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SN Research

2006 NEW PRODUCT PACESETTERS EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW FEBRUARY 2007 Now in its twelfth year, the annual IRI New Product Pacesetters report celebrates the year‘s most successful new CPG brands. These brands truly beat the odds: less than one quarter of new brands exceed the $7.5 million hurdle for year-one sales that is required to earn Pacesetter status. The New Product Pacesetters illustrate that despite low historical success rates, success is attainable. This report provides a detailed assessment of this year‘s winners to reveal the product benefits that resonated with consumers, the trends to watch for future new product opportunity and sales benchmarks to consider when evaluating new product introductions. Select Findings This past year was one of the most active in recent history for CPG new product introductions; success rates, however, have changed little over the past decade, with less than 5% reaching $50 million or more in year-one sales.

Healthy options offering convenience and sacrifice-free taste dominated the food and beverage top ten Pacesetters, led by Kraft South Beach Diet and Dreyer‘s Edy‘s Slow Churned ice cream

Within non-foods, leading new brands offered enhanced performance and new varieties; Gillette Fusion topped the list, while Tide with Febreze captured the number two spot

The proportion of Pacesetters offering new varieties increased substantially versus the historical average as consumer choice continues to multiply; market trends will drive more targeted varieties over the next several years

Growth in the use of new recipes, new formulas and new technologies points to increased manufacturer efforts to create sustainable differentiation with new brands

After a lull in the number of new products introduced with convenience benefits over the past two years, convenience is back and is stronger than ever with a host of successful new life-simplifying products.