When sales of a product are flat or declining, marketers often label the segment “mature.” In many firms, that term becomes a code word for “dead.” While some consumer markets surely mature and stagnate, others suffer a premature demise because managers pronounce them dead. As a result, no one in a company takes the initiative to be innovative or to resuscitate them, at a time when a creative mindset can help turn mature markets into growing markets.
Certain segments of the food industry have been revived with a dose of innovative thinking that leverages the continuing trend for foods convenient to eat and amenable to eating on the go. In fact, some food companies have an initial idea screen of “can it be eaten with one hand?”