Color & Brain has developed in close cooperation with the University Groningen the “conceptuation” method: innovation acceleration for new business and service development by peer learning and idea creation in an uncertain world.

The early phase of innovation is a chaotic process especially for SME’s. This method  structures, accelerates and increases the effectiveness of processes in the early phase of innovation in order to achieve successful innovations in the market. This method is developed and applied already for several domains such as robotics, food product development, energy production, rural tourism and new services for adult learning and education

Color & Brain has developed two services for applying the conceptuation method. One service is to develop new services and/or products for organisation(s) by organising conceptuation workshops with these organisation(s). Two or three workshops are usually needed for a typical new product development The second service is to train the conceptuation method for organisations who want to apply the conceptuation method. A conceptuation training course consists of three theoretical seminars and three workshops. 

Innovation is something new with added value put into praxis. The innovation funnel is an often used metaphor for the innovation process. Ideas are collected in a funnel, selected and subsequently developed into new products and services which are introduced on the market. The innovation funnel has three characteristic phases: concept development, product development and market development. The early phase of innovation or the fuzzy front end determines for almost 80% the success of the results while only 20% of the resources are allocated to this phase.

Relative little attention is given to this early phase of innovation in most public and commercial organizations because of its unstructured and often chaotic process. Market success can be increased and costs and resources can be saved by paying more attention to the fuzzy front end of innovation. The conceptuation method structures the chaotic fuzzy front end of innovation and hence accelerates the moment a new product or service can enter the market.