5 key questions to unleash the power of innovation

In unpacking and unleashing the power of innovation in the CPG industry, a series of key questions emerge for consideration.

Challenges with innovation in the CPG industry

The CPG industry faces a series of obstacles to overcome in order to better leverage the power of innovation. Observing decreasing innovation performance, we can see that the number of innovation launches is progressively decreasing and these launches are progressively less successful. Regarding trust, we observe that brand owners see innovation as only “somewhat effective” and do not prioritise innovation.

Compared to other industries, CPG companies are further down the list of most innovative companies. How can CPG companies make up ground?

Opportunities that come from unleashing innovation in the CPG industry

Business owners are able to recognize that CPG companies are only somewhat effective in their efforts to innovate.

From Kantar Worldpanel, 2022

However, the potential for innovation to grow a brand remains strong – particularly as it can help grow a connection with consumers who might otherwise have turned away from an offering.

Innovation guarantees a solid connection with consumers and the trade, it refreshes the brand, it provides newness. But today, companies don’t have a real focus on it.”
– Corporate and Business Development Director, Beverage Multinational

In fact, research shows that brands perceived as high on innovation have grown 7x faster than their competitors.

From Kantar, 2023

We can see that there is a virtuous cycle of improvement as a result of leaning into innovation and making better use of its potential, in order to drive growth, brand relevance, and long term value generation. Innovation also has the potential to provide an increased footprint and resilience for your business, by enlarging the consumer base and improving resilience in a crisis.

Listen to Transforming CPG: How can CPGs leverage the real power of innovation?

In this episode of Transforming CPG, Stephen Factor and Managing Partner of Sevendots, Andrea Bielli, discuss the latest research on innovation in the CPG industry. Featuring insights from our latest Growth Series report which distills insights from over 100 global brand owners, this report is all about tapping into the underestimated power of innovation to drive business growth.
Stephen and Andrea cover…

• The key insights and takeaways for brand owners hoping to better leverage innovation for their business.
• They typical obstacles and issues with delivering good returns from innovationPractical examples and tips for ensuring innovation pays back as it should..

…and much more.