WSJ: New -- But Maybe Not Improved -- May Be A Slogan More On Products

By RONALD ALSOP
Dow Jones Newswires

  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Even as new packaged goods continue to roll out in record numbers -- 25,261 in 1997 -- marketing experts see less innovation. "Companies are making low-risk product launches -- a lot of line extensions, new colors and flavors," says Tom Vierhile, manager of Marketing Intelligence Service, of Naples, N.Y. He rated only 5.8% of new products last year as innovative, down from 7.2% in 1996 and 18.6% in 1986.

Some original products did emerge in 1997: purple sunblock from Coppertone (means no more missed spots on the kids), Windex outdoor glass cleaner (attaches to a garden hose to spray grimy second-floor windows) and Breyers soft ice cream (makes bent spoons a thing of the past). Mr. Vierhile advises marketers to look for inspiration abroad. He spotted chewing gum to reduce nasal congestion and chocolate-flavored carrots in the United Kingdom.

New uses for the fake fat olestra could spur a wave of products by 1999, says Lynn Dornblaser of New Product News.