If you have a great idea that we think works for our markets and consumers, we may choose to develop it further. Before we make that call, though, the idea will be put through a review process that puts it in front of our marketers, other staff and executives. If the idea doesn’t seem to meet our needs and stops there, do not be discouraged – feel free to refine the idea and resubmit it. Here’s how the process will work:
Your idea will first be evaluated by our screening team to determine if it is suitable for ACCO Brands.
Bravo! Your idea made it through the first screening. Now your idea is put before our ACCO Brands experts - designers, product managers and other key evaluators. This team will decide if your submission meets our high standards and is deemed worthy to move on to executive review. Some questions we will ask at this stage: Is the idea a good fit with our business? What does our market research say about the viability of the idea? In addition, your idea will be evaluated against several criteria. Making it through our expert review panel is a great accomplishment.
If your idea gets to this level, congratulations! Not many do. Now, we will take an extremely detailed look at the opportunity the idea might provide, legal issues, etc. and make a final determination, “Is this an idea we want to bring to market?” You will be more involved during this executive review process, with discussions regarding compensation and terms of a partnership. Since more details would need to be disclosed at this stage, we may set up a confidentiality agreement at this point.
Please allow us at least 12 weeks for the review process. We will let you know within this timeframe whether or not we want to move forward with your idea.