TRENDSETTER: Best New Global Product? CMO Council's Donovan Neale-May Answers

Donovan Neale-May, Executive Director of the CMO Council asks, “What has been the most successful, annoying, intrusive and beloved new product to hit the market in recent times?"

The South African native has an immediate answer,"My vote for New Product of the Year in 2010 already goes to one seriously disruptive and intrusive innovation . . . the viral, vocal and visceral vuvuzela". Not a trumpet or even a horn, the Zulu term describes an elongated plastic instrument that African (and now the world's) football fans blow to make a loud, persistent and invasive noise in stadiums, streets and sports bars.

The global interactive marketing group connects with Coca-Cola's 3500 marketing people worldwide. Donnelly underscores that the company is built on a heavy local emphasis. "All experience with our brands is local." However, providing a centralized solution is essential as it avoids working with very disparate results. He outlines, "Our marketers can use a palette of options to leverage the message, and then partner with technology to deliver a local effort."

There's been nothing flat about vuvuzela sales since the product's global debut at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, literally blowing away other merchandise offerings and creating a phenomenal and distinctive buzz worldwide!"

According to Neale-May, "Few really understand the latent appeal of this raucous instrument, which has been widely embraced by football fans of all persuasions, ethnicity, and levels of income and intellect. One wealthy Russian businessman willingly splurged more than $30,000 for a white gold and jewel-encrusted vuvuzela that was his blinged-out memento of this year's World Cup."

"Think about this," he says. "We have an outrageous product success story:

• Almost zero R&D investment.
• Little or no trademark or property rights protection.
• Minimal upfront capital requirements.
• A highly adaptive product design for quick and easy versioning, customization and localization.
• Brand and accessory extensions created overnight. (Even an iPhone app and 5,000 downloads!)
• Overnight distribution network created using entrepreneurial, eager street sales agents, as well as more formal online and offline retail channels.
• No slotting fees or exorbitant marketing development funds. (Your grassroots field rep network likes to pay cash and never takes product on consignment.)

With little or no formal marketing, you rely on the viral, vocal and visceral aspects of your product to gain rapid product adoption, uptake and use in a matter of weeks. With manufacturing churning out as many as 20,000 vuvuzelas a day!. MORE