Pretzel M&Ms a Top 'Indulgence'

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BOSTON -- While it is no surprise that the iPad secured the No. 1 spot as the Most Memorable New Product Launch of 2010, a host of equally interesting product introductions garnered consumer attention in this year's Most Memorable New Product Launch survey.

Technology products took five spots, with the Windows 7 coming in a close second to the iPad and compensating for the failure of Vista in 2007. Rounding out the tech trend were Motorola Droid (No. 4), iPod Nano (No. 6) and Samsung 3DTV (No. 8). Quick, low-cost breaks were also a theme, with consumers remembering small [image-nocss] indulgences in the form of small but tasty impulse purchases like Pretzel M&Ms (No. 3), McDonald's Smoothies (No. 5) and Starbucks VIA instant coffee (No. 7).

As always, a few innovative and nontraditional product offerings made memorable impressions, with Huggies Jeans Diapers (No. 9), Kleenex Hand Towels (Tied No. 10) and the KFC Double Down Sandwich (Tied No. 10) rounding out the list.

"Every year the Most Memorable New Product Launch survey teaches us about where our culture is headed," said Julie Hall, executive vice president of Schneider Associates.

In what may be a sign of an uptick in consumerism, Americans paid more attention to new product launches this year, as only 45% could not recall a single new product launch from memory--compared to 51% in 2009 and 69% in 2008. The last time that consumers had such a high level of recall was 2007.

"This year, we're excited about the findings that come from a first-ever 'deep dive' into the consumer subconscious," said Aaron Reid, Ph.D., chief behavioral scientist at Sentient Decision Science and the lead researcher behind the MMNPL Survey. "The results show that an integrated marketing campaign has the highest impact on new product recall, but for companies that don't have large budgets, we've found that a mix of public relations and grassroots tactics such as sampling and couponing can produce the biggest bang for your buck."

John McIndoe, senior vice president of marketing at the SymphonyIRI Group, a leading consumer packaged goods insights consultancy, added, "Every year, the MMNPL Survey shows us how product innovation and creative marketing are so important to the ultimate success of a product. Breaking through to capture mind share can be as simple an idea as Huggies putting a designer jean print on a baby diaper or Mars putting a pretzel inside an M&M."

The online MMNPL survey, conducted by Schneider Associates, Sentient Decision Science and Symphony IRI Group during October of 2010, polled a national, census-balanced sample of consumers age 18 and up, and uncovered data related to awareness of new consumer product launches, influential trends, media usage and purchasing behavior. This is the ninth consecutive year that the Most Memorable New Product Launch survey has been conducted.

The SymphonyIRI Group is a global leader in providing consumer, shopper, and retail market intelligence and insights supporting consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail and healthcare companies.

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