
109Finding Product Opportunity
There is no one unifying theme in brilliant new products. Sometimes
an innovative concept falls flat on its face. At other times an old idea
is repackaged and marketed well or it catches a new trend and goes
on to become an iconic product. One visionary may gain acclaim for
having foreseen a best-selling item when no one else believed in it. For
every smash hit, there are scores of failures or even marginally suc-
cessful launches that never pay back the initial investment. The latter
cases are not well documented unless they crashed in a blaze of negative
publicity.
Prospecting for new applications:
• Evaluate end- ...