Oreo: an introduction

Most commercially successful new products tend to follow an economic S-Curve.  Just in case you were sleeping during your professor’s description of the S-Curve, allow me to refresh your memory.    New products start slowly (the bottom of the ‘S’).  They rely on market adoption, which typically does not happen fast.  With any luck the new product will experience a season of economic growth (the steep part of the ‘S’).  Eventually sales and growth will plateau (the top of the ‘S’).  This is usually the point in the product’s life cycle where a competitor will come into the market and establish a new S-Curve.  The competitor has the advantage of learning from the leader’s mistakes, assessing current marketplace trends, and taking advantage of new technologies.  They are not locked into any existing capital equipment or infrastructure, so they can be very nimble.  Think about the S-Curve that Toyota created at the expense of Ford; Sony at the expense of RCA; Netflix at the expense of Blockbuster.  Very few companies can escape this phenomenon that Clayton Christenson refers to as The Innovator’s Dilemma.  Let me tell you about a product that has.

Oreo cookies were introduced by the National Biscuit Company in 1912.  Nabisco’s cookie became the best selling cookie in America.  Nearly 100 years later it is still at the top!  It has never, ever, ever, ever been anything but #1.  Chew on that for a while.

Over the next several weeks I will unpack four insights that have helped Nabisco defy the odds:

1. Innovate in your Sweet Spot
2. Leverage Authenticity
3. Turn Negatives into Positives
4. Broaden your Horizons

So pour a glass of milk, grab a bag of America’s original dunking cookie, and join me.

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