Abstract: Ever wondered why so many new products fail when so much effort and money is spent ensuring that we get the concept exactly right, and that it is then paired with a good product? Tens of millions of dollars are spent each year in the U.S. alone to quantitatively predict the effect of introducing new products into the marketplace at the concept and product level. And, much is also spent on assessing repositionings of current products.

Many estimates place new product failure rates at 75-90%. While some of these failures can undoubtedly be traced to poorly thought out and researched ideas, many failures are simply the result of poor execution. Having tested about 40,000 concepts and positionings worldwide over the last 20 years, AcuPOLL^® has witnessed (and participated in) many successful introductions, but has also seen a lot of good ideas fail. And, one of the key culprits, from our experience, is that the concept often fails to be effectively communicated to consumers.

It does not matter how good a concept you have if the consumer never gets it – and nobody reads a concept before making a purchase decision. Although advertising certainly helps consumers understand what we are selling, most brands spend much less (or nothing) on advertising these days. Modern media is also effective at getting copy points across, but most people still do not seek online help to better understand most categories before going shopping.