Retail and consumer product innovation: a report from NYC

A few weeks ago, I keynoted an event for the Readers Digest Food & Entertainment group (who publish Everyday with Rachel Ray, and own and manage the popular online social network recipe site, AllRecipes.com) in New York City. The audience consisted of executives and creative types from Madison Ave advertising agencies, food and packaging companies and other organizations.

They’ve released a summary of the overall day; in addition to my own insight, participants included Katie Lee Joel (pictured on the right), author of the Comfort Table; as well as “supermarket guru” Phil Lampert.

I spoke to a variety of trends that are impacting retail and food markets; for example, the trend in which in store display technology — a “new influencer” — will come to influence how shoppers shop, faster than we think:

This new shopper is not only more scattered and more connected, but also faster — scanning 12 feet of shelf space on average per second.

In-store influencers will now evolve at the pace of the iPhone and the Blackberry, challenging marketers to keep up with the pace. Faster is the new innovation and innovation isn’t just about new product design – it’s about responding to fast-paced consumer change.

Marketing Implication: Marketers must work harder than ever to capture the attention of the consumer and make a connection. Brands must keep up with the pace of consumer change in order to stay relevant.

 

:

Read the RDA Food & Entertainings Consumer Food Symposium summary (PDF)