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Procter & Gamble opens door to design community and innovative entrepreneurs

10/09/2007

"We are in no doubt that some exceptional ideas will emerge from this process and look forward to testing the format with other organisations."

UK design professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs will have the chance to work with multinational giant, P&G, and come up with ground-breaking new product ideas, thanks to a new programme from NESTA and British Design Innovation.

At events in London (18 September) and Glasgow (25 September), designers and entrepreneurs will attend a presentation from P&G , briefing them on two market sectors in which the corporation is looking for disruptive innovation.

The presentation is the first stage of an "Open Innovation Challenge", which is being piloted by NESTA with P&G and run in partnership with British Design Innovation (BDI) and Oakland Innovation. The Challenge is designed to stimulate innovation by helping P&G harness ideas from outside its own research labs.

After the initial presentation, participants will be invited to submit propositions for products which fit P&G's criteria and have the potential to build businesses worth over $100m. To protect their intellectual property (IP), at this stage the ideas won't be seen by P&G but will be reviewed by NESTA, BDI and Oakland Innovation. Up to ten of the most promising propositions will be selected and entrants given access to feedback, advice and up to £25,000 so their ideas can be developed to a stage at which they can demonstrate commercial viability.

After a final short-listing, up to five of the strongest applicants will have the chance to present their finalised ideas to P&G. P&G will then have 90 days in which to decide whether to invest in the idea and sign appropriate contracts, otherwise the creator will be free to take their proposition to other brands and or investors. As is customary in Corporate Open Innovation the innovator will retain their IP in either instance.

Commenting on the event with P&G, NESTA CEO, Jonathan Kestenbaum said:

"NESTA is thrilled to be piloting this initiative with an industry heavyweight like P&G. The role of mediator is critical in ensuring that large corporates, independent designers and entrepreneurs each get the most out of any collaboration. We are in no doubt that some exceptional ideas will emerge from this process and look forward to testing the format with other organisations."

Commenting on their involvement, Mike Addison, Section Head at P&G said:

"The partnership with NESTA is just another outreach of P&G's open innovation strategy, called "Connect + Develop." P&G realises that it doesn't have a monopoly on good ideas, and is always looking to connect with innovators and companies around the world to help create products that improve the lives of the world's consumers.

Interested attendees should visit NESTA Connect for more information or email connect@nesta.org.uk.

NESTA spokespeople are available for comment and interview. Please contact our press office on 020 7438 9608.

NESTA
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. With endowed funds of over £300 million, our mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy.

Procter & Gamble
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Mach3®, Bounty®, Dawn®, Pringles®, Folgers®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Actonel®, Duracell®, Olay®, Head & Shoulders®, Wella®, Gillette®, and Braun®. The P&G community consists of over 135,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide. Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

British Design Innovation (BDI)
BDI is a not for profit; yet commercially focused, membership organisation which provides an environment for collaborative innovation and IP trading in a secure, equitable and ethical manner.

In that environment it provides the opportunity for Originators to come together with Industry and Dealmakers, to use innovation to resolve business, social and environmental issues on a commercial basis. It is a business model unique to BDI, who understand and respect the needs of all parties operating in the innovation space.

It provides income generation opportunities for all members. Members include strategically-led design and innovation consultants, university innovation teams, in-house design and innovation teams, entrepreneurs, vision-led SME's; technologists, dealmakers and design, business and science graduates.

The BDI mission is to foster collaboration between members and create an environment to deliver sustainable innovation.

Oakland Innovation
Oakland Innovation is an innovation consultancy with a multinational team of postgraduate scientists, technologists, business strategists and qualitative research analysts that helps clients to explore new market opportunities, to find technology for product and process innovation, and to identify possible partners to fast track product development and market execution.