Are great ideas always being buried? Maybe you need to design a funnel.

Do you know that over 95% of creative ideas fail to meet expectations when implemented and even fail to reach the market in the end? The reason is not that they lack potential, but that they lack a standardized process. That's why companies need a systematic creative process to screen, refine, and advance the most promising ideas.

A well - designed innovation funnel, guided by a clear stage - gate process, can help teams evaluate creative ideas at each stage, reduce risks, and keep innovation in line with the strategy. In this article, we will explore how to build an efficient "creative process funnel", from defining the type of activity to setting evaluation gates, so that more creative ideas can be transformed into executable and high - impact projects.

The funnel - shaped creative management process usually focuses on the early stages of innovation concepts and is a structured approach to transforming new creative ideas into innovation projects. It guides creative ideas through specific stages, from idea generation to concept development, testing, and finally full - scale launch. There is a gate or decision point after each stage, where creative ideas are evaluated according to established criteria.

This funnel helps companies screen out weak projects early. Only excellent creative ideas with solid business logic, clear customer orientation, and technical feasibility can proceed. This mechanism not only avoids resource waste but also continuously improves the way of creative idea screening and development.

Moreover, through a systematic approach, companies can prioritize creative ideas that align with strategic goals and customer needs. Cross - functional teams are usually involved in the process, bringing diverse perspectives. This makes the creative idea screening and gate results more reliable and more in line with the success criteria.

Components of the Structured Creative Process Funnel

The structured creative process funnel is a recyclable system that can drive creative ideas from the initial spark of thought and concept to the official launch of new products or services. Its core components include: clearly defined stages, gate decision points at each stage, clear evaluation criteria, and efficient creative management tools. These components work together to accurately screen out the most promising creative ideas and help them grow into real innovation projects.

Each stage in the funnel corresponds to a specific step in the innovation process, namely idea collection, concept development, business case creation, testing and validation, and implementation. At the end of each stage, there is a dedicated stage gate. These gates serve as key decision - making nodes, comprehensively evaluating and strictly screening creative ideas from three dimensions: strategic fit, technical feasibility, and market potential. The overall results of each evaluation ultimately lead to decisions of "continue to advance, terminate, pause, or rework and improve".

The gate process includes structured gate meetings, scoring tools, and clear review responsibilities. The participation of multiple stakeholders, especially cross - functional teams, can improve the quality of evaluation, ensure the consistency of the entire project plan, and reduce biases in the evaluation.

This systematic operation model provides clear action guidelines and a structured work framework for project teams. By terminating weak projects early, it optimizes resource allocation and continuously iterates the process; at the same time, it ensures that high - quality creative ideas that pass through multiple levels of screening can obtain sufficient resource support and smoothly achieve large - scale development and value realization.

A healthy innovation funnel depends on a team that can continuously provide new creative ideas. The members of this team can be internal employees, cross - functional experts, customers, or even external partners or suppliers. They can all inject diverse and valuable ideas into the creative funnel.

You can carry out targeted innovation activities or solicit creative ideas in these communities, encouraging everyone to contribute new creative ideas around the company's strategy and market research insights. In addition, focus groups and customer interviews can also uncover unmet needs, providing impetus for the birth of high - quality creative ideas.

From the following real - life success cases, we can get a glimpse of how major companies use the stage - gate process to accelerate innovation and conduct transparent and structured management:

KPMG: Combining AI and Human Creativity Generation

KPMG combines AI with human insights to drive large - scale creative idea discovery. With the help of the creative process funnel, they screen high - potential creative ideas through a structured stage - gate process, combining trend - based searches with expert evaluations. This makes the project plan more flexible and closely aligned with strategic goals.

Cisco: "Innovation Everywhere" Challenge

Cisco's global innovation activity brings thousands of creative ideas together on one platform. The structured stage - gate model helps classify, evaluate, and scale creative ideas, connecting global employees in a transparent and collaborative process. This initiative has driven cultural change and established a replicable innovation framework with clear project management milestones.

Detailed Explanation of the Five Stages of the Innovation Funnel

Before Launch

Before starting the first stage, it is crucial to clearly define the type of creative activity. Activities can be open (company - wide) or targeted (e.g., focused on sustainability or cost - saving). Depending on the focus and innovation goals, they can come from within the company or be solicited externally.

Defining the type of activity helps build the creative idea collection process and simplifies subsequent evaluations. It also determines the composition of the review team and can lock in the core assumptions that need to be verified. This pre - preparation not only saves review time but also avoids decision - making biases in stage reviews.

Stage 1: Idea Collection and Generation

The funnel starts with idea collection, encouraging employees, customers, or partners to share original creative ideas. This stage emphasizes quantity and openness. With the help of digital platforms and special activities, it is easier to reach a wide range of people and capture those creative sparks that might be overlooked.

At this time, the key is to stimulate creative ideas rather than over - screen. You can also classify or label creative ideas by theme, goal, or department. This makes the processing at the first gate faster and helps reviewers find relevant entries from similar creative ideas.

Gate 1: Duplication Check and Match Confirmation

The gate screening in the first stage acts like a sieve to ensure that creative ideas are both novel and in line with the activity theme. The review team will conduct a duplication check and verify whether the creative ideas meet the activity requirements, confirming that the creative ideas solve the expected challenges or goals.

The criteria for this gate usually include:

• Strategic fit
• Novelty
• Consistency with key areas

The result options include:

• Accepted for further concept definition
• Resubmit after improvement
• Rejected and archived
• This stage has a tight schedule, and a lean team quickly screens creative ideas, aiming to filter efficiently rather than conduct in - depth evaluations of the commercial value of creative ideas.

Stage 2: Concept Definition and Market Research

In this stage of the funnel, selected creative ideas are refined into more detailed concepts. The team needs to define the core value proposition of the creative idea, potential users, and how it meets real customer needs. At the same time, preliminary market research is used to verify assumptions and explore the competitive landscape and technological prospects.

At this stage, the key is for team members to provide more structured input, usually involving product development projects or customer - facing departments. At this time, creative ideas are no longer abstract suggestions but start to take shape as potential business solutions. In this process, accurately grasping key assumptions, such as target audience needs or usage scenarios, is crucial for accurate evaluation in the next stage.

Gate 2: Business Logic and Attractiveness Evaluation

The second gate of the stage - gate model aims to evaluate whether a creative idea has enough value to enter the business case development stage. Compared with the first - round screening, this stage is more rigorous and usually requires a panel of review experts from multiple fields, such as marketing, finance, and operations, to conduct a comprehensive assessment.

The selection criteria include:

• Customer demand (or customer attractiveness - can it solve a real and urgent problem?)
• Urgency (is it the right time to take action now?)
• Development budget (are the resources available or reasonable?)

The result options include:

• Proceed to the development stage
• Continue to refine the concept
• Reject if the risks outweigh the benefits or it does not match the goals.

Stage 3: MVP and Development Stage

In this stage of the stage - gate process, concepts are made concrete by creating an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or an early prototype. The core purpose is to test the basic functions of the product, collect user feedback, and verify the actual feasibility of the creative idea. This is especially important for complex projects or product development projects with high resource requirements.

This stage can drive relevant teams to focus on rapid development and iteration, using real - world data to verify and refine assumptions. Feedback from users, stakeholders, or test markets provides a basis for possible improvements. This stage - gate process ensures that only projects with mature technology and strategic fit can enter the scaling - up stage.

Gate 3: Feasibility Evaluation

The third gate of the stage - gate model focuses on evaluating the feasibility of the project to determine whether the creative idea has the conditions for large - scale development or market launch. This critical decision - making point requires team members to work together to conduct a comprehensive inspection from three dimensions: technological progress, user reaction/feedback, and resource matching.

The selection criteria include:

• Technological maturity (is the solution stable and scalable?)
• MVP success (how does it perform under real - world conditions?)
• Budget suitability (is additional investment necessary?)

The result options:

• Approve for pilot/launch
• Adjust the scope
• Terminate the project if it fails to meet performance or strategic expectations

Stage 4: Idea Implementation and Scaling

The focus of this stage shifts from verification to execution. This stage covers the implementation of the solution, usually starting with a beta - test release and then a full - scale launch after collecting final feedback. For large - scale projects, a go - to - market (GTM) strategy needs to be developed at this stage, and cross - functional teams need to be coordinated to reach an agreement.

Project management plays a key role in coordinating project plan delivery, ensuring that the product, marketing, and operations departments are all prepared. Strong marketing campaigns often accompany product launches to help increase market awareness and adoption rates. The goal is to ensure a seamless transition to the next stage of commercialization or scaling.

Gate 4: Idea Implementation and Scaling

This final stage gate will determine whether the creative idea is ready for full - scale promotion or still needs further optimization.

The selection criteria include:

• Market readiness
• Team synergy
• Delivery ability

The results:

• Launch
• Delay the plan
• Or make adjustments based on the feedback from the early project stages and the results of rigorous testing

Stage 5: End the Creative Funnel and Integrate into the Product and Service Catalog

Once a creative idea passes all stage reviews, it enters the final step - integration into the existing product or service catalog. This stage requires collaboration with the project management team to unify the delivery schedule and resource planning. Targeted marketing activities can build momentum for product launches, and insights from competitor analysis can help accurately position the solution.

This work ensures that innovation has a lasting impact and provides a reference for future projects. By feeding back lessons learned to the previous stages, the overall innovation process can be strengthened. This continuous cycle mechanism will help achieve smarter and faster innovation over time.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Sequoia Capital" (ID: Sequoiacap), author: Hong Shan, published by 36Kr with permission.