MMNPL’s Ashley DePaolo caught up with Leslie Segrete and Tom Kraeutler of the popular DIY show and website The Money Pit to get their thoughts on all of the new products at the 2012 National Hardware Show.

MMNPL’s Ashley DePaolo learns all about iTouchless’ line of touch-free toilet seats, trash cans and other products at the 2012 National Hardware Show.

Keep checking back here for more interviews and videos from NHS 2012.

MMNPL.com’s Ashley DePaolo stopped by the 3M booth at the 2012 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas to learn more about their new Tekk Protection line of products, made in partnership with Mike Holmes of HGTV’s “Holmes on Homes“

New Product Launches at the
National Hardware Show in Las Vegas

MMNPL Reporter and VP of Schneider Associates’ Home Products Practice Ashley DePaolo traveled to the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas earlier this month and got the scoop from exhibitors about new product introductions on display at the show. Ashley recorded video interviews with representatives from stalwarts like 3M, Ingersoll-Rand, Duck Tape, EZ Lawn and Garden and the Money Pit team, as well as brands like PIC Pest Free Living, Mr. Longarm, Lead Check, Command Brand, iTouchless and Xodus Innovations. Check out this mashup-style intro to all the fun, festivities and fantastic new products at the 2012 National Hardware Show.

What’s next for food marketers? More Migration Marketing.

Foodpreneur Dom Celentano interviews product launch expert Julie Hall about a continuing trend of migration marketing, where food brands and manufacturers create products for new consumer audiences and retail channels. Recent examples highlighted include QSR chains like IHOP and Olive Garden creating supermarket grocery products. The article discusses how for food marketers, brand and product positioning is essential.

Read more about the Migration Marketing trend.

The Holmes Report featured an op-ed by Schneider Associates’ EVP and Launch Expert Julie Hall about how social media is changing the way we launch new products.

Hall and Schneider Associates introduced the Most Memorable New Product Launch (MMNPL) Survey in 2002, and since then, the poll has surveyed thousands of consumers about the most memorable product launches each year, analyzed media consumption and purchasing habits, and predicted trends based on the results.

Hall highlighted one significant change in this year’s MMNPL findings: “Facebook was nowhere near the top 10 sources of information about new products – and in the span of one year, it became the third most used source of information on new product launches, jumping from 17% to 40%. And this is just Facebook.”

Based on this and other findings, Hall coined the fifth P in the product marketer’s arsenal – Participation (the original four: product, price, promotion and place). Hall insists that consumers can be engaged by “Relationship Marketing,” which allows them to interact more closely with brands and products they love. Going forward, campaigns must consist of a blend of participatory marketing through various sources of old and new, traditional and social media marketing techniques in order to succeed.

Read the full article here.

If you would like help planning your next launch, contact us at launch@schneiderpr.com or on Twitter @SchneiderPR.

A product launch that we are watching for possible inclusion in the 2012 MMNPL is the newest body spray from Axe.

Axe, the body spray and grooming brand by Unilever, famous for its ads that turn average young men into heroic “girl-magnets,” recently launched the newest addition to its line of body sprays: Anarchy, a scent marketed towards men and women.

The campaign, by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, focuses on the idea of chaos and commotion, using dramatic online and print advertisements to stir up attention. The online promotion kicked-off with a teaser commercial, also seen in movie theaters, which featured the “Anarchy” concept without revealing the new product for women.

Social media, specifically the Axe Facebook page, played a key role in unleashing the “anarchist” scent. Up until the launch, Facebook users were greeted with a countdown to the fragrance release using the text “Anarchy is coming.” Free samples were distributed before the product hit stores for Facebook users who answered all of the questions correctly on an Axe quiz.

Axe also launched an original graphic novel in partnership with Aspen Comics, appropriately titled “Anarchy,” via  YouTube and Facebook.  The graphic novel, “Anarchy Girl,.” Was created with fan feedback in real time, with Axe consumers voting on the comic’s plotline, characters and other aspects online through Axe’s social media channels. Some lucky fans also had comic versions of themselves featured in the novel after “liking” specific Axe Facebook posts or contributing their ideas.

To elaborate on their “Are you ready for unexpected attraction at every turn?” marketing campaign, Axe produced their usual suggestive commercial: a female police officer chasing a male robber through the city, only to meet with an incredible force of attraction at the end of the ad.

A limited edition release, the question is will the body spray make women forgo their normal stand-by and make Axe Anarchy body spray their new choice? Barret Roberts, Senior Brand Manager at Axe, told the New York Times, “We’ve been hearing for some time that females have been asking for and looking for their very own scent of Axe.”

At SA, we believe this is not anarchy, just smart marketing.

In Dom’s full review of the Webinar, he provided additional highlights about some of the most memorable food launches of 2011 such as Reese’s Minis, Philadelphia Cooking Crème, Baileys Coffee Creamer and DiGiorno Pizza and Cookies. Dom also discusses noteworthy statistics from the survey pointing to the changing landscape in food product development and launch, such as the huge increase in the use of Facebook as a source of information on new products.

Make sure to read the recap  as well as Celentano’s full review  of the MMNPL New Product Launch 2011 survey!

Want just the facts? Click here to download a PDF with key takeaways from the MMNPL webinar.

Launching a new product and want to learn more from the experts? Learn more about Launch Public Relations® at LaunchPR.com

With over 40,000 products launched each year, how can you make sure your next new product launch gets noticed?

Join Schneider Associates’ EVP and Launch Expert, Julie Hall, and Chief Behavioral Scientist for Sentient Decision Science, Aaron Reid, Ph.D., for the Most Memorable New Product Launch LIVE Video Webinar, Thursday February 9^th from 2:00 p.m. – 3:oo p.m.

Julie and Aaron will provide insights on:

• Emerging trends in 2012 that will influence consumer awareness and purchasing behavior
• The five “must-do” marketing tactics influencing consumer purchasing today
• Why social marketing is driving trial and sales
• The Top Ten product launches of 2011, and what made them so successful
• The Top Ten product launches of the past decade and why they’ve remained relevant
• Top sources of information almost all consumers use to learn about new products

To register for this webinar, please click here or at the link above.