Trojan Horse with a slice of open innovation

trojan horse

Entering new markets is one of the more efficient growth methods. The key to entering new markets is to find a hole in the competitor offering and fill it with your own new product. Important factor is not to place too much pressure on this new product because its main role is to allow company entry and promote other products. This new product is a Trojan Horse allowing the company to sneak in among the competitors without a direct conflict.

This Trojan Horse product needs to satisfy following 4 requirements:
1) It needs not to compete with current competitors in the new market, direct competition makes growth slow and expensive,
2) It needs to be very valuable to the customers, best if it is a highly innovative and unique,
3) It needs to be very good at selling the company brand and its other products,
4) It needs to be quick and easy to make so many Trojan Horses can be tested.

Best way to solve points 1 and 2 is to use open innovation. Internal innovation processes are too slow and expensive, while copying competitors creates direct competition with them.

I recommend that you make your own Trojan Horse.

Written by: Nikola Tosic
Publishing date: 25 Jun 2020