One of the challenges facing many FMCG marketers today is the LAPD of NPD

The issue is that too many new products or services are being “caught” by the LAPD…

• Launch (in a blaze of glory and if you’re lucky some A&P in year 1)
• Abandon (budgets get cut, focus shifts to next big thing and so sales drop)
• Panic (ensues)
• (Retailers’) Delist

The reality of increasing product portfolios, continual pressure for new news and increasing media costs, means that the old models of innovation need to be reviewed

Our experience suggests that there needs to more focus in the development stage on

• The development of clearer, simpler and stronger propositions and their supporting reasons to believe coupled with the use of more initial idea screening
• The role and development of the pack -the silent salesmen – which must work harder and often is the most important communication vehicle the new product will have. This in turn leads to more Packcept or Pack focused research – rather than full concept testing.  The rationale being that the consumer won’t get to see or hear all the “words” there are on a standard concept – or the communication that would have done this role – so a truer test is to focus on the pack

The last few weeks have seen a flurry of articles suggesting the unthinkable; that the sheen might finally be wearing off the Apple brand.  (5 Truths That Explain Our Love-Hate Affair With Apple from Fast Company is probably our favourite).

Before I get lynched by my Apple-loving colleagues for suggesting such heresy perhaps we should engage in a little market research to see what consumers really think?

It feels like a good time to re-enact the much told story of how Innocent’s founders tested out their smoothies at a London music festival, with bins marked ‘yes’ or ‘no’ depending on whether punters thought they should ditch their day jobs to make the drinks full-time.  Replace bins with piles of t-shirts and we could have a little fun:

The pile that runs out fastest wins…

In the connected retail environment developing in the UK the trend for social, location based and mobile forms of exchange are on the increase. Fuelled by growth in smartphones and data networks the integration of the digital world with the in store shopping experience is on the rise. Two thirds of smartphone users in the US say they use them while in store, with 9% using them for coupon redemption. The latter point highlights that it’s not only technological shifts driving the behaviour; economic conditions are also leading shoppers to make smarter decisions using whatever platform they have at their disposal.

I’ve seen recently that shopper marketing departments are growing and the focus of many is to understand how digital integration can support and enhance the shopper experience. It’s a noble quest and one I’m sure will pay dividends in the future. If shopper marketing planning fails to recognise that a great deal of shoppers research and planning is affected digitally and via social media, even for in-store purchases, then they could be missing out.

Key to understanding the role of integrated media for brands in the shopping environment is as follows:

• Forget AIDA – what does the journey now look like and where can/does digital play a role?

• Get SoLoMo – Bring shoppers the right content, media or offers at the right time using their smartphones as the intermediary.

• There is no single answer – research how the role of digital integration can function most effectively in your category and for your shoppers.

At the Value Engineers our Digital Strategy Team can help with all three.

To find out how your brand can be lucky in love this year, take a look at our Valentine’s Quiz and make your way through the relationships maze. When you get to the bottom, you’ll discover our secrets to building a happier, more fulfilling relationship with your consumer…

Move over left and right brain thinking, it’s now all about thinking fast and slow – system 1 and system 2 thinking.

One of the many interesting things about this ‘new’ thinking on thinking is that it’s a great example of re-segmenting a market.

The concept of “re-segmenting a market to your advantage” has long been one of our Disruption Principles. We have often used the re-segmentation of the wine market, undertaken by new world wines when they weren’t able to use the location based segmentation the Franch and Italin wines had been using for centuries as an example of this in practice  The market went  from Burgandy and Cotes du Rhone to Chardonnay and Merlot. In the detergent market, Ariel resegmented and disrupted the established norm when they moved away from Bio and Non-Bio and introduced Ariel and Ariel Colour. Now Daniel Kahneman has resegmented the thinking market to his advantage.

Our disruption principles are a set of 20 guidleines we use to help teams challenge their existing perceptions and investigate new ways to stimulate growth. They are based on an analysis  of 50 of the most successful category disruptions across a variety of markets and sectors from beer to banking. If you would like to know more about them and how we use them please do contact us.