Clynton Taylor

As Clorox moved from being a fast follower to a market leader, it needed to develop new competences in defining and developing new opportunity spaces. Creating an innovation strategy, we helped Clorox to identify where it really excels and then expand its capacity to innovate.

To spur compelling innovation, we brought Clorox closer to its customers and helped engender a deeper empathy for their needs. Across multiple projects, we worked together to reinvent several existing business… Show more

As Clorox moved from being a fast follower to a market leader, it needed to develop new competences in defining and developing new opportunity spaces. Creating an innovation strategy, we helped Clorox to identify where it really excels and then expand its capacity to innovate.

To spur compelling innovation, we brought Clorox closer to its customers and helped engender a deeper empathy for their needs. Across multiple projects, we worked together to reinvent several existing business categories. These programs started by looking into the larger context of people’s lives by conducting in-depth ethnographic interviews. Based on this research, the team developed needs-based frameworks that articulates difference in the choices and behaviors of consumers. This spawned a variety of new solutions throughout Clorox’s businesses.

Of course, innovation isn’t just about creating one-hit wonders. To help boost Clorox’s innovation capability, Jump analyzed Clorox’s internal culture, business goals, and work processes. With Clorox we then worked together to craft an innovation strategy that plays to Clorox’s strengths. As a first step to turning this strategy into a larger system for innovation, we conducted a hands-on Learning Lab to teach Clorox innovation leaders and practitioners new methods and approaches for innovation that worked well with Clorox’s existing culture.

Throughout this partnership, we helped Clorox develop an innovation strategy that plays to its strengths and is tailored to its culture. This approach has shown clear results in both bottom-line impact and capacity for innovation. For example, in one Clorox business, twelve product concepts based on this work tested in the top 20% of the BASES database. Half of these ideas were in the top 10%. Show less

Wrangler Jeans hold a special place in the hearts of American cowboys. But over time, the company’s brand, messaging, and products had become more associated with an ideal of cowboys than with the real folks actually living the Western lifestyle. Our job job was to bring Wrangler a unique point of view on cowboys, new frameworks to yield a sense of what they really value, and a cohesive strategy to guide Wrangler’s product and brand development.

Discovering how the Western lifestyle has… Show more

Wrangler Jeans hold a special place in the hearts of American cowboys. But over time, the company’s brand, messaging, and products had become more associated with an ideal of cowboys than with the real folks actually living the Western lifestyle. Our job job was to bring Wrangler a unique point of view on cowboys, new frameworks to yield a sense of what they really value, and a cohesive strategy to guide Wrangler’s product and brand development.

Discovering how the Western lifestyle has changed.

To do that, the we, and a few Wrangler executives, delved into the lives of cowboys. We interviewed and shadowed people in several different states to learn more about their lives and what living a Western lifestyle meant to them. We went on-site to ranches, toured the wardrobes of working cowboys, and attended a rodeo in order to connect with Wrangler’s core fans. The team discovered that, contrary to the popular image, cowboys are not a homogenous group. In fact, there are several distinct groups who live the Western lifestyle, with different needs that change as they travel through several stages of life.

Developing new platforms, a new positioning, and new capabilities.

We created three new product platforms for Wrangler that would maintain its connection with the company’s core fan base and also help the company to capture new territory in the western wear world. To maintain a central role in the lives of today’s new breed of cowboy, Wrangler needed to update its brand positioning and messaging to reflect the reality of a new western lifestyle. The impact has been considerable: Women’s Wrangler sales have enjoyed double-digit growth each year since the project, with a variation of one of the product platforms co-created with us making up more than half of the women’s wear sales increase. Show less

FedEx had a hot new technology that it struggled to develop in a new business and plan for commercializing globally. It needed insight about key customer benefits and an understanding of the most promising international markets that would drive widespread adoption.

We conducted research in key global markets and completed comprehensive country evaluations, competitor analysis, and robust business analysis on the long-term viability of different commercialization strategies, financial… Show more

FedEx had a hot new technology that it struggled to develop in a new business and plan for commercializing globally. It needed insight about key customer benefits and an understanding of the most promising international markets that would drive widespread adoption.

We conducted research in key global markets and completed comprehensive country evaluations, competitor analysis, and robust business analysis on the long-term viability of different commercialization strategies, financial models, and market-sizing methodologies.

We identified the right industries, companies, and messages for marketing and sales. A detailed product development strategy along with targeted, specific value propositions and a sales plan gave FedEx a clear path forward. Today, SenseAware is successfully integrated into FedEx and continues to launch in new countries according to the strategy we developed for them. Show less

World-famous for its animal collection and recreational attractions, the San Diego Zoo is also a non-profit organization with deep experience in conservation. Despite the Zoo’s considerable conservation programs, these efforts are not well-known to the public and costly. We helped the Zoo create a conservation leadership strategy that would develop new sources of revenue.

I lead the team as we developed an opportunity map with fourteen growth areas that define the landscape of… Show more

World-famous for its animal collection and recreational attractions, the San Diego Zoo is also a non-profit organization with deep experience in conservation. Despite the Zoo’s considerable conservation programs, these efforts are not well-known to the public and costly. We helped the Zoo create a conservation leadership strategy that would develop new sources of revenue.

I lead the team as we developed an opportunity map with fourteen growth areas that define the landscape of revenue-generating conservation activities. Seven areas were prioritized as having high potential for the Zoo. These came to the forefront for reasons such as their ability to leverage Zoo capabilities and their revenue potential. In addition to opportunity areas and strategy, Jump delivered strategic imperatives to help the Zoo make good decisions about which areas to pursue as it develops new initiatives going forward. Jump’s work was met with great enthusiasm by the Zoo’s top fifty executives, including the CEO, COO, and CFO. The Zoo was also excited to find that our work helped to clarify why some initiatives in the past had been successful internally and externally while others had failed. Show less

Situation
With a commitment to R&D, CIBA Vision, a contact lens manufacturer, had led the global market with first-to-market technologies. As competitors copied these innovations and flooded the market with similar products, the company sought to define new opportunities to win in this highly competitive, undifferentiated market.

Approach
To uncover proprietary insights, the team conducted research in the US and Europe. They interviewed and shadowed people as they went about… Show more

Situation
With a commitment to R&D, CIBA Vision, a contact lens manufacturer, had led the global market with first-to-market technologies. As competitors copied these innovations and flooded the market with similar products, the company sought to define new opportunities to win in this highly competitive, undifferentiated market.

Approach
To uncover proprietary insights, the team conducted research in the US and Europe. They interviewed and shadowed people as they went about their personal health routines, and observed eye care professionals as they consulted with and treated patients. Analysis of the company’s core capabilities, as well as indirect and direct competitors, pointed to a clear strategy to differentiate offerings for new growth.

Results
CIBA has green-lighted several R&D projects based on its new strategy and is currently in the process of differentiating itself in the marketplace with new eye-care products and services.
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As an important part of Jump Associates' leadership training programs, each year the CEO selected an up-and-coming employee to work side by side with him. I was selected in 2006 and for over 9 months this was my full-time gig. In this role I had the incredible opportunity to actively participate in business development and executive coaching meetings with some of the worlds' top business leaders. I learned immeasurable leadership, business development, writing, speaking, and management skills… Show more

As an important part of Jump Associates' leadership training programs, each year the CEO selected an up-and-coming employee to work side by side with him. I was selected in 2006 and for over 9 months this was my full-time gig. In this role I had the incredible opportunity to actively participate in business development and executive coaching meetings with some of the worlds' top business leaders. I learned immeasurable leadership, business development, writing, speaking, and management skills during this time which I continue to apply to my life. Towards the end of my assignment as Staff Assistant, I was going to important meetings in the CEO's stead, providing coaching and advice to corporate executive teams. Show less

In 2006, amid several years of declining ratings, NBC Sports took over the iconic Monday Night Football show and decided to move it to Sunday night. Network executives sensed that they had an opportunity to radically improve how people watched and experienced pro football in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Yet, exactly how NBC Sports would pull off this transformation remained unclear. In four weeks, we needed to figure out how to make NBC’s return to football broadcasting a success, and to… Show more

In 2006, amid several years of declining ratings, NBC Sports took over the iconic Monday Night Football show and decided to move it to Sunday night. Network executives sensed that they had an opportunity to radically improve how people watched and experienced pro football in a rapidly evolving media landscape. Yet, exactly how NBC Sports would pull off this transformation remained unclear. In four weeks, we needed to figure out how to make NBC’s return to football broadcasting a success, and to create services, products, and promotions that would make people want to watch every single week, no matter who was playing in the game.

I lead a collaborative team from Jump and NBC. We interviewed, played games with, and watched sports with dedicated fans in their homes to understand how watching football had changed. One of the most interesting things we discovered about sports fans during our cultural immersion in their lives is that even dedicated fans have many interests competing for their attention these days. What this meant for NBC was that it could make Sunday Night Football a must-see if it shaped the program to bridge their many interests. As a result, we recommended framing Sunday Night Football as a social experience, bringing friends and families together for a shared cultural event. This inspired the program’s immensely popular tagline, “Sunday Night is Football Night,” which has helped NBC drive ratings growth.

We provided NBC with a promotion, and broadcast strategy to increase viewer engagement. We then crafted concepts to help audience members become more active participants in the game and connect with family and friends socially.The show has consistently outpaced its predecessor Monday Night Football. The 2006 average ratings alone were up 8.2 percent, the highest regular season football ratings in a decade. Show less

Harley-Davidson needed help identifying new opportunities for growth beyond bike sales. I was the lead on the project and took the team and clients through stakeholder interviews, secondary research, deep ethnographic research in a couple of US cities, analysis of data, insight generation, opportunity map creation, and new business concept generation. Several opportunities and service ideas were adopted by Harley-Davidson.

Finding a way to boost retail sales.
A recent shift that modeled Saturn’s dealerships on homes had not boosted sales as anticipated. Saturn needed a new retail approach to connect with customers and drive sales growth.

Identifying a metaphor to guide store design and experience.
Together, Saturn and Jump went to 30 of the most highly regarded retail stores in the country to piece together the metaphors, scripts and stories they impart to visitors. Based on this work, the team… Show more

Finding a way to boost retail sales.
A recent shift that modeled Saturn’s dealerships on homes had not boosted sales as anticipated. Saturn needed a new retail approach to connect with customers and drive sales growth.

Identifying a metaphor to guide store design and experience.
Together, Saturn and Jump went to 30 of the most highly regarded retail stores in the country to piece together the metaphors, scripts and stories they impart to visitors. Based on this work, the team recommended that Saturn model its dealerships on an interactive museum.

Rolling out the new retail program across dealerships nationwide.
The team created concepts for multimedia displays, improved interactions with sales staff, and conceived of large magnetic paint chips that help people envision their car in different colors. As of fall 2007, more than half of Saturn’s dealers had enrolled in the program.
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Going from good to outperforming the market, thanks to deep insight.

Target wanted to transform its back-to-school season from good to great and differentiate itself from the competition. In the process, the team hoped to identify a sustainable growth strategy for the store.

We identified starting college as the key moment that would bring along the rest of the Back to School market. Customer stories illustrated that parents and students held widely different views of the… Show more

Going from good to outperforming the market, thanks to deep insight.

Target wanted to transform its back-to-school season from good to great and differentiate itself from the competition. In the process, the team hoped to identify a sustainable growth strategy for the store.

We identified starting college as the key moment that would bring along the rest of the Back to School market. Customer stories illustrated that parents and students held widely different views of the transition. What mattered most to students, irrespective of age, was feeling comfortable and equipped for their upcoming life change. This insight led to strategic imperatives and principles.

Hundreds of SKUs were added or changed to reflect Target’s newfound deep understanding of its market. That quarter, Target’s same-store sales increased by 12% at a time when competitors’ sales were flat or down. Sales of new products focused on equipping students for their new life were up by as much as 200%.
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Challenge

With rapidly changing technology and the near weekly emergence of new apps like snapchat and Musical.ly, it was clear children were both using and experiencing technology in different ways. Yet how, exactly, and what opportunities did this enable for Intel?

Discovery

Together with Intel we spent time with children, talking with them in their homes while they hung out with friends.

Through a card game we designed to elicit rich stories about their lives and… Show more

Challenge

With rapidly changing technology and the near weekly emergence of new apps like snapchat and Musical.ly, it was clear children were both using and experiencing technology in different ways. Yet how, exactly, and what opportunities did this enable for Intel?

Discovery

Together with Intel we spent time with children, talking with them in their homes while they hung out with friends.

Through a card game we designed to elicit rich stories about their lives and use of various technologies we discovered new needs and expectations. The kids then prototyped new solutions through ideation together.

Results

The ideas the children came up with during their ideation together were surprisingly good. In addition to highlighting expectations around new solutions the ideas helped spark specific new product and marketing ideas within Intel. Show less

Challenge

Carhartt, a highly successful, 126 year-old family-owned workwear company, was ready to set the company up for success over the next 100 years. It was time to rethink their partner strategy and customer segmentation, and develop new products, services, marketing, and retail experiences for existing consumers. It was also time, they understood, that the company connected with two key growing consumer groups.

Discovery

I worked closely with Carhartt across… Show more

Challenge

Carhartt, a highly successful, 126 year-old family-owned workwear company, was ready to set the company up for success over the next 100 years. It was time to rethink their partner strategy and customer segmentation, and develop new products, services, marketing, and retail experiences for existing consumers. It was also time, they understood, that the company connected with two key growing consumer groups.

Discovery

I worked closely with Carhartt across departments over a series of projects spanning 15 months. The projects helped Carhartt gain more empathy for what consumers need, and how to develop meaningful experiences for them across marketing, retail channels, products, and services. Through ethnographic research, including game nights, shop-alongs, and work-site visits, we identified pain points, opportunities, and the experiences consumers wanted. We developed comprehensive experience maps and design principles that guided us in creating new product, marketing, and channel concepts.

I also worked with the brand and corporate strategy team to define new opportunities for the company and lay out a strategic roadmap to get there. We also updated the company's mission and values to align with our new findings.

Results

The concepts have entered the product pipeline, are impacting store strategies, and are directing marketing efforts. The new brand strategy was embraced by the executive leadership team and rolled out internally. Show less