Exploring strategic opportunities with Nissan Innovation Lab

How Nissan Europe teams of corporates entrepreneurs explored 4 strategic development area and how they brought new solutions to the market.

The Context

The Nissan Lab mission is explore new idea and business opportunities that will create new revenue and services for Nissan. The strategic area considered are:

Mobility as a Service (MaaS)
Transition to Electrical vehicles
Online purchasing experience
Second hand car sales

The corporate entrepreneurs of the Nissan Innovation Lab are eager to start exploring those areas and provide new growth opportunities for Nissan.

However, in front of so many opportunities, they needed to decide which ideas to explore first, and more importantly, they need the right business tools and methods to run those exploration effectively.

This is when Nissan asked Forward Partners to help them.

What happened

To navigate the many opportunities, we conducted workshops to identify and list the top options. This helped the team select four projects for corporate entrepreneurs to work on. Some projects were:

A mobility pass for multimodal transport
A car health book for second hands cars sales
An electrical vehicle sales solutions for car sales man
A quicker purchasing experience online

The corporate entrepreneurs promptly began testing different aspects of the idea. They first explored the problems and needs of the customers through direct conversations and interviews, collecting valuable insights about the problem.

With a greater understanding of the issue, each team proposed solutions to address the problem that customers were facing.

The team created prototypes for these solutions and gathered feedback from customers. These rapid iterations helped refine the solution to make it more relevant. Continuing these iterations is crucial for successful implementation.

The program lasted three months and provided some truly impressive results.

The outcome

On the business side, the teams created 10 minimum viable products (MVPs) for strategic opportunities. After rigorous testing, they brought 6 to market. These 6 MVPs not only generated new profitable revenues but also had a positive return on investment (ROI). The team's strategic approach and ability to understand the needs and preferences of their target market contributed to this success. Moving forward, the team aims to continue identifying new opportunities and improving their MVPs to drive sustainable growth and success for the company.

The early corporate entrepreneurs who participated in the Nissan Innovation Lab program were able to gain valuable skills and insights into the tools and mindset of entrepreneurship. This experience was truly amazing, as it allowed them to explore new ways of thinking and working that fostered open-mindedness and autonomy.

Beyond the tools and methodology, Forward taught us how to think and work like entrepreneurs.

— Ivan Ollivier - Innovation Lab Director Nissan Europe

By working on innovative projects and learning from experienced mentors and coaches, these corporate entrepreneurs were able to develop the skills and confidence needed to succeed in highly competitive and rapidly changing markets.

The Nissan Innovation Lab took the Forward Partner approach and is now using it for the rest of the project, as they continue to explore new opportunities and launch new solutions.

Overall, the cultural impact of the Nissan Innovation Lab program has been significant, as it has helped to foster a new generation of corporate entrepreneurs who are willing to take risks, think creatively, and work collaboratively to drive innovation and growth.

Do you want to explore your strategic opportunities?