Nielsen Unveils New Product Innovation Approach

Nielsen has launched a new approach to helping companies with their product innovation strategies, which it claims will increase the likelihood of new products succeeding to 75%.

The firm says companies spend on average $15m on marketing for a new product launch, with some companies spending more than $60m - yet despite this investment, new products have just a 10% chance of succeeding.

To counter this, Nielsen has identified 12 criteria every new product must meet in order to succeed, with specific recommendations on what companies should change before the new product launch to increase its chances of success.

These 'Twelve Steps to Innovation' encompass five main areas: salience, communication, attraction, point-of-purchase and endurance.

With the new approach - based on tracking 600 product launches and testing 20,000 initiatives - Nielsen claims it can increase this success rate to 75%.

'By identifying key criteria every successful new product must meet, we're helping marketers know where to focus their efforts in new product development and in-market execution,' states Vicki Gardner, SVP, Product Innovation North America. 'As a result, companies gain a huge leap forward with more actionable advice and better decision-making, and that means better investment of new product marketing dollars.'

Gardner says the approach goes beyond sales forecasts and provides an understanding of success based on consumer benchmark areas such as 'findability' and advantage over others.

Web site: www.nielsen.com .