Graco 2015 Annual Report Download - page 8

Newell Rubbermaid 8 2015 Annual Report
approach to ideation, while also looking to countries
outside the U.S. for inspiration. To date, we’ve generated
more than 10,000 idea fragments that we’ve synthesized
around 500 bigger ideas and chartered approximately
$150 million of innovation projects. As a result, our
innovation funnel has more than doubled since 2013.
Q What are the advantages of having this
innovation funnel?
In addition to the significantly increased value, the
innovation funnel is now looking further ahead, which
allows us three plus years of visibility into our future
growth. We can share these long-term innovation
“runways” with our top strategic customers. We have
confidence in the strength of the funnel because we
have tested more than 1,200 ideas with consumers
using industry-accepted measurements, and these
have scored in line with or better than best-in-class
benchmarks. Another attribute of the funnel today is
that it’s increasingly international in scope.
Q How have your marketing spend and
activities changed under your leadership?
We have significantly increased our investment in
advertising and promotion, from 2.7 percent of sales
several years ago to almost 5 percent of sales in 2015.
And we expect to drive that level even higher to about
7 percent. But we aren’t just spending more, we’re also
spending smarter. Our non-working advertising ratio,
which is the money spent on the production of material
relative to the amount of money in our advertising
budget that’s spent on communicating, has improved
from 35 percent to 15 percent. Our media mix has also
moved toward shorter-length commercials, increasing
the impact of our communications spend. Last, we’ve
broadened our advertising vehicles.
So today, we’re not just a TV and print company — we are
a TV, print and digital company. We’re spending more
than 20 percent of our working media dollars on digital
and expect that number to increase steadily as we
continue to expand our digital presence.
Q What can we expect from the Development
organization in 2016?
In the coming year, we expect further momentum for
many of our brands as we see some of our strongest
innovation ideas hit the marketplace. We are
particularly excited about the launch
of the Paper Mate® InkJoy® Gel Pen, with ink that dries
three times faster* for reduced smearing, and
Rubbermaid Freshworks™ Produce Saver, which
features a preservation system that keeps produce
fresh for up to 80 percent longer.** We’ll also be
supporting our brands more than ever by further
increasing our investments in advertising to a level that
is three times what we spent in 2013.
BRANDS /
INNOVATION
FUNNEL MORE
THAN DOUBLED
*vs. the leading competitor based on average dry times of black, blue, red and green. Individual dry times may vary by color.
**Based on strawberries in FreshWorksTM containers vs. store packaging at day 21. Results may vary depending on produce and use.