CGT Reveals 2013 Innovation Award Winners
Successful innovation requires a balance between incremental and disruptive innovation. In the last several years, leading consumer goods companies have introduced new products wrapped in the safety of trusted brands, while also looking for breakthrough innovations. Successful new product introductions are still elusive, yet as our Innovation Award Finalists have shown, not impossible. Therefore, CGT is proud to recognize deserving consumer goods companies for excellence in bringing new products to market.
MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods industry's most innovative new product launched in 2012/2013.
WINNER: NATURE VALLEY PROTEIN BARS | GENERAL MILLS
Introduced in January 2012, Nature Valley Protein Bars broke the powerbar mold by featuring ingredients you can see and recognize – like roasted peanuts, almonds or decadent dark chocolate. Each bar has fewer than 200 calories and contains 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. With first-year dollar sales of more than $100 million, this delicious snack and source of energy was No. 8 on IRI’s 2012 New Product Pacesetters list.
**Finalists in this category also included: BENGAY ZERO DEGREES (J&J), FIT (Popcorn, Indiana), FINISH QUANTUM w/ POWER GEL (Reckitt Benckiser) and LUCI (MPOWERD, Inc.)
MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods company that has continually driven growth through product and/or process innovation in 2012/2013.
WINNER: CROCS
After flirting with penny-stock territory in 2009, Crocs executed a major turnaround initiative so successful that it achieved the $1 billion revenue milestone in 2011, and did it faster than Nike. The company’s focus on innovation is evident not only in the number of new styles introduced during the past several years – like Crocs Golf by Hank Haney -- but also in the popularity of those new styles. Today, the clog silhouette accounts for less than half of Crocs’ global footwear sales.
**Finalists in this category also included: BIG ASS FANS, CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY, CLEANWELL COMPANY and MARS CHOCOLATE NORTH AMERICA.
Choosing the Winners
CGT’s Innovation Awards process started in May 2013, when nominations in two award categories — Most Innovative Product and Most Innovative Company — were collected from consumer goods executives, industry analysts, consultants and technology providers. These nominations were then narrowed down to a group of five finalists by CGT's editorial staff based on multiple award criteria, including successes realized since launch. This short list of 10 finalists was then sent to the 41 esteemed members of CGT's Editorial and Research Advisory Boards, which acted as a judging panel and elected one “Winner” for each of the two categories. Finalists and winners were honored during the Consumer Goods Growth & Innovation Forum in Miami, Fla. in September 2013.
Please check out CGT’s December issue for in-depth coverage that examines why each of the 10 award finalists emerged as Innovation leaders over the past few years. And stay tuned as CGT’s announces the winners of its annual Business & Technology Leadership Awards, and a brand new CIO of the Year award, at the upcoming 2013 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference.
MOST INNOVATIVE PRODUCT AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods industry's most innovative new product launched in 2012/2013.
WINNER: NATURE VALLEY PROTEIN BARS | GENERAL MILLS
Introduced in January 2012, Nature Valley Protein Bars broke the powerbar mold by featuring ingredients you can see and recognize – like roasted peanuts, almonds or decadent dark chocolate. Each bar has fewer than 200 calories and contains 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. With first-year dollar sales of more than $100 million, this delicious snack and source of energy was No. 8 on IRI’s 2012 New Product Pacesetters list.
**Finalists in this category also included: BENGAY ZERO DEGREES (J&J), FIT (Popcorn, Indiana), FINISH QUANTUM w/ POWER GEL (Reckitt Benckiser) and LUCI (MPOWERD, Inc.)
MOST INNOVATIVE COMPANY AWARD
This award honors the consumer goods company that has continually driven growth through product and/or process innovation in 2012/2013.
WINNER: CROCS
After flirting with penny-stock territory in 2009, Crocs executed a major turnaround initiative so successful that it achieved the $1 billion revenue milestone in 2011, and did it faster than Nike. The company’s focus on innovation is evident not only in the number of new styles introduced during the past several years – like Crocs Golf by Hank Haney -- but also in the popularity of those new styles. Today, the clog silhouette accounts for less than half of Crocs’ global footwear sales.**Finalists in this category also included: BIG ASS FANS, CAMPBELL SOUP COMPANY, CLEANWELL COMPANY and MARS CHOCOLATE NORTH AMERICA.
Choosing the Winners
CGT’s Innovation Awards process started in May 2013, when nominations in two award categories — Most Innovative Product and Most Innovative Company — were collected from consumer goods executives, industry analysts, consultants and technology providers. These nominations were then narrowed down to a group of five finalists by CGT's editorial staff based on multiple award criteria, including successes realized since launch. This short list of 10 finalists was then sent to the 41 esteemed members of CGT's Editorial and Research Advisory Boards, which acted as a judging panel and elected one “Winner” for each of the two categories. Finalists and winners were honored during the Consumer Goods Growth & Innovation Forum in Miami, Fla. in September 2013.
Please check out CGT’s December issue for in-depth coverage that examines why each of the 10 award finalists emerged as Innovation leaders over the past few years. And stay tuned as CGT’s announces the winners of its annual Business & Technology Leadership Awards, and a brand new CIO of the Year award, at the upcoming 2013 Consumer Goods Business & Technology Leadership Conference.