New, improved and ignored

Despite a flurry of new-product activity, consumer awareness is down.
WASHINGTON POST
Can you name a single new product that was launched last year?
How about Glad Press 'n Seal, which is kind of like plastic wrap minus its most annoying attributes?
Or how about Hershey's Swoops chocolate slices?
The Intuition razor?
Clorox's Bleach Pen?
If even one rings a bell, you're doing pretty well. There are only 33,677 others you don't know about.
Why are so many new products being introduced these days? Manufacturers brought out 53 percent more last year than they did 10 years ago, when just 21,986 items were unveiled, according to the new-product database Productscan Online. The numbers are growing even though a typical grocery store carries only 40,000 SKUs, or stock-keeping units, as individual products are called.
Some new items are simply new fragrances, packages or flavors, such as the new Double Delight Mint 'n Creme Oreo cookie -- line extension, as it's called. A few are replacement products for items or package designs that were discontinued.
But by and large, consumer manufacturers and the retail industry are on a grueling treadmill of product rollouts and product failures.
Turf battle
"The companies that are out there are all trying to outdo each other, gain shelf space and trying to defend their turf," said Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan Online. "Once Dannon comes out with a low-carb yogurt, well, if you're competing against Dannon and you don't respond to it, Dannon may be the only low-carb option for yogurt buyers. It's a domino effect, and everyone else has to come out with a low-carb yogurt or ice cream or breakfast cereal."
But the intensity of new-product offers has reached the level of noise that consumers tune out because they're overwhelmed. Boston communications company Schneider & amp; Associates has found that a growing number of consumers can't recall anything new to the market.
"Fifty percent of the consumers we polled on the Internet could not name a single new product that was launched last year," President Joan Schneider said. "Advertisers spent $249 billion in 2003 launching new products. That's pretty disappointing."
Consumer awareness dropped from the previous year even though advertisers spent more. In 2002, Schneider's survey found, just 33 percent of consumers couldn't name a single product after advertisers had spent $233 billion promoting them.
"My heart goes out to people who are starting out with a small idea because it's really hard to break in," Schneider said. "You have to use other techniques, like sampling and guerrilla marketing. You have to find ways to get your products into the hands of consumers because if you don't create the demand, you have almost no chance of getting on the shelves."
Which gets back to what motivates manufacturers to spin out so many new ideas and line extensions. There is the defensive aspect of product rollouts, of course, but there's also the opportunistic side, which at the moment is contributing to the plethora of low-carb food items landing on supermarket shelves.
It's also about growth, because new flavors and sizes and variations on existing brands are relatively quick ways to gain market share. If Nabisco wants to grow, it's fairly cheap and easy to bring out a new version of Oreo cookies or some other product with the Oreo name on it. Consumers are likely to try Oreo Cookie Crunchies ice cream topping or Oreo pudding because they recognize the brand, but it doesn't cannibalize the core Oreo market.
Too many flavors and colors of regular Oreo cookies, however, might do just that.