I’d like to draw your attention to the Reckitt Benckiser Decision Making Challenge: a competition to win $5000.

All you have to do is show us your innovative skills by making a 2 minute video to explain what you would invent to make life easier at a music festival.
So far we’ve had a suggestion of a suncream glove and a “loo lifesaver” (it has an odour neutralising spray and some wet wipes to help you survive the not so sanitary toilets!)

But can you do better?

To find out more and to enter the competition visit our Facebook page where there is a video detailing exactly what you need to do.

And as someone who works in research and development here at Reckitt Benckiser, I thought I would share some tips on inventing a market-breaking new product.

   • Solve a problem -  Try to understand what the main unsolved problems are that people have. An invention you come up with   can sound great, but if it doesn’t solve a real problem then people won’t buy it.

   • Think ‘simplicity’ - Overly complicated routes to a solution can often be improved if you step back and think what aspects are unnecessary.

   • Stand on the shoulders of giants - You don’t always have to invent something from scratch. Sometimes all you need to do is spot how you can improve on someone else’s invention.

   • Think about cost - Your consumer – in this case festival goers – will always want to pay the minimum possible and will not buy an expensive product unless it solves a very irritating problem!

Good luck. I’m looking forward to watching your videos.

P.S. Look out for my next blog, when I’ll introduce Olivia from the Decision Making Challenge video as a guest blogger.

And, of course, remember to follow me on Twitter at DiscoverRB

Discover RB