Look Before You Leap In <i>What Were They Thinking? Lessons I've Learned From Over 80,000 New Product Innovations and Idiocies</i>, product development consultant Robert McMath reveals why some products succeed while others fail miserably.

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life" isan excellent adage for addictive personalities or people who havebeen through an upsetting experience. It's a horrible way forbusinesses to operate, though, and that's what many companiesare doing.

To produce tomorrow's successful products, you must be awareof what has already succeeded and failed. Sure, times change.Tastes come and go. Fashion is fleeting. Just because an ideafailed yesterday doesn't mean it will flop tomorrow. But unlessyou understand why the concept failed, odds are you'llmake the same mistakes again.

Benefits, Not Features

The benefits of a product are all-important--I should say theperceived benefits are all-important. Calvin Klein isn'tselling perfume. He's selling sex. Year after year,Coca-Cola's advertising drummed variations of the wordrefresh--refreshes, refreshing, refreshed, refreshment--intothe American psyche. Coke owned a benefit that almost all of usfeel a need for from time to time.

One of the most common mistakes marketers make is that theycommunicate the features of a product rather than the benefits.Imagine the results if Coke's advertising slogan had been"the pause that's cold and wet" rather than "thepause that refreshes."

A feature is something that the folks in the research anddevelopment department get excited about. A benefit is somethingthat excites the buyer. A feature is what a product does; a benefitis what a product does for me.

British comedian John Cleese made a training film forsalespeople that illustrates the folly of trying to sell featuresrather than benefits. Cleese portrays a surgeon who is explainingan upcoming procedure to an anxious patient lying in a hospitalbed.

"Have I got an operation for you," Cleese beginseagerly. "Only three incisions and an Anderson slash, aRidgeway stubble-side fillip and a standard dormer slip! Only fiveminutes with the scalpel; only thirty stitches! We can take out upto five pounds of your insides, have you back in your hospital bedin 75 minutes flat, and we can do 10 of them in a day.

"Shall I put you down for three?"

Cleese's surgeon has a demonstrably superior product.He's talking to a customer who is interested in what it coulddo for him. But all the customer discovers is that after a gorysurgical procedure, he'll be right back where he started. Inthe hospital bed. What he wants to know is when he'll beplaying golf again.

Put your customers on the golf course.

Besmirching Your Good Name

Can you imagine the reaction of a congregation if its ministerannounced he embraced sex, drugs, and rock and roll? Can youimagine the reactions of Pearl Jam fans if lead singer Eddie Vedderrenounced loud music?

The value of a brand is its good name, which it earns over time.People become loyal to it. Don't squander this trust byattaching your good name to something totally out of character.

Millions of Americans love Frito-Lay's salty snacks. ButFrito-Lay products have never been known to quench thirst. In fact,they make people's tongues feel like swaths of felt. That'swhy PepsiCo, which was the parent company of the brand, made aterrible mistake in naming a new powdery refreshment Frito-LayLemonade.

When you hear Ben-Gay Aspirin, don't you immediately thinkof the way Ben-Gay cream sears your skin? Can you imagineswallowing it?

Cracker Jack Cereal, Smucker's Premium Ketchup, Fruit of theLoom Laundry Detergent and Noxzema Solid Anti-Perspirant Deodorantwere other attempts to stretch a good name. A good brand namestands for something vibrant. You can suck the life out of it byattaching it to a new product that stands for somethingdifferent.

A Sad State Of Innovation

I began to notice that products were becoming less innovative atan alarming rate in the mid-1980s. To prove my hunch, severalassociates and I developed an Innovation Index to measure whethereach new product shown at trade shows or launched into themarketplace actually offered consumers a meaningful difference fromexisting brands.

To establish a base, we assigned an Innovation Rating to everyproduct we were aware of that was new from 1980 forward. To qualifyas innovative, a product had to offer consumers a significant newor added benefit in one of the following five areas: formulation,positioning, packaging, technology or previously unmet marketneed.

According to the Innovation Index we developed, only 18.9percent of new products in 1986 could be considered innovative.That was a startling number, even lower than we anticipated. By1989, however, the percentage had dropped to 13.4 percent. Thefollowing year, it plummeted to 8.4 percent as a national recessiontook hold. By 1993, the figure was down to about 5.1 percent,although it has been inching its way back up and reached 7.2percent in 1995.

Here are the five criteria we used, with examples of productsthat qualified, and did not qualify, as innovative when measureswere applied:

1. Is the product positioned to new users or usage?Rembrandt Low-Abrasion Whitening Toothpaste for Kids represented anew positioning for whitening toothpastes and was thereforeconsidered innovative. Previously, teeth whiteners had been pitchedto older consumers with yellowing teeth or to smokers.

On the other hand, Topol Smoker's Toothpaste had been outfor five years when Zact Smoker's Toothpaste tried--andfailed--to carve a presence in that market.

2. Does new packaging provide a consumer benefit?Smucker's Beverage Division introduced a six-ring carrier toits fruit-based beverages that was made of pressed biodegradablefibers instead of the plastic found on most multipacks. Thisinnovation provided an environmental benefit that's importantto many consumers.

In the early 1980s, Colgate-Palmolive introduced a powdereddetergent called Fresh Start that was packaged inside a clearplastic bottle. Innovative, again. After a while, StansonDetergents came out with a box of concentrate that featured a clearcutout on the front panel through which the consumer could see thedetergent. There was a bottle outline printed on the panel thatcarried the slogan "No bottle inside, that's why yousave!" The package looked different from other packages. Butthe clear cutout existed solely to position the product againstFresh Start. There was no perceptible benefit to the consumer.

3. Is value added through a new formulation? Soapsand shampoos have come in many scents and varieties over the years,but St. Ives Swiss Formula Vanilla Shampoo was, to my knowledge,the first toiletries product to use a vanilla scent. Because scentis so important to the health and beauty aids category, it wasclearly an innovative product.

The cinnamon spice version of Accents Potpourri Glass Cleaner,however, was little more than a gimmick. The world did not need aglass cleaner that smelled like a mouthwash. Since no value wasadded to the glass cleaner, the product was not innovative.

4. Is there a technological introduction? SalemPreferred Menthol cigarettes were manufactured using a proprietarypaper technology that purportedly made the odor of a burningcigarette less offensive to nonsmokers. Although it was a misguidedidea because it addressed the wrong market, it was technologicallyinnovative.

General Mills' Mrs. Bumby's Potato Chips, however, werenothing more than a copycat version of Procter & Gamble'sPringles Potato Chips. Mrs. Bumby's chips came stacked in acircle around the edge of a resealable "Flavor-Pack Bowl"instead of being stacked in a canister as Pringles were. Thepresentation was the only major difference between the twoproducts; the production technology was basically the same. It wasnot innovative.

5. Does the product open up a new market for thecategory? Arizona Iced Tea Freez-A-Pops was probably the firstbeverage, and was certainly the first tea, to become afreeze-and-squeeze ice. It was a clever way to introduce the tasteof tea to kids who, on a hot day, love to squeeze slushy icecrystals into their mouths. Three Musketeers ice cream bars werenot innovative because other candy bars were in freezer casesbefore them.

You don't absolutely have to be innovative to succeed. AThree Musketeers ice cream bar tastes different than a Snickersdoes, after all. But the number-one killer of new products is,without a doubt, Me-Tooism.

Packaging Pointers

Packaging is as important to a brand as a cover is to a book, asa voice is to an actor, as a fit body is to an athlete. A fit bodydoesn't guarantee victory, but you don't see manypotbellied Olympians.

Attractive packaging can turn even the most prosaic product intosomething special. Remember the store brands that became so popularduring the 1970s and early 1980s? It was as if manufacturers werecompeting to make the chintziest packaging possible to prove thattheir products were true bargains. That has changed.

One of the primary reasons private-label products are doing sowell in the 1990s is that retailers have stopped making cheaplypackaged imitations of the big brands. In many cases, they'vecreated such elegant packaging--from superior raw material toglitzy graphics--that some store brands have become seriouscompetitors to the nationally advertised products. Stores nowbelieve that a private label is one of the best ways todifferentiate themselves from their competitors. If only Wegmanssells Wegmans-label products, consumers have to go there to getthem.

Four trends should continue to drive package design well intothe next century:

1. Special packaging, such as embossed labels, bottlesembossed with logos, and special shapes and decorations, willcontinue to differentiate quality products from run-of-the-millbrands.

2. As me-too products proliferate, it will be particularlyimportant to clearly communicate what your product is and what itdoes. And unless you're selling bubble gum or another productthat only kids buy, MAKE SURE YOU USE TYPE THAT AN OLDER PERSON CANREAD.

3. Less is more. Use as little packaging as possiblewithout making the product less easy to understand or use.

4. In a global economy, strive for the big idea. The shapeof the Coke bottle, Pepsi's signature blue and the Nike Swooshlogo translate well into any language.

Shock Value

As a rule, I prefer substance over style. I have to admit,however, that a little showmanship or packaging pizzazz can go along way. It seems that almost anything goes these days, in fact,as long as it jolts people out of their complacency.

For more than a dozen years, I've been drawn to an exhibitorat specialty food trade shows who calls himself Uncle Dave. Hedresses in Farmer John denim overalls, flannel shirts and a brightred woodsman's cap. You wouldn't give Uncle Dave a secondthought if you saw him gabbing away in a general store in Vermont,which is where he hails from. But at trade shows, where vendors areusually dressed conservatively, he stands out like a maple tree inall its blazing autumnal splendor. You can't miss him if youlook down the aisle.

As unusual as his appearance is, though, Uncle Dave isdown-to-earth, friendly, and usually engages in a couple ofconversations at the same time. I'm always eager to chat withhim myself. Just like his products, Uncle Dave is all-natural, witha touch of spice. It helps, of course, that his salsas, sauces,mustards and so on are top-notch products--don't miss thehorseradish sauce with shredded carrots--and that he's alwayscoming up with something new to exhibit.

The labels on Uncle Dave's condiments feature a caricatureof him, replete in overalls and red cap, reflecting his homespunpersonality and appearance. The jars are as successful at catchinga passerby's eyes as the heavyset, bespectacled BIZ Experiences isin the flesh. In the end, that's more important to supermarketbuyers who attend the trade shows than the way Uncle Dave appealsto them personally.

I admire the distinctive packaging for Arizona Iced Tea Co.,too. The unusual size and shape of the bottles and the Southwesternmotifs of the labels not only stand out on the shelf, but they alsoexude a sense of quality. Newer versions continue to cut throughthe clutter. The Indian's head on its Piña Colada labellooks as if it has been silk-screened; there's a pretty,delicate print on the label for Green Tea with ginseng. Thesepackages almost demand that you pick them up for closerinspection.

The way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised to see aBurp brand of beer with a picture of an ample-bellied couch potatoon the label. And why not? If you've got it, as the sayinggoes, flaunt it.

From What Were They Thinking? Lessons I've LearnedFrom Over 80,000 New Product Innovations and Idiocies,copyright© 1998 by Robert McMath and Thom Forbes. Reprintedwith permission by Times Books, a division of Random HouseInc.