In his recent interview with the Financial Post, our President and Chief Innovation Officer Steve Mast discussed why traditional market research and product launch campaigns are ineffective in today’s consumer environment.

With increasing demands for control over individual brand experiences and consumer expectations for options and speed on the rise, it’s no wonder 95 percent of all consumer product launches fail each year. How are companies dealing with this hyper-competitive environment and who, among them, have avoided going down the paths of Nivea and Heineken in facing social media backlash and irreparable damages to their brands and reputation?

In the article, “Here’s how to fail, whether you’re a startup or a large corporation,” Steve shared his thoughts on successful brands that are using innovative and iterative research and marketing approaches to be more in touch with today’s consumers, with examples from Adidas, BMO, and Labatt. Here is an excerpt:

“So what are startup brands doing that traditional brands aren’t? They are more consumer-centric, more agile, ready to pivot — and they take an iterative approach to launching products, tweaking and improving based on consumer feedback before they enter the market in a big way. ‘These are all best practices large brands are now trying to adopt,’ Mast says.”

To read the full article, visit the Financial Post.