typically between 6-18 months
- Multi-disciplinary teams: Our teams integrate deep scientific talent with savvy design
- Core science & technology expertise: We have deep science and technology expertise across multiple specialty areas
- Emerging markets: Using a developed methodology, we deliver tailored innovation for the emerging markets
- Cross industry knowledge transfer: We share innovations, best practices and technology advancements across industries
Within the consumer market, we partner on category growth challenges across the innovation lifecycle, from market needs analysis through to product development and transfer to manufacture. Currently, much of Sagentia’s work is in the personal care, household and food & drink industries.
For those clients engaging in the enormous growth opportunities presented by emerging markets, a primary challenge is the development of locally relevant products that have high levels of performance – but with a lower price tag and possibly bundled in a different business model.
In the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, there is a trend towards brand differentiation through the use of devices. These devices are being used to redefine brand efficacy and consumer experience. For example, diagnostics are being used to provide feedback and guidance to the consumer.
Consumer choice
Making sense of health is still a huge theme in the food and drink category. Companies are combining 'magic bullet' ingredients into brand bundles that put the consumer in control of a fun behavioural and consumption regime.
These opportunities will only be grasped by those that have a real passion for consumer needs and ability to translate these needs into appropriate concepts and technologies. Our end to end offering and our emerging markets experience mean that we are well placed to help.
Recent examples of project work for clients operating in the consumer sector include:
- The creation and delivery of a multi-award winning, landmark mobile money transfer and payments service. Designed for use in emerging economies where banking infrastructure is either poor or expensive, the service has proved to be safe, reliable, easy to use and cheap for anyone with a mobile phone. The rapid take up of the system exceeded all expectations and is now firmly established in several countries around the world and used by many millions of satisfied customers
- A radically new approach to consumer shower technology. Working in close partnership with our client, we defined the parameters for a new electronic, remotely controlled shower mixer valve. Subsequent to detailed product development, we assisted our client throughout the manufacturing support phase including guidance on safety approvals and EMC testing. The product rapidly became our client’s best-selling product and positioned it as a true innovator
- Steering a food company into ground breaking science to solve a cost-of-goods challenge worth $100m/year. Over a three year programme, we have conceived the scientific approach, tracked down the best-in-class university partners and project managed these academics in pursuit of fundamental scientific discovery to deliver a huge commercial prize. The project is currently (2010) live, and has set the blueprint for R&D networked research with our client
- Taking lessons in diagnostics from the medical industry we have conceived and developed a beauty device that will put our clients’ brand in a different league from its competition – differentiation through efficacy. From business need - to in store prototype in under a year, we’ve incorporated not only net-new technology but true to-brand industrial design and presentation. Its one of a new breed of devices for the personal care industry.