Robert Brands
Robert F. Brands is President and Founder of InnovationCoach.com, Author of “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” (Wiley, March, 2010), Innovation subject expert and speaker. Brands’ hands-on experience in bringing innovation to market spans decades, and includes the creation and improvement of product development processes and company culture. He has delivered on his pledge to bring “at least one new product per year to market”. Served as Managing Director of the Personal Care Division of Rexam Plastics representing about $1B in sales, with 25 sites worldwide, about 11,000 employees in three Business Units: Dispensing Systems, Make Up and HPC (custom molding). Rexam acquired Airspray NV, a worldwide leader in non-aerosol foam dispensers, in May of 2006. Under Brands’ stewardship as President of Airspray U.S. since 1998 and since 2004 as CEO of the Dutch public company, Airspray created the international market for instant foam dispensing. Here, Brands delivered consistent double-digit profitable growth. Brands earned a B.S. in Business Administration from HTS Eindhoven, The Netherlands. A Vistage Member, Member of Tulane University’s President’s Parent Council, Board member of Netherlands American Community Trust and Advisory Board member of several corporations.
Recent Posts by Robert
Next time you fill up at the pump, check for a new sticker: “Contains up to 10% Ethanol.”
It represents “innovative” efforts by Read More
One hundred years ago, two men set out on a Race to the South Pole.
Both Englishman Robert Falcon Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen Read More
The year is 1910, and Henry Ford’s Model T is rolling off the assembly line. It soon will join some 8,000 other automobiles currently in Read More
Before the start of any project, do you ask yourself, “Are my team members held accountable? Do they feel a personal responsibility to deliver Read More
“If you’ve never failed… you’ve never lived” is a popular video on YouTube describing the failures of people like Thomas Edison, once called Read More
Bernard Madoff’s and Scott Rothstein’s Ponzi schemes. Medicaid / Medicare scams. School board officials who sell their votes for cash. Mortgage fraud, foreclosure “robo-signers” and Read More
As leaders search for the next process that will transform their organizations into category leaders, for many – it seems – the answer is close Read More
When it’s all said and done, Innovation is about ROI derived from the alchemy of ideas-to-money. Innovation: everyone wins. With profitable growth come benefits to Read More
Innovation may be vital to creating competitive advantage.
But how costly is ineffective innovation? That is, if a company sets out on a new product Read More
What’s in your IP cupboard?
Progressive companies create innovation teams. They invest countless man-hours, dollars and other resources in investigating and pursuing innovation. Yet they Read More
Feed the beast. Pack the pipeline. Ideation, or Idea management processes/system LTD (long-term development) is essential to the Innovation effort. This is where the future’s Read More
Proper hiring, training and coaching is the way to create, reinforce and enhance company culture and mindset.
This attitude needs to come from the top Read More
Action items that don‘t get done. Incentives that don‘t work. New Product Development (NPD) programs that lose traction, despite the best, brightest, most passionate Innovation Read More
LEARNING FROM ABOVE
When the brightest minds across disparate industries gather to discuss open innovation, parallel – and completely fresh – thinking can emerge.
Two Read More
Successful innovation turns ideas into money. All the processes, all the creativity, all the time and effort and research and dreaming and refining and modeling Read More
Innovation needs ownership, a champion within the organization. The champion must convince others to take calculated risks and work a bit – alright, sometimes a Read More
Innovation counselors and organizational consultants alike extol teamwork as the key to shared success. For projects or new initiatives to succeed, it’s said all involved Read More
Creativity in the form of fresh ideas, whether from executives, salespeople or customers, is an invaluable resource to any organization. But these ideas need Read More
What is the ultimate goal of process-driven innovation? Open a bottle of Coca-Cola – and read its performance reports – to get a true taste Read More
All Star Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins led Major League Baseball in 2009 with a lofty batting average of .365. In second place is Read More
Innovation is the key to your company’s survival. It is an imperative and it must be an integral part of your organization. Innovation — it Read More
In the pursuit of innovation, many “enlightened” companies try to follow what they believe are established morays and best practices.
They install someone to manage Read More
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