Now in its thirteenth year, the annual IRI New Product Pacesetters report showcases 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.
Several new Pacesetters accomplished this goal by creating new markets, leveraging advanced consumer insights and new technologies. Others hit the mark by delivering high-demand benefits to targeted consumer segments or by extending to new dayparts. Many of this year’s Pacesetters supported brand launches with lifestyle-based marketing initiatives, which present the brand as part of a solution, not just a purchase.
New brands must rapidly become “must-have” products through the delivery of unique, high-demand benefits. The brands showcased in this report have achieved just that.
Several new Pacesetters accomplished this goal by creating new markets, leveraging advanced consumer insights and new technologies. Tide Simple Pleasures, for instance, establishes mood-altering scent as a selection criterion in laundry detergent. Birds Eye Steamfresh offers a transformational new microwave steaming cooking technology that provides a quick and easy way to cook frozen vegetables while preserving taste, texture and nutrition.
This report details the most successful new CPG brands and the unique consumer benefits and positioning that made them a success