Bridging the Innovation Gap
Too often, innovation is treated as a creative sprint or a race to shelf. But without consumer validation, pricing strategy, and performance forecasting, even the most exciting ideas can fall flat.
Emerging brands face unique hurdles:
- Limited resources for testing and iteration
- Pressure to prove value quickly
- High stakes tied to every launch
When innovation is backed by the right data and strategy, it becomes a powerful growth lever. In fact, NIQ research shows that brands growing innovation sales are 2x more likely to grow overall.
A Smarter Framework for Innovation
To help brands innovate with confidence, NIQ created the Innovation Essentials framework—a five-pillar approach that supports smarter decision-making from idea to shelf:
Explore – Uncover unmet consumer needs and new growth pathways
Screen – Rapidly test early-stage ideas for potential. Emerging brands often need fast, reliable feedback before investing in development. Tools like NIQ’s BASES AI Screener offer a way to simulate consumer response using behavioral data – helping teams prioritize the ideas most likely to succeed.
Here is how the BASES AI Screener works behind the scenes:
Validate – Confirm market readiness and financial viability
Package – Ensure your design communicates value and stands out
Forecast – Project sales performance and simulate investment scenarios
This framework helps answer critical questions like:
- Will this idea succeed in the market?
- Is our pack sending the right message?
- What’s the optimal price point for launch?
- How much can we expect to sell in Year 1 and Year 2?
Innovation in Action
Brands using NIQ’s innovation tools have seen:
- Up to 20% uplift in sales
- 50% faster time to market
- 30% reduction in research costs
- 38% higher performance from optimized concepts
Take Sanzo for example, a sparkling water brand known for its culturally inspired flavors. When exploring new product ideas, Sanzo used the BASES AI Screener to simulate consumer response and refine three flavor concepts. The results helped sharpen storytelling, packaging, and positioning—before launch.
“The AI Screener experience was valuable to our innovation pipeline process,” said Adam Brion, VP of Sales at Sanzo. “We were able to utilize this tool much later in the innovation process, but it affirmed the key KPIs and success rate we felt our innovation items were going to achieve. The tool also identified risks we had previously known and validated the steps we had in place to address them.”
Want to see how your ideas stack up?
Connect with our team to learn how NIQ’s BASES AI Screener can help you validate concepts, reduce risk, and accelerate time to market.
Compete Smarter with the Emerging Brands Innovation Essentials
Our Innovation Essentials bundle equips emerging brands with the tools to:
- Validate new product ideas
- Optimize pack design and pricing
- Forecast performance with confidence
Whether you’re launching a new SKU, expanding into a new category, or preparing for retail pitches, these tools help you innovate smarter—and grow stronger.
