Innovation is Key
The fact that POY recognizes innovation has been instrumental to its success since it was established over 30 years ago. Recognizing and promoting innovative products, Nolan stresses, is more important than ever today.
“Numerous reports from companies including Kantar and McKinsey suggest that innovation in times of recession or market conflict is the key to bouncing back sooner and higher,” Nolan says. “POY is the ideal way to show your company, brand and product kept innovating through turmoil, meeting new and ever-changing consumer demands. To that end, the POY seal will stand out all the more in 2021.”
Those pluses pertain to retailers, too.
“Helping your shoppers in-store or online find the best innovations is giving them what they want, when and where they want it,” Nolan says. “The fact that POY is voted on by 40,000 American’s also speaks the language of retailers—it’s listening to the shopper and communicating it back to them as a recommendation. This is why the logo is so powerful and why POY works with so many retailers around the world to enhance their shopper’s experience.”
Across categories, the results speak for themselves: Data show that Product of the Year USA winners outperform category sales performance by 38.1%1; that the Product of the Year logo is 25% more effective on a package than the word “New”2; and that coupon redemption consideration increased 24% when the Product of the Year logo was featured in a Free Standing Insert (FSI)3.
But with all of the day-to-day challenges that consumers are facing, will they even notice?
Nolan answers with a resounding yes.
“Consumers are spending more time at home and online and less time in-store perusing the aisles for new products. Everything from food and exercise to beauty and personal care are being brought into the home and innovations must continue to meet, what we anticipate being, this long- lasting trend,” he says. “More so than ever, consumers will have to rely on word of mouth, peer reviews and accreditations like POY when making a purchase for their home, from their home.”
Ultimately, it all goes back to the one thing for which all CPG companies and retailers strive.
“Trusted retailers that continue to offer their shoppers the best and brightest new innovations will command long-lasting shopper loyalty,” Nolan concludes.
Products launched after January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2020 are eligible to be entered in the 2021 POY Awards; the entry deadline is October 31st. For more information on how to enter, visit productoftheyearusa.com.
