For example, nothing sounds less innovative than a cheese company rolling out yet another type of cheese. But Sargento cleared $50 million in its first year with its prepackaged ultrathin slices, driving enormous category growth and exceeding $150 million in year two. Why did this product thrive, when the vast majority of the other thirty-four hundred consumer packaged goods launched in the same year didn’t even survive their first twelve months in the market? Sargento’s ultrathin sliced cheese was solving a job consumers were struggling with: “How can I enjoy all of the delicious cheese
...more
