ERHVERVSAKADEMI LILLEBÆLT

Compulsory Assignment on Innovation
The Bodum BISTRO Pop-up Toaster
September 2012

Group members: Viktorija Salunova, Tomas Lipnick, Petra Vatamanova, Penko Pokov and Jeppe Nørgaard Class mm225, # of key strokes: 17.134

Tabel of contents
Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 Problem statement ........................................................................................................ 3 Delimitations ................................................................................................................ 3 Innovative products in our every day ............................................................................... 4 Choice of product .......................................................................................................... 5 Design of the Bodum toaster: ....................................................................................... 6 Concept behind the toaster: ......................................................................................... 6 About the company and the history: ............................................................................. 6 Future potentials of growth ............................................................................................. 7 Comparison between pop-up toasters and conventional toasters: ........................................ 8 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 10 Mythologies and considerations .................................................................................. 11 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 11

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Introduction
What is innovation really? Some people think that a product innovative just because it differentiates from other products. Well, it’s not that simple; first of all, the term “innovation” includes loads of underlying ideas, thoughts and different stages of processes. In our every day, ideas and thoughts aren’t structured at all, which is also called “iterative processes”. Every innovative project should start with a thorough brains storm where different assumptions and common interpretations are agreed. Thereafter, all these thousands of ideas are boiled down to a few ideas. This is called the creative phase; new inputs leads to new associations and assumptions which in the end leads to new ideas again. When the “perfect idea” has been stated, the developers make a prototype or concept plan of the future product to figure out its actual potential. The last phase of the line model of innovation is the implementation phase; the product is on its first voyage on the marked. If it’s a success it will categorize as an innovation. In this academic paper, the topic will be the Danish design brand Bodum which manufactures house hold products in a iconic design.

Problem statement
Each member of our group has to go to their kitchen and find a product that has an innovation and argue why it’s an innovation. Thereafter, a rapport has be made about the product which qualifies the most as an innovation examining following key points: a brief description of the prospects discussed in the group, the reasoning of the election, background information about the chosen product and assess the future potential of growth for the product.

Delimitations
We’ve chose to write about Bodum, the BISTRO Pop-toaster, and its future opportunities of growth, because of the company’s exiting position in the marked and because of the core ideas of the company, which are to design creative inventions for the normal house hold. It’s a wellknown Danish brand with loads of future potentials in company growth and innovative products.

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Innovative products in our every day
Discussion of each group member’s choice of product.

Faucets / water supply systems Water has been around people for millions of years. It’s the most important and vital need for our existence. It’s our birth stone. Therefore, scientist and companies has made researches and tried to develop the way we supply ourselves with water from the water supply systems in our kitchens. In the middle 2000’s, faucets were produced with censors with the purpose of lowering the waste of water, and in order to improve the hygiene. The problems is just that faucets are something we take for granted and don’t care how water comes out of the faucets. Basically the faucet companies like Grohe haven’t managed to create value and haven’t thought enough “outside the box” to make us interested in the faucet systems although it’s something we use every day. Stoves The first stoves were powered by gas and electricity. The big innovative step was when the stoves were available with induction by magnets. This made cooking easier, faster, safer and more practical. Since it’s something we all use almost every day, companies have tried to improve the stoves to the unsaturated marked. Stove companies may be creative but can’t differentiate from other companies in the same industries and therefore there’s a lack of value creation and preference value. Steam pots Nowadays, the idea about having a healthier life has become more and more popular. The most important part in every person’s every day is nutrition. A milestone in the innovation of cooking is the steam pot. It is based on water. By pouring the water into the pot and the device heats up the water and the vapor boils the food inside the pot. Apparently this way of boiling food should be healthier and the vitamins still remain in the food. This product was meant to be a substitute to the old pots with lids, but the traditions of using normal pots were too strong. In other words, in implementation phase needed more marked- and consumer research. Bottom line is that none of these products had the ability to create value, mainly because they were undifferentiated or too standard as products in a kitchen.

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Choice of product
A pop-up toaster covers our needs for breakfast in a very fast, easy and efficient way. For years some toasters became really hot because of the use of thermal conductivity materials. Now it’s being made by non thermal conductive materials and you have the opportunity to regulate the heat and duration. Therefore the usage has become safer, which is a very important feature for the consumers. We chose the Bodum BISTRO Pop-up Toaster partially because it’s something we often use in our everyday and partially and most important because it fulfills the demands of an innovation, which are:    “Thinking outside the box” Being creative Value creation Bodum was really creative and found new ways of thinking; it satisfies the consumer in different ways; the main purpose (being a toaster) and also our needs to differentiate from others (the spectacular design due to the fabric and different colors). To the left is a picture of the Bodum BISTRO Pop-up toaster. It’s also made in a retro chrome design to those who prefer a toaster which doesn’t drag too much attention. Others may prefer an extravagant color, such as blood red which is made with soft plastic as the outer cover. It has a huge turnable bottom which makes it possible to regulate the heat and duration. There’s a big slider which turns it on so children can operate the toaster. It even has a defrost setting. The selection of the product “Bodum BISTRO Pop-up Toaster” was chosen because it nearly expresses our view on innovation as subject and managed to create value in different ways. We thought of the definitions of innovation and structured our thoughts with the following reasoning for this particular product:

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Design of the Bodum toaster:
The innovative part of this product is that it’s being manufactured made more and more consumer-friendly and differentiates from other pop-toaster and is a the “top of mind” product. To accommodate different preferences Bodum “thought outside the box” and invented this pop-up toaster design in various colors and fabrics. It even has an elevated “shelf” for bigger breads unlike many pop-up toasters from other manufactures. The combinations of creativity and other ways of thinking created enough value to write this rapport.

Concept behind the toaster:
The idea of the pop-up toaster from Bodum is to toast to perfection every time without compromising with the opportunity to adjust the width, heat and duration.

“What is it about the aroma of freshly toasted bread in the morning that makes us feel like we’re going to have a perfect day? All of the orange juice and jam in the world can’t duplicate that same effect without the scent of warm toast”1 - www.bodum.dk
This was the main ideas when developing the toaster.

About the company and the history:
Bodum was established in 1944 by Peter Bodum and within approximately 15 years, Bodum was an international recognized brand. In 1974 the son of Peter Bodum, Jørgen Bodum took over the company and continued with the main ideas but added a more creative and visionary perspective. In 1980 Jørgen Bodum established a designated in-house design department called PI-Design. This team consisted of designers, architects, graphical designers and engineers who designed products according to basic ideas of the Bodum design with huge focus on innovation. The aim of being the pioneers has resulted in exports to 55 countries and Bodum has 20 stores worldwide with sales- and administration department in central Europe and in Denmark.2

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http://www.bodum.com/dk/da/shop/detail/10709-294EURO/?navid=-1 http://www.bodum.com/dk/da/cms/90/100123/

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Future potentials of growth
Over the years the technology has become to an upper lever. Everything is developing faster and faster. The technology is everywhere around us. Those devices (technology) are made to make peoples live easier. Nowadays, toasters are made by a way to satisfied people’s needs in a perfect way. Toasters can offer you different color, warming temperature and way of cleaning. You can even set the timer for the next day. That can be very helpful, because if you have to go early to work, you can just put the timer on for tomorrow at 06:00 a.m. and when you wake up, 2 or more slices of baked bread will be ready. There are bigger families so there are developed bigger toasters with more space for bread slices. Likewise, there is a stop system. So, you are never going to eat overbaked slices. Of course there are big and small toasters where you can put bigger and smaller slices of bread. There are even toasters on battery who can be used in the nature. There are other benefits of the toaster like that, that you can fry eggs, meat while you slices of bread are baking; and that is something innovative. People used to bake bread and they are doing it now to by a lot of different ways. You can do it in fire in the nature, in stove and In grill. But there is one device designed exactly for that – “the toaster”. Yes, we can live without it but however it is something new. Something that makes peoples live easier. Therefore, we strongly believe that this toaster has huge potential because there are no limits in making things better, more comfortable, safer and more creative. Bodum has the ability to do this because of the marked position of the company. The main goal of American engineers was to discover a material which would be good transparency and mechanical flexible. Firstly, they’ve been doing this on glass before they begun to use this in electronics. When engineers achieved the desired results, they transferred the system of transparency into the electronic industry. One of the future potentials of the Bodum BISTRO Pop-up toaster could be transparency. Then you would be able to see everything inside the toaster, every material and, of course the bread and be able to monitor the process which would be useful because you can decide when to stop the toaster. One more advantage of transparency is that in case of this toaster can be based on solar powered battery. This will amongst other things, help Bodum to create value for those who strongly believe in saving the environment. This may be a niche but, producing such a toaster will improve the image of the company. The cleaning of the pop-up toaster could be easier and improved. It is a small appliance; it does not take a lot of time to clean. Since this is the case, there is really no reason not to give

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it a good once over on a regular basis. It could have special function, which opens the „body“ of pop-up toaster . Then you could clean not only the crumbs of the bread, but inside of popup toaster - every detail as walls and spirals too. People will not use old methods of cleaning, like is shaking or taping it while lingering crumbs falls out from the bottom of toaster. The most important is using it the right way and giving people satisfaction of it. bread) but also out personal needs for having a nice kitchen product. As the mission of “Bodum” as a company is to give people the opportunity to use their products every day and people are choosing more economically products the idea about sun powered batteries can take a big potential in marketing growth of the elected innovation in the future. Where do the products in our lives coming from? China? Not this one... The Bodum BISTRO Pop-up toaster is made in central Europe (Switzerland).3 There’s a lot companies from china, which produces electrical kitchen products. Our elected innovative selected product has the ability to compete its cheap rivals because of it is design and reasonable price. The main point that it’s made in Europe, which gives more power in the market. Europe represents quality, but because it’s cheap and it has a good looking design, people are buying it. “The Chinese mammoth factories are high in our consciousness, drawing the attention of environmentalists worried about the effects of breakneck industrialisation and Western politicians troubled about competition“ –
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While the

technology is developing it’s not only developing the way to use its core abilities (to toast

Thomas Thwaites.

The toaster is made from environmental materials, not some cheap plastic and steal that allow it to stay in the market as the leaders of quality and design. With this and going alongside with technology, the Bodum BISTRO Pop-up toaster will remain in the market for a long time.

Comparison between pop-up toasters and conventional toasters: Comparing these two similar products will show, how the pop –up toaster should stay alive in the market or even its future potential as a market leader. The future potential of the pop-up toaster doesn’t remain with current technologies. It can be modified. “The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.” - Robert P. Vanderpoel.

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http://www.list-of-companies.org/Keywords/Kitchen_Tool_Set/5.html The Toaster Project – Thomas Thwaites, New York

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We divided some examples: Conventional toaster ovens – it’s designed for baking, toasting and broiling. Includes baking pan and removable crumb tray.

Convection (fan-forced) Toaster Oven: it’s made with a fan to circulate heated air inside the cooking device. It allows to maintain an even temperature in the machine and multiple shelves can be used simultaneously. This reduces time and temperature needed to complete cooking.

Market Assessment: Convection-toaster-ovens continue to gain market share. In order to remain in the market, pop up toaster should infiltrate some of the features, like LCD monitor or timers, fan and some other newest technological products in order to stay in the market in this competitive world. Other features that continue to gain ground includes touch pad and electronic controls, expanded capacity, LCD timers, and automatic shut-off. From a macro-perspective, the countertop category continues to move in the direction of giving consumers the same features and functionality they’ve come to expect in full-size ovens and pop-up toasters in a more compact way. To stay in market and expand it in the future is to be innovative; therefore, Bodum has created the so called “Bodum Design Awards”, which is a constant going competition where designers and students come up with new ideas and products. The prototypes have to make our every day simpler, beautiful and “point towards the future” The purpose of this motivational completion is to create growth in Danish design by creating motivation to be innovative. Even though the accumulated sum of awards and prices are 500.000 kr., i might be a brilliant investment for Bodum in the future. One single innovation might have the ability to create a new target group or marked segment which would be a huge advantage against competitions.

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Conclusion
Due to the future potentials of the company as a whole and this specific product, we can deduce that the company is going in the right direction and will safely remain in the marked because of the innovative and different design and ongoing implementing of new products to the marked. Bodum is really aware that in order to create growth in the future, they need to have to keep an open mind and forthcoming towards new ideas, which is why they’ve made the competition. The current theme of the Bodum Design Awards-competition is “simplicity” which also is the key to creation consumer value due to needs of having a simple and high quality kitchen product. The rapport has also examined the heritage, current opportunities and possibilities in the future according to Bodum’s core competences and focus areas in the production.

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Mythologies and considerations
To enlighten our understanding of the term “innovation” and its underlying meanings, the line model of innovation was brought into use: this describes the different phases of an innovation, which also gave us a deeper understanding of the different processes in inventions. The “buttom-up” theory made us understand why Bodum decided to make a designated design department and how this approach can be useful in this type of industry.

Bibliography
Books and articles: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089): “Transparent Electronics Based on Transfer Printed Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on Rigid and Flexible Substrates”. Thwaites, Thomas: A heroic attempt to build a simple electric appliance from scratch, 1 st edition, ISBN: 978-1-56898-997-6 Dodgson, Mark: Innovation - A very short introduction, ISBN: 978-0-19-956890-1 Internet sources: www.bodum.dk: (http://www.bodum.com/dk/da/shop/detail/10709-294EURO/?navid=-1) (23/9-2012) www.bodum.dk: (http://www.bodum.com/dk/da/cms/90/100123/) (23/9-2012) www.list-of-companis.org: (http://www.list-of- companies.org/Keywords/Kitchen_Tool_Set/5.html) (23/9-2012)

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