By Vicki Matranga
Previewing the speakers at the 2012 IHA Innovation Theater
At the International Home + Housewares Show in March, the Innovation Theater in the Lakeside Center (formerly called the Housewares Design Theater) will present 20 educational programs beginning Saturday afternoon and ending Tuesday afternoon. The Theater, which was located in the Level 3 Lobby, moves to Room E350 (just feet away from the Level 3 Lobby) and every hour experts in new product development and launch will discuss critical and timely topics in our industry. Over the next few months, we’ll introduce you to the presenters through a series of blog stories. Be sure to mark your calendars for these exciting programs! Check www.housewares.org for the full schedule.
In 2012, the Show will open on Saturday, March 10 at 12:30 p.m. The Innovation Theater program begins on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. with Warren Tuttle, president of Monashee Marketing, who will offer his unique perspective on innovation.
Tuttle currently serves as president of The United Inventors Association (UIA), a national, non-profit organization dedicated to inventor education and support. He works behind the scenes to guide individual inventors to introduce their products via television direct marketing and on the retail shelf. He has launched some very successful kitchenware products, such as the Smart Spin™ (8 million units sold) and the MISTO™ gourmet olive-oil sprayer (4 million units sold), and has helped numerous housewares product patent holders obtain licensing agreements with major U.S. manufacturers. He also has counseled many inventors who went on to start their own small businesses.
Tuttle focuses on external product development for Lifetime Brands of Garden City, N.Y., the world’s largest manufacturer of kitchen utensils and a major supplier of food prep and table top products to America’s major retailers. Prior to developing and marketing products for the housewares industry, Tuttle owned five gourmet specialty kitchenware stores (The Complete Kitchen of Southern CT), a prepared food and catering business (The Good Food Store of Darien, CT), a nationally recognized cooking school and a partnership in a kitchen design business. He began his career as a department store buyer of cookware and small appliances in New York City (Abraham and Straus of Brooklyn, N.Y).
Tuttle has also played a role at the popular Inventors Corner and Inventors Revues at the Show. For the last two years, Tuttle has advised inventors on how to understand the housewares market, sharing insights on things they need to know in order to be successful. He has participated on the Inventors Revue panel. This year, he will teach at the inventor education programs before the Show opens by taking inventors on a behind-the-scenes walking tour of the show. He will also return to the Monday morning panel in the Inventors Revue, which will be located in North Building. In addition, the UIA will award one lucky exhibitor from the Inventors Corner a trip to Lifetime Brands for a tour.
We interviewed Tuttle to find out more about his presentation and his advice for inventors.
What inspires your passion in your work?
There is as much need for innovative product development in the housewares industry today as ever before. Despite this, the industry as a whole still underfunds the amount of time, energy and capital resources that should be invested.
It’s my mission to uncover unique and functional new products that will have significant impact on the housewares marketplace. My key objective is linking independent inventors, product developers and designers with the housewares consumer in profitable ways that will benefit everyone involved in the development and distribution process.
Why did you choose to speak at the International Home + Housewares Show?
I’ve worked this Show for many years in many roles—as a retailer, with exhibitors and with IHA’s Inventors Corner and Inventors Revue. The Show is the centerpiece of the housewares industry and the year’s calendar of international trade shows. Anyone who wants to learn about the people, products and trends in this business needs to be there.
What you will be speaking about and how is this topic important for Show audiences.
Our industry depends on innovation. Everyone today is connected and media plays a huge part in generating and supporting ideas. Open Innovation relies on the merging of internal research and development with concepts that come from outside—from everyday users who think of ways to improve an item or create a totally new product. Open Innovation can be unsettling to organizations that want to keep control; it can also be hard to navigate for inventors seeking paths to success.
I work with Lifetime Brands, Inc., to help develop new products. They look outside the company for innovation, particularly patented new products. In the past two and one-half years, together we have initiated 25 new product licensing agreements.
My presentation at the Innovation Theater provides another audience and venue for the information I will be sharing at the Inventors Corner and Inventors Revue. I hope to inspire listeners to see things in a new way.
What are some of today’s trends that new product development professionals face in the housewares market?
You know what they say about real estate–location, location, location… In this business it’s innovation, innovation, innovation. Consumers and retailers are always looking for something new—something that will make their lives easier and solve everyday problems, for an affordable price.
What is the best advice you can give someone trying to get a product idea to a store shelf?
Do a lot of research about your product’s users and the competitive products already on the market. Find an inventors group in your area and track down as many sources of information as possible. The UIA offers a weekly newsletter with lots of helpful information; a listing of inventor-friendly companies that have gone through a rigorous UIA certification process; a 10-part video series featuring knowledgeable specialists introducing inventors to the many challenges they will face; regular dialogue with the U.S. Patent Office about issues that are important to independent inventors; and support for local inventor organizations around the country.
Learn more about Warren Tuttle at www.monasheemarketing.com
