That Sh*t Will Never Sell

If you are the kind of marketeer in fmcg - or even missile development at a stretch - you will know that New Product Development is the heartbeat of a business's future. And so it is key to appreciate that NPD is not a role to be given to juniors in the department or, worse still, to views expressed by salesmen or consumers as to what may or may not sell.

It is however the role of dedicated creative people who have a talent to think outside the proverbial box and who are able to assess what the consumer might actually want. This is what this excellent book is about. And what a very good read it is..

Drinks, mostly alcoholic, are David's main thing and the principle thrust of his book surrounds the initial development of Baileys Irish Cream which has sold approaching a staggering two billion bottles since 1973. At some profit too. David even asks whether a brand of this magnitude may even have passed the lips of the Pope, Mr Putin and Madonna amongst others.Quite possibly is the answer.

Incidentally there are many fictional stories on how Baileys came about. This one is how it really was.

David's other claims to fame include Piat D'Or, Aqua Libra, Purdeys and more recently Ciroc, a grape vodka, apparently one of the 'hottest' brands in the US.

Quite properly, quite a few brands that never really saw the light of day are discussed but the overwhelming success rate is inescapable.

Clearly design is at the heart of what David does and this is unusually apparent in the design and layout of the book.. It has a freshness and an unquestionable point of difference. Hardly surprising.

Review by Stephen Lewis.
Erstwhile Ad Man, Marketing Director of Watney Mann & Truman Brewers, IDV (Home Trade) now Diageo, Whitbread plc. Director Boase Massimi Pollitt plc