Nielsen unveiled this week at its Consumer 360 conference its new approach to product development, which is said to improve companies' chances of success when bringing new products to market.

As more consumers incorporate social media sites and other online shop-assist tools into their daily shopping routines, the concepts defining traditional category management — category schematics and optimized facings and assortments, for example — are fast becoming obsolete.

Pampers has introduced Prints, a limited-edition diaper line with designs that include floral and polka dot prints for girls, and argyle and toy car prints for boys. The diapers are available through the summer in sizes 1 through 4.

The humble coupon is back, in a big way.


Nielsen has teamed up with a provider of digital grocery tools and a grocery media network to offer consumer packaged goods companies a view into consumers' online supermarket purchases.

Retailers and small- to mid-sized brand marketers shouldn’t be quick to dismiss social media as an effective avenue to communicate with consumers versus traditional media outreach like TV and radio. That was a key takeaway of a recent survey conducted on behalf of marketing/public relations firm Robin Leedy & Associates.


The fate of beauty initiatives at JCPenney, along with a lot of the company's other plans, just became a lot less clear following the hiring of former Apple executive Ron Johnson as CEO.

Walmart has rebranded the small-format food-and-drug combo store Neighborhood Market as Walmart Market.

A pharmacy purchasing cooperative announced that Mark LaPorte has joined its team as VP marketing.

Schick, an Energizer Holdings brand, is launching a men's scented razor, the Xtreme3 Refresh, which will feature scratch-and-sniff packaging, according to a New York Times article.

Total U.S. beauty sales in both the food/drug/mass and prestige channels experienced similar trends in first quarter 2011, according to market research providers NPD and SymphonyIRI, although makeup sales fared slightly better within the food/drug/mass channel.