Companies are refocusing on the emerging markets in BRIC countries. With China, India and Brazil, Russia is back on the radar of multinationals. Despite its familiarity, the Russian market offers particular challenges to FMCG manufacturers, particularly when launching new innovations. This paper investigates the various opportunities for, and barriers to, launching innovations in Russia. The author aims to answer the following questions: What is the typical success rate of innovations in Russia? What makes Russia different from the perspective of launching innovations? How does the market environment in Russia influence launch expectations and launch strategies?
As innovation is the engine of growth, it is important to continuously invest. But during challenging economic times, we face difficult decisions as manufacturers: Should we continue to invest in innovation or save money? Should we cut production costs? Reduce the advertising budget? To answer these questions, we studied recessionary times in a variety of markets over the past 30 years. After assessment, their advice is clear: be very careful with these choices and make sure that short term decisions are not counter-productive in the medium-to-longer term. The presentation investigates the key factors of success of new product launches in the FMCG sector in the context of the current economic situation and provides research-based guidance on launching innovations during economic slowdown.