BASES EAST ASIA TOP BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATIONS
Consumer needs and priorities are always evolving and paving the way for new innovations to achieve success. Let’s celebrate and learn from recent innovations that got it right and take those lessons to uncover new opportunities amidst the COVID-19 impacted landscape and the emerging new normal. These are the standout innovations that achieved critical success to become a 2020 BASES East Asia Top Breakthrough Innovation.
2020 BASES TOP BREAKTHROUGH – GREATER CHINA – CHINESE MAINLAND
COCA-COLA FIBER+®
& SPRITE FIBER+®
RAN CHA®
HEYTEA®
NESCAFÉ® COLD BREW
CORNETTO® DISC®
HONGTU® YAM CHIPS
LAY’S® SEASONAL FLAVOURS
LANGLIGELANG® CORN GREEN-VEGETABLE
OREO® HOT CHICKEN WING & WASABI COOKIES
JINMAILANG® ONE AND A HALF BAGS®
THREE SQUIRRELS®
CHANDO MALE® HIMALAYA ENERGY FACE WASH
LUX BOTANICALS® BODY WASH
OKAMOTO 0.01®
OLAY® WHIPS (REGENERIST, TOTAL EFFECT, WHITE RADIANCE)
SEEYOUNG® SULFATE-FREE PLANTS SHAMPOO + CONDITIONER
WHISPER® KOALA PANTS®
YUNNAN BAIYAO® KIDS TOOTHPASTE
ARIEL® LIGHTENING BLUE & GREEN SERIES
OMO® THREE CHAMBER LAUNDRY CAPSULE
2020 BASES TOP BREAKTHROUGH – GREATER CHINA – HONG KONG
COCA-COLA PLUS® & SPRITE PLUS™
NESCAFÉ® COLD BREW
HÄAGEN-DAZS™ SEASONAL FLAVOURS
TRAPPIST® SIPPA & SPOONA YOGURT
DETTOL® PROFRESH BODY WASH & DETTOL® PROSKIN SHOWER CREAM
KOTEX® DREAMATE OVERNIGHT PANTS
VINDA® 4D DELUXE BATHROOM TISSUE
2020 BASES TOP BREAKTHROUGH – GREATER CHINA – Taiwan
COCA-COLA FIBER+®
SUNTORY HOROYOI® CHU-HAI STRAWBERRY
lay’s® STEWED beef noodle chips
WEI LIH® SU PIAO XIANG® MA LA TANG INSTANT NOODLE BOWL
COLGATE® SLIMSOFT™ FLEX CLEAN TOOTHBRUSH
2020 BASES TOP BREAKTHROUGH – SOUTH KOREA
STARBUCKS® BY NESPRESSO® COFFEE CAPSULE
terra®
Bibigo® porridge
pulmuone® yaip mandoo
perioe® himalaya PINK salt toothpaste
DOWNY® FABRIC SOFTENER EXPERT
2020 BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVEMENTS – JAPAN
WILKINSON® TANSAN CARBONATED WATER
three key actions contributed to the success of many 2020 bases EAST ASIA top breakthrough innovations
- 1. discover
DISCOVER
NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR BRAND TO BREAK THROUGH
While incrementality and differentiation are key to breaking onto the shelf, many launches aren’t incremental: ~25% of new products actually shrink total brand sales. But, a successfully-executed extension can drive growth, and there are multiple avenues to growth.
Attracting new buyers, increasing consumption, expanding your brand into new occasions, capitalising on a trend, premiumisation and growing distribution are all ways to increase consumption, penetration, trade-up current buyers, bring new and higher spending buyers, and ultimately, generate growth. Several of this year’s BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations were able to successfully grow their brand by expanding into a new usage occasion. They employed various tactics to differentiate the innovation from the parent brand product and cue the new occasion, while still maintaining core aspects of brand equity.
LUX BOTANICALS® BODY WASH
LUX Botanicals® Body Wash differentiates itself from the category through 3 lenses: the idea is inspired by what ‘natural’ means for consumers, it developed using natural but exotic ingredients familiar to consumers while leveraging its key benefit, the fragrance, and it is designed to target young consumers with a trendy positioning and well-designed mix communicated through all its assets.
Even the best ideas and most compelling extensions will struggle to achieve success without a strong performing product. BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations don’t cut corners when it comes to delivering exceptional product experiences.
80%
Failure rate for products deemed “not ready” in pre-market product test but launch anyway.
30%
Greater year-one sales for launches with strong performance over those with weak performance.
- 2. break the mold
BREAK THE MOLD
bringing your innovation to life
Traditional research and awareness-driving tools continue to be the foundation for learning and activation. This year’s BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations also employed development and activation tactics that were customised to the innovation and its audience.
ARIEL® LIGHTENING BLUE & GREEN SERIES LIFTS AND ADAPTS
The success of Ariel® 3D is grounded in the development of innovation with local consumer needs in mind. After importing the concept and the technology from Japan, the team adapted the innovation to the Chinese need for a lighter laundry experience, which entails efficient cleaning but a less tedious experience at the same time. The size of the capsules is also adjusted to fit smaller laundry loads with higher frequency.
TERRA® BEER DEVELOPED FROM THE GROUND UP
The product was designed around clean ingredients and authentic taste with the goal to become South Korea’s representative regular lager to rule the market. Clean malt in Australia was selected based on taste tests on many lagers around the world, and re-engineering the brewing process with 100% real carbonic acid. To emphasize its clean image, Terra® comes with a green bottle design for the first time for a regular beer in South Korea.
- 3. act
ACT
intentionally with the right timelines & support
The pace of business is accelerating, but speedy decision-making alone does not yield success. Marketers must balance speed with fully delivering on the consumer insight. Across the BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations, many teams made decisions to prioritize doing right by the innovation over delivering on speed alone. In many cases, ironically, these decisions enabled speed as well.
Coca-cola PLUS®
This innovation was first launched in Japan and it smartly used the launch of Japanese imported version of Coke Plus in selected stores in Hong Kong to quickly build awareness of ‘a Coke contains fiber that helps slow down sugar absorption and reduce fat absorption’. The team also took time to execute focus groups to develop the communication with the right consumer language, and taste tests to minimize possible local taste concerns.
GROW AND ADAPT YOUR LAUNCH
With covid-19 changing consumer behaviours, activation activities will need to change from out of home marketing to collborating with online partners such as deliveroo, foodpanda and hktv mall to increase the consumption at home for coca-cola products.
amy choi, brand director, coca-cola hong kong
finding the next breakthrough
Perhaps surprisingly, a strong number of innovation items were launched this year, despite unprecedented obstacles, like supply chain challenges. While there was a dip in February due to the COVID-19 outbreak, innovation rebounded strongly in March and April. Innovators know the importance of developing strong new products as we move into a new normal. Indeed, innovations’ contribution to sales remains stable in 2020 despite a lower amount of items launched.
WANT TO LEARN HOW YOU CAN BE ONE OF THE NEXT BASES TOP BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATIONS?
To dive deeper on this year’s findings or explore the next big thing in innovation (see below), contact your BASES team. They can share more about what the BASES Top Breakthrough Innovations got right, how to apply the learnings and what you need to do to stay two steps ahead of the competition.
COVID-19 & THE NEW NORMAL
EVOLUTION OF NATURAL & PLANT-BASED
