2023 NIQ bases breakthrough innovation awards in India

Mumbai: NielsenIQ has released its highly-anticipated BASES Breakthrough Innovation Awards for 2023. The awards recognize successful product launches across all strategies, ranging from launches that managed to disrupt their categories and grow their brand, to targeted plays that did not intend to appeal to the mass market but were meant to delight a specific target. This year, they are also acknowledging the ‘Wavemakers’ - innovations that, within less than three years, have already made a significant impact in their respective domain.

This year, Breakthrough Innovation named 10 winners among this year's innovative brands in India that have transformed their categories. It also acknowledged 2 Wavemakers, products that show great potential for future success.

This year’s Breakthrough Innovation winners have successfully navigated through a persistently precarious landscape, marked by the enduring impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain disruptions and extraordinary inflationary constraints.

The recipients of this year’s India Breakthrough Innovation winners have made remarkable strides across diverse product categories. Buyers gravitated towards food and beverage brands that had a fun and indulgent aspect to them. Spicy flavors were very popular with buyers, but consumers were also seeking out healthy and whole ingredients in their snack foods. Whole ingredients transferred in other verticals too as buyers looked for healthy benefits in their personal care products with proactive and preventative care top of mind. Throughout all product categories, Breakthrough Innovation winners in Indian have excelled in delivering convenience through a variety of product formats and packaging options.

“When it comes to evaluating innovations, there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach anymore. It is critical to understand the business objectives and the innovation strategy”, said BASES Leader South Asia Vidya Sen. “However, one common thread for success is sustainability of the innovation in-market which is non-negotiable”. As a result, BASES looks at the scale of the innovations in year 1 and their sustained growth in year 2, to arrive at the winners.

BASES scrutinized 3000+ innovations across 85 categories in FMCG & OTC, to come up with 12-odd winners. The combined year 1 sales across the winners are Rs. 623 Crores, which speaks of the impact innovations can have if developed and executed with perfection.

“Innovation is more than making a change. It is making a difference!” said Sen.

The 2023 India Breakthrough Innovation Award Winners are: