The Newest Pandora's Box, the “Artificial Exit,” as Inspiration for Product Development and Innovation In this column, Badaracco describes one of the newest trends in the food industry—the “artificial exit”—and how it can be used as inspiration in product innovation and development. The artificial exit is described as a “Pandora's box,” a trend that is all encompassing, has ties with many other trends, has attributes that make it virtually unstoppable, and has few enemies. The artificial exit trend is a morph, or cousin, of the older “natural,” “free from,” and “pure” trends. Because it is better defined and directional than its relatives, the artificial exit allows a company to strategically enter the trend by clearly demonstrating its entrance strategy to both consumers and industry clients. Badaracco suggests strategizing based on the intersection of company and public needs and layering trends within one product concept to strengthen a trend and lengthen its life cycle. |