Nielsen Announces 04 U.S. Breakrough Innovation Award Winners; General Mills, Anheuser-Busch, Kraft and Kimberly-Clark Among 4 Companies Recognized

Schaumburg, Ill. May 8, 2014 Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy, is pleased to announce the U.S. Breakthrough Innovation Winners for 2014:

Angry Orchard Hard Cider, The Boston Beer Co.

Barcel Takis, Barcel USA

Bud Light Lime Ritas, Anheuser-Busch

Depend Silhouette Briefs for Women and Depend Real Fit Briefs for Men, Kimberly-Clark

Febreze Car Vent Clip, Procter & Gamble

Gevalia Kaffe Retail Coffee, Kraft Foods

International Delight Iced Coffee, The WhiteWave Foods Co.

Meow Mix Tender Centers, Big Heart Pet Brands

Mucinex Fast-Max, Reckitt Benckiser

Nabisco belVita Breakfast Biscuits, Mondelez Global LLC

Nature Valley Protein Bars, General Mills

Sargento Ultra Thin Slices, Sargento Foods

Tide Pods, Procter & Gamble

ZzzQuil, Procter & Gamble

Given the very competitive marketplace and high new product failure rate, we celebrate the Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation winners extraordinary achievement, says, Rob Wengel, Senior Vice President, Innovation, Nielsen. These diverse new products carry the common thread of finding and filling unmet consumer needs while demonstrating that with significant effort, game-changing innovation is possible in any category and by all types of companies.

This is the third year that Nielsen has presented the award in the U.S. This years product winners were all launched in 2012 and met the standards for distinctiveness, relevance and endurance in order to qualify. The winning companies join an expanding and elite group of marketers that will convene at Nielsens Consumer 360 event in San Antonio in June to examine successful new product innovation and drivers of in-market success. The 2014 Breakthrough Innovation Report will also be launched at the event and will feature in-depth case studies of the winners and their approaches to successful innovation.

Successful innovation is never easy, says Taddy Hall, Senior Vice President, Innovation, Nielsen, but nor is it complicated. Breakthrough Winners dont rely on luck or genius. The hallmark of successful innovation is that they resolve struggles or fulfil aspirations; they perform jobs in consumers lives.

About the Breakthrough Innovation Awards, Report and Project The U.S. Nielsen Breakthrough Innovation Project is a multi-year in-depth analysis of more than 17, 000 new launches from 2008 - 2012, which has resulted in the selection of 62 winners over three years. The lessons learned from these successful new product launches were summarized in a series of reports released by Nielsen and available by request. The winning companies gather at Nielsens global thought leadership event, Nielsen Consumer 360 to share findings and insight into successful new product innovations.

Nielsen analyzed over 3,400 new consumer product introductions which launched in the U.S. in 2012 to determine which products demonstrated breakthrough results. The 14 winners were required to meet the standards for distinctiveness, relevance and endurance in order to qualify. The analysis, combined with prior research on more than 17,000 new launches from 2008 - 20112, led to the conclusions and recommendations found in the U.S. Breakthrough Innovation Report, which will be published in June during Nielsens Consumer 360.

About Nielsen Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

CONTACT: Meg Chari, 647-463-2022, meg.chari@nielsen.com

LINK:	http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2014/nielsen-announces-2014-us...
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