Pepsi, Kraft, MillerCoors Among Nielsen's Breakthrough Innovation Winners
NEW YORK — Nielsen announced its 12 Breakthrough Innovation Winners for 2015. This year's winning products debuted in 2013 and had breakthrough outcomes across a variety of categories:
- Advanced Haircare — L'Oreal Paris
- Atkins Frozen Meals — Atkins Nutritionals
- Duracell Quantum — Procter & Gamble
- Lunchables Uploaded — Kraft Foods
- Monster Energy Ultra — Monster Energy Co.
- Mountain Dew Kickstart — PepsiCo
- Müller Yogurt — Muller Quaker Dairy
- Redd's Apple Ale — MillerCoors
- Special K Flatbread Breakfast Sandwiches — Kellogg's
- The Red Bull Editions — Red Bull
- Tidy Cats LightWeight — Nestlé Purina
- Tostitos Cantina Tortilla Chips and Salsa — Frito-Lay
"Breakthrough Innovation winners resolve circumstances of struggle in consumers' lives and fulfill unmet desires," stated Rob Wengel, senior vice president, innovation, Nielsen. "Today, consistently successful innovation outcomes are not a pipedream but a choice available to innovation leaders. We don't know who will win these awards in the future, but we know what they need to do in order to win in this dynamic and highly competitive market."
The Breakthrough Innovation Project and Award celebrates companies that are changing category dynamics, not just conforming to them, according to the announcement. Nielsen studied 3,522 consumer product introductions in 2013 and selected the 12 products that met requirements for distinctiveness, relevance and endurance.
The comprehensive Breakthrough Innovation Report, which includes case studies for selected winners that detail their approach and how they applied the science of innovation successfully, will launch June 22-24 at Nielsen's Consumer 360 event in Washington, D.C.
"One of the most exciting discoveries of the Breakthrough Innovation Project is to reveal and validate the casual mechanisms of innovation success; the science of innovation," said Taddy Hall, senior vice president, Breakthrough Innovation Project, Nielsen. "The same fundamental factors persist through all of Nielsen's Breakthrough Winners and distinguishes them from their less successful peers."
The U.S. Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation Project is a long-term, in-depth analysis of more than 20,000 product launches over six years. It has celebrated 74 top products, which represent less than 0.5 percent of new product launches, since its 2008 inception.
Products must satisfy three requirements in order to qualify for the award:
- Each product must be distinctive and deliver a new value proposition to the market;
- Succeeding products must have significant relevance by generation a minimum of $50 million in year-one U.S. sales; and
- The ability to endure the market demonstrate by achieving at least 90 percent of year-one sales in year two.