Hayley Rose on LinkedIn: I'm pumped to be a judge for this year's Pause Fest & Awards! This year's… (2024)

Here’s proof that research and big budgets can lead to consumer product flops.How did Dove get their Real Beauty bottles so wrong?> They had the insight -> they commissioned some research and found “only a small percentage of women considered themselves beautiful.”> They created a product -> New packaging that celebrated the diversity and beauty of all body shapesSimple, right?But it totally backfired.People were livid.They felt they were reducing women’s bodies to shapes of plastic bottles, and it was a superficial attempt to address a complex issue.So, they didn’t continue the special edition bottles.But the damage was greater than financial loss.They diluted the gravitas of their “Real Beauty” positioning.They could have stopped this EASILY.Here are two small ideas that would have taken them less than 4 days:> Tested the concept with customers in 1-1 interviews> Put a “buy now” feature in a small e-commerce grocer and seen the uptake (before they had it)PLEASE....Don’t put all your faith in customer research reports when designing products.Don’t run the risk of losing your reputation and your hard-earned money.Test if people want your solution----I love helping businesses do this. Happy to chat about how - just DM me.#productvalidation#strategy#consumerproducts

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I’ve turned down opportunities to start or join companies because of these 3 questions.It’s meant that I’ve missed:> A successful exit where I could have made 7 figures> C-suite experience in a Fortune 500 company> The chance to live in New York and London (again)Do I regret it?I mean, of course, sometimes!But, they didn't align at the time.Before I pursue a new business idea or job opportunity I ask myself 3 things. Those opportunities didn’t pass:> DESIRE: How devoted am I to solving this problem?> CAPACITY: How much energy am I willing to invest (or do I have) to actively pursue this?> RISK: Am I willing to take on any uncertainty that comes with exploring this?I do it because I’m committed to finding work that doesn’t feel like work.I do it because I see the majority of people who “have made it” burn out, are sick, and often miserable.I do it because we spend more time working than with our friends and family.I do it because sometimes I lean towards comfort and security, and sometimes I feel a lil saucy and want to place some bets.I do it because if I’m a “f*ck yes” towards something, you can’t stop me.Does anyone else have their own internal screener? Love to know what you use to assess opps.

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Baby, the funnel is dead. We're highly caffeinated ADHD pinballs. As consumers (well, humans) we bounce across channels, unable to concentrate or commit. But a lot of marketers haven't caught up and are planning in funnels 😱 . >>How marketers think people buy:- Buyer sees ad.- Buyer clicks ad.- Buyer purchases.>>How people actually buy:- Buyer spots your ad.- Buyer gets distracted by something adorable (hello, cat video!).- Buyer completely forgets about the ad.- Days later, the buyer stumbles upon your organic post.- They give it a like. They keep scrolling...- They spot your ad again while on their commute.- They click and take a quick peek at your website.- They see a friend. Close tab. - An influencer they follow mentions you—back to your site they go!- They add something to their cart. Distracted. Abandoned. - A week later, a friend mentions your brand.- They remember an email with a discount code and dig it out.- They price check on Amazon but get lost in the endless scroll.- One restless night, too much caffeine, doom scrolling.- See another one of your ads. Sleepy. Sleeping. - A week later, a casual remark from a partner reminds them.- They revisit their cart.- They complete the purchase.---Because we’re not linear, you gotta be everywhere.Exhausting right?Some tips to win- Have content on all channels your customer uses (or as many as you can)- Make sure you re-market to us, follow us mad peeps around the internet- Remove any friction to purchase so we’re more likely to buy it now- Remind us when our cart has been abandoned- Try and track us and learn what we're doingAnything else?

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Your next $190,000 a month idea could be on Reddit. For anyone looking for problems to solve, Reddit is a treasure trove.I love this example:They found a clear problem on a Tinder Subreddit:"Help me reduce the time it takes to come up with flirty (and good) responses for online dating"They created a wrapper ontop of ChatGPT that gives you cleaver responses to a chat thread (just screenshot and upload). No fancy tech needed.333,000 downloads per month.The takeaway?- be clear about the customer problem you're solving (no clear problem? scrap your idea)- make it easy to solve that problem- you dont need fancy new tech to solve a customer problem- don't build AI just cos#product#customer#AI---Thanks Greg Isenberg for the inspo

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I’m looking for 5 burnt out founders 👋🏼 > You’ve got product-market fit, and focused on increasing your margins and streamlining your operations> You’re starting to think about where new growth will come from, but struggling to balance being future focused and scaling your current business> Your team is stretched as it is on your current business, and don’t have the capacity to hire a team to think about the future and threats of competitors > Your business is focused on helping people live healthier and happier lives Does this sound like you?Leave a " 🙋🏼♀️ " in the comments below (or tag someone that comes to mind)

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I think we should be worried for teenage girls. Here’s why. Firstly - this video makes me both angry and sad. This poor girl can’t be older than 9, and is making skincare content.I wish she was an edge case, but teenage girls as young as 12 are becoming obsessed with skincare thanks to TikTok and social media influencers spruiking beauty products. They’re even going into Sephora and asking for retinol (for anyone who doesn’t know what that is, it’s a strong anti-ageing ingredient intended for women 30+).Being a teenage girl is hard enough; from changing bodies, those awkward-looking years, bullying, to changing hormones.12-15 were probably some of the hardest years of my life, and that was without social media. Social media is putting SUCH intense pressure on young girls to adhere to unrealistic beauty standards, impacting their mental and physical health.But what’s the solution?> Is the responsibility on brands and influencers creating content to create realistic expectations around beauty and educate people on the intended age group and safe usage of products?> Is it on parents to regulate social media usage, and not turn their kids into TikTok influencers at 10?> Is it on channels like TikTok to ban content for certain age groups, or have stricter privacy settings around what content is "inappropriate" for kids?> Is it “kid-friendly” devices with limited social media access?What do you think?https://lnkd.in/gBGjV3xg

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I've met so many CEO's that find themselves in this sh*tty position - but they don't have to 👇🏼 - You’ve nailed product-market fit and now you're zooming in on boosting margins and optimising operations.- You know you can't keep selling the same thing forever, but don't have the time to juggle future-focused strategies with scaling your current business - Your team is already maxed out managing the existing product, leaving you with little bandwidth (or budget) to build a full-time future-focused squad.It's tiring, you're stretched, you're always worried about how you'll keep your defensibility (you can't just be a one trick pony).Would you prefer to feel relaxed, confident and clear about your "what's next?" without compromising scaling your current business? If this sounds like you, shoot me a message, and I'm happy to chat about some ideas. #growth#productmarketfit#product

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This may be one of the best experiments I've seen in a while.Mia Klitsas (CEO and founder) of Moxie - progressive period care wanted to change the way women carried tampons so they didn't fall loose in your bag, and were stylish enough to pull out of your bag with confidence, not embarrassment.But prototyping packaging is expensive.So she hacked it:- Took an old Mum deodorant can- Chopped off the bottom- Painted it with a posca penShe took it, walked into Woolies, and got Moxie ranged.If there is one lesson to learn from Mia, it's you don't need to spend ridiculous money and time in proving your concept.👇🏼 I've got the whole interview with Mia launching soon on Spaghetti Stories. If you want to learn how she carries this ingenuity into all her product testing I'll leave the link for the newsletter in the comments below. ----ps.Have you got something you're working on that you need to validate?DM me and we can chat.

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Money's tight, the economy's rough, so you stop investing in new ideas and focus on steering the ship: sound like you?You’re not alone:- 70% of companies operate like this- 27% of world’s top companies are cutting their innovation budgets this yearThe irony? It causes them long-term setbacks.By not investing in innovation, companies lose out on ways to grow their business post-downturn, while others solve the customer problems they're ignoring.There’s proof:Companies that maintain or increase their innovation budgets in tough times see 10% higher growth compared to those who cut back.Don’t be like these Borders. They didn’t address the drop in consumer spending and shift to digital media so Barnes and Noble and Amazon overtook them with theire-books and move to e-commerce.The way to do it? The dual-track approachFocus 70% of your time on what you do best (core business)And the 30% of exploring new growth ideas:- 20% on adjacent ideas- 10% on groundbreaking ideasDon’t be a sleepy giant in a tough market.Be smart about how you invest time and money in new growth ideas.---------Interested in ways you can safely explore new bets in this climate? DM me#growth#innovation#corporateventuring

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