Reference no: EM133249006

Case: A recent Harvard Business Review article, "Breakthrough Thinking from Inside the Box" (Coyne, Clifford & Dye) says, "don't worry about thinking outside the box." Creativity is not always necessary in developing new products. Instead focus on solving problems. For example, the authors ask, "Do customers need more or less service attention than others?" Online, some websites allow the tailoring of clothing (blue jeans, blazers, swimsuits). Alas, many users are not Internet-savvy, or don't really know how to take their own measurements (or enter measurements that are ideal rather than real), etc. Then they receive the clothes, which don't fit. What might your marketing team do, online or off, to avoid such numerous and predictable customer errors? Another question they ask is "How is our customer base changing?" Say you run a small chain of restaurants that are mainstream, with traditional Americana kinds of food and ambience, and the company does very well (customers set up Facebook pages for your burgers, etc.). As your city grows, you see a large influx of Hispanic families to your south (from Mexico and the Dominican Republic) and a group of Bhutanese refugees settling to your northeast. Needless to say, hamburgers and fries aren't the main fare of either group. How do you modify your menu to appeal to your new potential customers? How do you learn what to do?

Question: What might your marketing team do, online or off, to avoid such numerous and predictable customer errors? How do you modify your menu to appeal to your new potential customers? How do you learn what to do?