One-to-One: OVO - Innovate on Purpose

I had the chance to talk
with  a company called OVO the other day, and learn
about their vision to help companies “Innovate on Purpose.” Given
my recent research findings indicating companies are looking to
operationalize product innovation, I found what they had to say
very interesting. And any company that has an idea drawn on a paper
napkin on their homepage can’t be all bad, I know that I have come
home with some great ideas hashed out on napkins, scraps of paper,
and all matter of advanced innovation media (including paper
plates). Enough of that, let’s get to OVO.

What do they Do?
I spoke with Jeffery Phillips, an industry savvy guy that runs
sales and marketing for OVO. I won’t do them full justice here, but
they are a relatively unique firm focused on the process of
innovation. They have a dual focus of helping companies define an
effective innovation process, and supporting innovation with
software technology. Many companies I talk to help with product
ideation, market research, or brainstorming. For example, we had
Michael Treacy of GEN3
Partners speak at our Aberdeen Product Innovation Summit in
2007, and he had some fascinating things to say about helping
companies innovate around parameters of customer value. Tony Ulwick
of Strategyn talk about
innovation by addressing unmet needs. A number of other companies
have software to help manage needs, including specialists like
Imaginatik or PLM software
suite providers like Siemens PLM. But I was
struck by the combination of process, methodology, and software for
innovation offered by OVO.

What do they
Offer? 
The software products we discussed include a distributed
brainstorming product called Spark and an idea management solution
called Incubator. An idea would come from Spark to Incubator, and
then from there progress to a structured product development
process (most likely in a PLM system). Their other products are
innovation-oriented services, including development of innovation
as well as development of innovation processes to drive repeatable
innovation. 

Who do they Work With?
I haven’t talked to a customer yet, but would welcome a
conversation to learn more from their perspective.
They named some top name companies, but I don’t think I
was supposed to repeat them here. OVO is not a huge company,
but they are very interesting and they are probably worth a
conversation if you are looking to enhance your product innovation
process.

So that’s what I heard from OVO, I hope you found
it useful. What do you think? What else should I have asked
them?