A Holistic Approach to Maximize Strategic Growth Through Innovation
Are efforts to grow your business yielding the results that you want?
We know firsthand that long-lasting growth through innovation requires more than new product ideas. The Innovation Umbrella leverages world-class tools and methodologies across Strategy, Ideation, and Execution to help clients clarify and focus their innovation journeys, grounded in the context of their business.
our holistic, disciplined approach guides your innovation journey to maximize long-term strategic growth.
our philosophy
We believe that truly successful innovation requires a careful balance of forward-looking macro trends, consumer needs, and a grounding in the context of your business – from culture and strategy to capabilities and objectives. "Exciting" ideas developed in a silo often have short lifecycles or may damage your brand equity.
We kick off every project with a simple but insightful discovery process to ensure our work is based on a deep understanding of what matters most to you. With your unique business fundamentals in mind, we tailor the best tools and methodologies to identify and deliver viable innovation that will drive long-term growth for your business.
“Joanne has an insightful, yet practical approach to marketing and innovation which enables her to drive growth. She effectively navigates in ambiguous situations and helps to provide clarity and focus. She has a great strategic mind yet knows how to be pragmatic and simply get things done.
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VP, Marketing, Food CPG
OUR STORY
My mother always said to me:
“I don’t pray it won’t rain, I just pray that when it does, you have your umbrella”.
Innovation is challenging. The Innovation Umbrella has your needs covered.
Innovation can feel like a roller coaster of chaos, creativity, and magic. After decades of experience, navigating the complex road to winning innovation is ingrained in my DNA. The Innovation Umbrella is a home for the tools and methodologies I have mastered and refined over the years. More importantly, it is a place where my knowledge, creativity and energy come together to shed light on fresh perspectives, uncover new opportunities, and reframe problems into possibilities.
I welcome the opportunity to guide your organization on its journey to identify and bring to life innovations with the greatest possibility for success – and to maximize your strategic growth.
–Joanne Penne, Founder, The Innovation Umbrella
A consistently disciplined, dedicated, and reasoned leader, Joanne successfully led many complex multi-functional, multi-country projects. In each case, she established clear, unified, and highly stretching goals and effectively mobilized her team to action.
VP Marketing, Personal Care CPG
The consumer was always at the heart of innovation projects that Joanne led. She balanced consumer-driven decisions with what was best for the business, ensuring both project and brand success.
Team Member, Personal Care CPG
Joanne is a consummate storyteller with the instinct, precision, and skills to get to the core of an idea of a brand. She has an amazing ability to simplify in a way that spotlights rather than waters down the brand essence.