Everyone says they support innovation, but at too many companies, that support doesn’t go much beyond mission statements and public relations. Organizations that truly want to foster innovation have to create support systems and an overall environment that both seeks out and rewards innovative ideas, no matter their source.
WHY Brands – parent company of the Munchkin baby products brand and the newest addition to its portfolio, Curio Home Goods – both talks the talk and walks the walk when it comes to innovation. Diana Barnes, Chief Brand and Creative Officer, wouldn’t have it any other way, as she shared with Retail TouchPoints.
Retail TouchPoints (RTP): What are some of the specific ways WHY Brands encourages innovation?
Diana Barnes: At WHY, new product ideas are welcome from anyone within the company. All team members are encouraged to share their thoughts and present product improvements, and in-house ideas that receive a patent and/or go to market are rewarded with a monetary program created specifically for our inventors.
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I’m with these teams every day, and we are always asking ourselves: Is this work meeting the goal of innovation? Innovation is truly ingrained into our DNA, so if a product or idea isn’t groundbreaking – or we’ve seen it done before – we refine those ideas until they meet our exceptional standards.
RTP: What’s an example of this support for innovation at work?
Barnes: The Munchkin products have earned a problem-solving reputation for rethinking baby lifestyle products, and this year’s innovations were no exception. In 2024 Munchkin debuted Night Owl, a fully functional ultra-compact stroller with one-touch headlights for evening strolls – the industry’s first stroller with built-in headlights. What’s truly remarkable about Night Owl is that its defining feature was dreamt up by Munchkin’s head of maintenance, Pietro Capra, a perfect testament to the “moonshot culture” that flows through WHY Brands’ DNA across all departments and all corners of the business.
At WHY we have “north stars” and “moonshots” to maintain a trajectory of growth. Innovation cannot be reduced to a single category, medium or function, which is why Munchkin has always said, “It’s the little things.” Little things add up to make a big difference; Munchkin offers more than 350 patented, innovative products and averages 12 products per family household nationwide.
Additionally, in the past year, WHY Brands – through strategic acquisitions and self-financing – created RD8, a dedicated research center within the company and one of my first “moonshot” ideas! At RD8, collaboration is central; we foster partnerships and a culture of teamwork, believing that together we can drive innovation and achieve shared goals to shape a better future. RD8 is central to our innovation strategy, serving as a hub for creativity and experimentation.
RTP: What drives you creatively?
Barnes: I love listening to a good story. Almost everyone has one – certainly everyone on my team – and that always inspires me with “Wow! I did not know that” moments. This thirst for understanding people’s journeys fuels my podcast addiction (I listen to no less than three to four a day as well as produce our own branded podcast, StrollerCoaster) and feeds my creativity. If I know the “why” of anyone or a project, I use that as a path to successfully articulate a visual creative solution.
Throughout my career, I’ve transformed global “creative service” departments into world-class, award-winning brand design teams by telling the brand story from the inside out. I’ve been here at WHY for 10 years, and there are so many levers of love for me here, but scaling the brand into new categories, creating new brands and creating our numerous CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives inspire me to stay creatively engaged and evolving.
In 2023, I co-founded our newest brand, Curio Home Goods, with our CEO, Steve Dunn. Curio is a curated collection of innovative and elegant home goods with a twist. This is an extraordinary opportunity that I have been given, and I am grateful every day. It is never boring here!
RTP: Why are these CSR initiatives so important to you (and to WHY Brands)?
Barnes: As a leader in the baby lifestyle industry, it is immeasurably important that we inspire our peers to safeguard our planet’s future. And as the only baby lifestyle brand in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, we are constantly looking for solutions to minimize our footprint. Our ongoing collaboration with Trees for the Future has planted over 5 million trees and sequestered 180,807 metric tons of CO2. As of 2024, our Redlands warehouse is 100% zero waste to landfill – an enormous milestone for our team – plus we already have measures in place to reduce our emissions by another 7.5 tons this year.
In nearly a decade of working with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), we have helped bring elephant poaching down to zero in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park Matetsi Unit 5. Our WildLove collection continues to thrive, bringing more than smiles to budding environmentalists; they financially power our donations to IFAW.
RTP: Brands are feeling more pressure to differentiate in order to capture mindshare. What advice would you share with your peers to help achieve this goal?
Barnes: Pursue innovation by creating ideas that streamline the user experience. In a market saturated by complicated technology, let your ethos drive your commitment. It’s OK to stand apart and set a new standard for innovation in your industry.
