The number of new consumer products in 1991 was 54,400; in 2008, this figure had increased to 75,069. But 7% of those 1991 product offerings were completely original. In 2008, that innovation factor had dropped to 1.3 percent.

The difference, according to Phil Roos, managing director of the Arbor Strategy Group at GfK Strategic Innovation, is that 21st Century new-product introductions often are not