Driving Results in 6 Weeks: A Quick-Hit Audit Using the Curvejumper’s Growth Strategy
In the food and beverage industry, innovation is critical for staying competitive, but most new products fail to catch on with customers. Studies show that about 85% of CPG innovations fail within two years, draining both revenue and innovation budgets.
That’s exactly the challenge faced by Jason Moore, a 52-year-old Vice President of Innovation at a billion-dollar salty snack brand. After five years leading the marketing team, Jason was promoted with one goal in focus: to spearhead innovation and amplify its success rate.
That’s exactly the challenge faced by Jason Moore, a 42-year-old Vice President of Innovation at a billion-dollar snack brand. After five years leading the marketing team, Jason was promoted with one goal in focus: to spearhead innovation and amplify its success rate.
Keep reading to discover how CURVEJUMPER helped Jason overhaul his innovation pipeline in just six weeks through a quick-hit audit, using their action-based growth strategy.
A Stalled Innovation Pipeline with No Clear Path Forward
Jason’s promotion came at a pivotal time. Over the past five years, his company had launched more than 40 snack products—yet fewer than 10% of them accounted for half of its incremental volume.
Despite the best efforts of teams across sales, R&D, and marketing, there was no clarity on which innovations were likely to succeed. The company’s innovation efforts were scattered, with no streamlined process to evaluate potential winners.
Despite the best efforts of teams across sales, R&D, and marketing, there was no clarity on which innovations were likely to succeed. The company’s innovation efforts were scattered, with no streamlined process to evaluate potential winners.
The company's reliance on a small number of successful products and inability to identify new winners was limiting its growth potential and turning the innovation pipeline into an expensive cycle of trial and error with diminishing returns.
A Sudden Retail Deadline Exposes the Cost of an Unfocused Innovation Pipeline
The turning point came when Jason received an urgent call from one of the company’s largest retail partners. A scheduled category review was being brought forward by a month, and their buyer was requesting a detailed roadmap of upcoming launches.
What should’ve been a chance to showcase progress turned tense. The buyer made it clear that they were not interested in pushing products that didn’t perform. They wanted products that have a fighting chance on the shelves.
What raised the stakes even further was that the retailer had recently trimmed shelf space across the category, opting to prioritize brands with proven launch success rates and a track record of driving incremental sales. With limited space and fierce competition, the retailer was becoming increasingly selective about which brands earned the coveted shelf positions.
What raised the stakes even further was that the retailer had recently trimmed shelf space across the category, opting to prioritize brands with proven launch success rates and a track record of driving incremental sales. With limited space and fierce competition, the retailer was becoming increasingly selective about which brands earned the coveted shelf positions.
If Jason’s team couldn’t present a clear, data-backed pipeline showcasing strong potential for success, they risked not only losing valuable facings in over 1,200 stores nationwide but also losing the trust and long-term partnership with one of their biggest retail partners.
Without this critical space, the company’s growth projections would be severely impacted, leaving the team scrambling for alternatives and forcing the brand to compete in an even more crowded market.
How CURVEJUMPER’s Action-biased Growth Strategy Boosted the Innovation Success Rate
Jason started looking for solutions. He reached out to industry connections and talked to ex-colleagues, and someone recommended CURVEJMPER, a brand consulting service provider with a reputation for delivering accelerated business growth by unlocking untapped opportunities 3x faster and at 70% lower cost than the bigger consulting companies.
With the clock ticking and a lack of alternatives, Jason decided to partner with CURVEJUMPER.
CURVEJUMPER’s approach was hands-on and action-driven.
Within just three weeks, CURVEJUMPER conducted an in-depth flash audit of the company's entire innovation process, covering everything from consumer insights and product offerings to commercialization strategies, revealing key inefficiencies and helping Jason and his team make informed decisions.
By week four, CURVEJUMPER’s team had introduced an action-based growth strategy that Jason’s company implemented immediately.
First, they expedited the internal screening of early ideas, incorporating a new process for evaluating outside concepts with consumer insights. Then created a tiered partner system—gold, silver, and bronze—to assess potential risks and prioritize accordingly.
Next, they refined their in-home use test (IHUT) strategy, introducing a more structured approach to first ensure early product feasibility after concepts qualified, before they launched concept-product testing with consumers.
The final piece was introducing end-to-end coordination and checkpoints, ensuring smoother kickoffs for future commercialization efforts.
By week six, the new, actionable growth strategy was fully agreed to, with the process implemented immediately: the impact was noticeable. The retailer retained their contract and extended additional support for two new launches after hearing the team’s redoubled efforts towards long-term innovation success. In the following months, the company saw its innovation success rate begin to climb, marking the beginning of a turning point in its growth trajectory.
By week six, the new, actionable growth strategy was fully agreed to, with the process implemented immediately: the impact was noticeable.
A Clearer, Faster, More Confident Path to Innovation Success
In just six weeks, CURVEJUMPER helped turn the salty snack brand’s stagnant innovation pipeline into a high-performing growth engine. Unlike traditional firms, CURVEJUMPER delivers custom, action-oriented strategies rather than generic, cost-intensive roadmaps that take months to implement.
Their hands-on collaboration and agile consulting methodology helped Jason drive meaningful results 3x faster and at 70% less cost than legacy consulting firms.
With deep expertise working with 50+ lifestyle brands, quickly identify winning products and streamline their innovation pipeline for commercial success.
Ready to rethink your growth strategy with an agile methodology?
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