Case Studies

Pernod Ricard China - Ask Jerry Challenge

Objectives

The challenge aims at making Ask Jerry – Pernod Ricard China’s nationwide WeChat Cocktail Platform, the next industry-standard marketplace with the largest community for bartenders, bar owners and cocktail lovers in China.

Identify

the most promising Startups with whom to set up cooperation agreements and create strong synergies in China

Accelerate

the top Startups into Xnode ”LaunchPad” Acceleration Program, in which startups can learn, shape and further grow their business

Collaborate

both online and offline with Pernod Ricard China experts to implement the solutions proposed at the end of the challenge.

‍

The Agorize platform was used as a powerful digital tool to spot the best startups to co-develop the Ask Jerry WeChat Platform and making it the next industry-standard marketplace. The XNode ‘’LaunchPad’’ transformed the ideas in executable business cases.

L'Oréal Learning Expedition

12 executive managers

L'Oréal China R&I (Research and Innovation)

3-day learning expedition in Shenzhen & Guangzhou

Goals

An inspirational starting point to trigger the L'Oréal management team as industry leaders. How we can create a customer experience or lead new lifestyle / lifestyle shifts through L'Oréal products. Look for forward-thinking, innovative approaches, and fun experiences.

Participants

Management team from L'Oréal China R&I covering all product lines, HR, finance and communication.

Outcome

Getting opened to more external innovation and startup connection
3 internal initiatives to be carried out regarding new technology adoption and talent development

Oney Wake Up Call

Objectives

(1) Discover new business opportunities (2) Learn from the innovation eco-system in China (3)Find collaboration with local innovation partners (4) inspire employees to engage in entrepreneurship

XNode Solution

Oney Wake up call: a tailor-made journey to discover innovation from different angles, understand the entrepreneurial mindset, and see innovation best practices. With the ultimate goal of shifting the perspective of Oney employees to drive real change

Result

3 new business opportunities for Oney
Achieving Problem/Solution fit through rapid iteration and customer interaction

Sanofi Hackathon 2020

Program Overview

XNode teamed up with Le Wagon and co-delivered three 3-day Wechat Mini Program Hackathons for Sanofi.

The hackathon aimed to empower Sanofi's in-house innovators to

‍Refine their innovative ideas,
Try to validate their proposition,
Develop an interactive prototype,

through a series of tailor-made workshop and coaching.

‍

XNode offered end to end solution, which includes:

Material design and onsite decoration
Workshop facilitation and pitch rehearsal
Retrospective article and media

And won the award of Sanofi Innovation Community Partner

Kering Innovation Workshop

50+ brand managers

Kering China and APAC

2-day innovation workshop in Shanghai (powered by Fabernovel and XNode)

Goals

To gather in-depth knowledge on pre-determined topics relevant to Kering group’s strategy and get inspired by best innovation practices in different fields and industries

Participants

Various brand managers from China and the APAC region, as well as innovation team from the group

Outcome

Identified trends and inspirations not only limited to luxury industry
Potential business challenges and opportunity identified with a follow-up by adopting new ideas for innovation within respective major brands of Kering
An ideation workshop in Hong Kong for 200+ Gucci store managers

Osram 2019 X-pioneer

Building the OSRAM Engine of Innovation

XNode worked with OSRAM China BUs to scope and identify business opportunities. Together, 5 innovative ideas with clear pain points and opportunities were defined.

The goal of the X-Pioneer acceleration was to rapidly generate business impact for OSRAM. It also aims to leverage the speed and agility of startups in combination with the existing client network and resources of OSRAM to experiment with new business models.

The innovation journey started with ideation

XNode organized an ideation workshop with multiple BU teams to identify business challenges and opportunities for OSRAM.

At the end of the ideation session, outputs were:

High potential technologies and innovations for implementation
Relevant business challenges and opportunities
Preliminary project roadmap for acceleration

Demo Day

On May 27th 2020, X-Pioneer demo day was held in Shanghai with over 40 participants from different business units including smart lighting, automotive, and smart city.

Unilever HZL Inside-out Program

Project objectives

Reviving Hazeline Brand through internal incubation & acceleration
Adopt and apply a completely new entrepreneurial process and mindset
Accelerate the process of prototyping and building MVP to go to market
Create and validate a new business model which is applicable for Hazeline

Our solution

Tailor made acceleration program with lean startup methodology
EIR coaching by industry experts and serial entrepreneurs

Continental China Megacity Mobility Solutions Incubator 2019

Project Objectives

Company Objectives

Adopt and apply a completely new entrepreneurial process and mindset;

Help internal teams validate their innovative ideas with real customers and leads to more launching opportunities;

Accelerate the process of prototyping and building Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to go to market faster.

Pain Points to Address

A multitude of BU’s and markets all with its own dynamics and interests;

Time-consuming and costly process for idea and concept development;

The challenge to quickly learn from the market feedback and improve iteratively.

XNode Solution

Lean Startup Methodology:

Intensive acceleration workshops over three months
Using lean startup concepts to build solid business models and test hypotheses
Rapid prototyping to develop a minimal viable prototype at the end of 3 months

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence:

Our Entrepreneur-in- Residence, Sina, an entrepreneur with experience with digital marketing and the Chinese consumer ecosystem,
Through weekly touchpoint meetings, Sina will guide the team as they work on their product, providing valuable insights and guidance

Stakeholder Engagement:

XNode will facilitate the discussion between ASI’s Europe team and Chinese team
Team will tap onto our community of external partners, investors and mentors

GAC-SOFINCO Scouting & Demo Day Program

The Project

Co-defining topics, requirements and criteria for evaluating startups
Scouting and assessing startups based on the requirements
Interviewing and shortlisting of potential startups based on the evaluation criteria
Organizing pitching workshops for startups in preparation for the Demo Day
Assist in creating marketing collaterals and supporting Demo Day preparations

Pitching Workshop

XNode organized 1-1 pitching workshop with the startups to refine their pitches and decks in preparation for the final demo day.

Demo Day

On November 8th 2019, GAC-SOFINCO’s demo day was held in Guangzhou with over 30 participants from different business units, and China CEO was one of the judges together with other BU heads. XNode was also invited to give a sharing about corporate innovation.

Final Pitch & Demo Day: 3 startups, 1 winner

创新加速项目

定制化的加速项目，重视创新落地

创新加速器

学习探索之旅

反向指导计划

跟我们聊聊你的创新目标

Case Studies