Jalapeño soda? Aerosol mustard? Fingos? These are just three of the more than 70,000 products (both successes and failures) on the shelves of the NewProductWorks Showcase in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Visit its new website (www.newproductworks.com). Study the "Hits & Misses" categories such as "We Expect Them to Be Successes," which are those that probably will be commercial successes; "Jury Is Out," products whose future is in doubt; "Failures," which are recent products that have failed miserably; and "Favorite Failures," which are those that cause people to ask "What were they thinking?" Pick two of the failed products and try to identify the reasons discussed earlier in the chapter that may have led to their failure. Contrast these failed products with those that are deemed successes to learn why they became "sure-fire winners."
