• by Karl Greenberg , February 9, 2009

"Product of the Year" isn't a product, it's a brand. And next month that brand will, for the first time, grace the packages and advertising for a raft of products marketed in the U.S. "Product of the Year" actually launched in France two decades ago as a yearly award for the consumer packaged good voted best in their categories by consumers polled by global market research firm TNS.

Procter & Gamble was heavily represented among the winners of the first U.S. "Product of the Year" (POY) competition, which comprised products in 16 categories. The winning P&G products included Olay Spa Exfoliating Ribbons Body Wash, CoverGirl LashBlast mascara, Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths, Duracell Color Mini Charger, PUR Flavor Options, and Wella System Professional Gloss On.

Winners from other companies are Abbott's Similac SimplePac; O Organics Four Cheese Stone Baked Pizza; Johnson's Off! Smooth & Dry Aerosol; Dr Pepper Snapple Group's Mott's For Tots; Unilever's Degree Men Absolute Protection and Degree Women Ultra Clear; McNeil's Zyrtec Allergy; and Swimways' Kelsyus Original Canopy Chair.

Companies had to pay a $25,000 registration fee per product, with winners getting the right to use the "Product of the Year" name, logo and to reference the TNS survey in all marketing communications for a licensing fee of $90,000. The license is valid for a full year.

The products had to be launched in the U.S. between January 2007 and August 2008. The two-tiered process involves products first being vetted by a panel of executives and influencers to winnow to a group of finalists. All finalists get a research report on consumer opinion of their products from TNS. Then the finalist group is pitched to a Web audience of 100,000 consumers who judge the products based on description and images. Winners were announced at an event that took place in January in New York.

Nina Adams, account manager at the New York office of "Product of the Year," said POY is the only consumer-voted award for innovative consumer packaged goods. She says the independent, privately owned company, Product of the Year, also expanded to Australia and Canada last year.

Colleen Kelly, executive director of Product of the Year USA, says the program--now in 28 countries--has been successful in every market. She calls it auspicious for U.S. marketers.

"The good news was that manufacturers recognized it as a great thing for this kind of economy--a way for them to stand out and be good for consumers, because one of the things that happens in this economy is people are less willing to try something new and less willing to spend money." She says that TNS' studies suggest the "Product of the Year" imprimatur serves as a proxy for quality and value.

Kelly says that in a TNS survey in which consumers were shown products with the [POY] logo and "New" and/or "Improved" labeling, they were 25% more likely to favor products when packaging included the "Product of the Year" logo.

Kelly says that every manufacturer with a winning product enlists the "Product of the Year" logo and messaging in marketing efforts. "But there are different levels," she says. "PUR water filter, which is in a million stores and with a large budget behind it, will probably do a lot. But Walla is sold in salons and beauty supply stores, so they will do in-store and direct mail to owners; the target is way smaller."

She says if the POY program in the U.K.--which launched six years ago--is any indicator, consumer awareness of the POY logo will grow fast. "After three, four years, awareness was 50%-60%. But part of it is the real simple concept with a recognizable logo," she says. "The other thing is that all 16 manufacturers are advertising this in unison, so the rising tide floats all boats: Unilever, P&G, the smaller guys--it builds up awareness."