Wellington
For a change, you can’t call this woolly thinking
The wool industry got some interesting ‘innovation things’ happening at the moment.
Firstly, there’s a consortium consisting of the Wool Research Organisation of NZ, industryparticipants and the Ministry of Science and Innovation, that’s collectively investing $3m a yearover the next five years on a range of projects. This is being managed by Wool Industry ResearchLtd. ( WIRL ) and is examining some industry good projectsand confidential individual company co-funded wool projects to help move the fibre up the valuechain.
But, of more immediate interest is a project, initially kicked off by WRONZ, now managed by WIRL,which commissioned a New York based innovation consultancy to find some new, better paying, marketsfor wool.
Fahrenheit 212 is to report back inmid-August with four ideas ranging from radical to very different, and parties are being invited toprovide an Expression of Interest to be in the room when the ideas are presented.
These ‘new products/new uses’ concepts being explored by F212 strikes sticK as beingclever.
As WIRL chairman Graham Brown says, “it’s a novel idea, but also risky.”
The risk is that none of the ideas to be presented by F212 will be exciting enough for commercialentities to pick up. Fahrenheit 212’s chief executive is expatriate New Zealander andTimaru-raised Geoff Vuleta, a former worldwide director of Saatchi & Saatchi.
But, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
If the ideas, currently being assessed in conjunction with
Fahrenheit 212 has already had a third of its (potential) finders fee, literally in this case,paid upfront by the consortium.
The final two thirds, to be paid for by the potential business partner(s), is based on F212’sidea being a commercial success.
Which provides a pretty large incentive for F212 to come up with genuinely ‘do-able’ ideas.
Obviously the people wanting to be in the room in mid-August have to sign a non-disclosureagreement, and maintain a strong degree of secrecy about the ideas they’re exposed to.
“But, once the outside company takes up the idea, we’ll step aside,” says Brown.“However, the consortium may assist in R&D funding around the idea.”
“They’ll take up the idea and do the rest of the work to take it to market. Fahrenheit 212will get paid a success fee on that.”
Brown says that at this EOI stage, the consortium’s casting its net as widely as possible, andthose wanting to be in the room don’t have to currently be in the wool industry. WIRL’s buildingits database for the initial high-level briefing, where individual meetings will be arranged forthose that are interested in pulling a development proposal together.
Depending on the level of interest, there may be a meeting in both the South and North Island,though at this stage Christchurch appears to be a certainty.
Naturally Brown has to maintain a degree of confidentiality, but describes one of the ideas asbeing in a brand new space for wool and “way out there.”
Another three are variations on current themes, but with a very different marketing andattributes’ focus.
F212’s approach is to look at marketing versatile, part-processed materials rather than simplyscoured fibre (as is often currently the way). The end result should hopefully be the adding ofsignificant value to materials that are suitable for supplying into major international brands.
The consortium asked F212 to flesh out, and make more robust some of its original thinking, andBrown says that the process of coming back to present the new wool ideas has probably taken a coupleof months longer than originally intended. The small matter of a couple of Christchurch earthquakeshasn’t exactly helped things either.
However, Brown says it’s worth taking the time to get this part of the process right.
From sticK’s POV, the process undertaken by what is often a fractious, infighting industrydemonstrates some refreshing thinking.
The industry as a whole will benefit from successfully commercialising a good idea, and spreadacross the entire industry, coming up with those ideas is relatively cheap.
The company picking up F212’s ideas, progressively pays them as the product achieves definedmilestones heading towards the market. F212, who were approached by WIRL have a track record ofputting their proverbials on the line, and putting at risk a large part of their recommendations andideas. Though the company’s fee was much larger than other marketing companies who would’ve beenhappy to draw up a marketing plan for ideas that WIRL put to them, F212 clearly has skin in thegame.
At the same time however, the sometimes thorny issue of intellectual property ownership isavoided; the company who pick up the idea gets it, simple as that.
If nothing else, the whole process will generate a virtuous cycle of greater innovation.
Heck, they’re even in danger of the whole thing being a wild success; lifting coarse woolbeyond a commodity status to match its merino cousin.
Can’t happen soon enough really.
(Note: those who are happy to sign a Non Disclosure Agreement are welcome to attend the F212presentation(s). See www.woolresearch.com for contactdetails)