Point Forward

Point Forward delivers innovation strategies based on customer insights. We use ethnographic research to model customer culture and identify specific opportunities for new products and services. Our decade of results covers nearly every industry from consumer electronics to consumer packaged goods and from healthcare to industrial. Clients use Poin... t Forward to grow their top line. Point Forward's team has provided the insight and strategy for such innovations as Huggies Pull-Ups, General Mills GoGurt, Johnson Controls Metasys, Ericsson Buddysync, American Heart Association High School CPR, and Johnson Wax Professional J-Fill. Point Forward was created to address a persistent source of market failure: corporate strategies not being informed with exclusive information about customers. Large companies tend to focus on competitors and major technologies. Point Forward's approach to strategy is specifically designed to supply the missing pieces , customer insights. Point Forward provides the "content" that feeds restructured organizations with fresh opportunities to explore. We start with proprietary, in-depth research with target customers. This ethnographic fieldwork reveals previously unknown opportunities and risks for products and services. "The models that result from such direct contact with customers in their everyday lives really informs and invigorates our clients," says Robert Hall, a Point Forward vice president. "We give them unique input for their decision-making." Point Forward works with the future-oriented functions within large companies such as R&D, advanced products, concept development, centers for innovation, product strategy teams, and inbound marketing. The time horizon for the opportunities that Point Forward identifies is typically one to three years to market launch. Point Forward is often asked about its role in brand strategy. We believe that a great brand is the result, not the cause, of great products and services. Hall says, "Sure, you can advertise your way to some brand awareness, ...Read More