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1/3 OF UK NOW AWARE OF PRODUCT OF THE YEAR WITH 49% SEEING LOGO AS A POSITIVE INCENTIVE TO BUY Leading survey into innovation announces 2007 winners Product of the Year continues to break its own records as the nation’s leading scheme for product innovation. New research shows nearly half of 16-44 year olds familiar with the scheme would be more likely to purchase an item that had been awarded by the initiative – an increase of 15% compared to last year - powerful news for the 2007 winners. This news comes as Product of the Year continues to reward the most pioneering new products, today announcing the 2007 winners . With awareness of the scheme at an all time high, the 2007 awards have also seen more categories than ever before including awards for Drinks, Snacks, Household Cleaning, Men’s Grooming, Make-Up and the newly introduced Bakery, bringing the total number of FMCG manufacturers that have been awarded up to 32. The scheme has rapidly gained momentum thanks to an estimated £30m of communications spend featuring the Product of the Year red logo on pack and in all communications material and the initiative has secured a place in the mind of the consumer as a trusted mark for the most ground-breaking products on the market. Overall awareness of the scheme has also risen by nearly 10% since last year with over a third of people aged 16-44 now aware of the initiative (41%), and three quarters of the same group claiming to recognise the distinctive red logo (75%) . Mike Nolan, Managing Director of Product of the Year comments, “Product of the Year is all about rewarding innovation but at the same time it’s proved to be a simple but highly effective way for manufacturers to give sales of their products a significant boost. Consumers are seeking out the winners to trial and it’s great news that so many people now have a knowledge and understanding of the scheme and that they see the logo itself as a real incentive to buy. The scheme continues to be a success story and we’re confident that awareness figures and confidence in the awards will continue to increase year on year to drive increased sales for the winners.” From 25th January 2007 winners of Product of the Year 2007 will be allowed to use the distinct and popular Product of the Year red logo on-pack and in all communications material. Last year saw 19 of the award winning products use the famous red logo to communicate the innovative nature of their brands and sales of the items increased by an average of 10%. Regular entrants such as P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Beiersdorf, General Mills, Coca Cola and Energiser were joined for the first time by: Panasonic, PepsiCo, Sainsburys, Asda, DelMonte, Arla and RHM. Any product that has been launched in the past 18 months can enter into Product of the Year. Once entered they are taken to the Product of the Year jury, a range of journalists and industry experts, who decide on only the best and most ground-breaking products to put through to the public vote. This year the Product of the Year survey, conducted by TNS, received responses from over 10,000 households making it once again the UK’s largest ever independent piece of consumer research. David Soulsby, Head of New Product Development, TNS, continues: “TNS collected and analysed the opinions of 10,049 individuals throughout Great Britain to identify which innovations most deserve this prestigious title. Consumers were asked to vote on which products short-listed most appealed to them, which they had tried, which they had found satisfactory and which they believed to be the most original idea. The Product of the Year awards is an important reflection of the public’s views on innovation within the FMCG sector – and also provides useful insight for marketers and product development teams as they consider how to make their own brands stand out in the marketplace.” The 2007 UK Product of the Year awards ceremony sponsored by Best and in association with Marketing and TNS, was held on January 24th in the newly re-furbished Intercontinental Hotel, London and was hosted by popular Channel 4’s presenter Dominic Holland. Entries for the 2008 awards open in April 2007. If you want to pre register, to get entry forms and an email reminder when registration opens, please visit www.productoftheyear.co.uk.
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