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According to an interview in the Times of London.
"Michael Treschow thinks there is not enough “wow” at Unilever.
The Swedish chairman likes inventions, gadgets and new whizz-bang things. He has been in his job for a year and, after a shake-up and streamlining of the top team at the Anglo-Dutch food and soap company, he wants the men in white coats to work faster, creating an assembly line of new products.
The marketing is good, the selling is good, it's the product line that needs attention, he says. “The single most important thing is that we speed up our innovation machine, which means that we bring more highly appreciated products to the consumer so that they say, ‘Wow, this is really something I would like to have',” he says."
Can we now expect increases in R&D spends as packaged goods companies go back in search of product performance and difference?
Posted by Ed Cotton
How to bring "wow" to Unilever. Great idea. If the marketing is good what might be the problem in the new-product pipeline? Maybe the answere will be around the great challenges of sustainability. And, of course creativity and leadership. http://leaderswedeserve.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/2009-is-european-year-of-creativity-and-innovation/