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Hello and welcome. You're listening to
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Marketing Matters on the Wharton podcast
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network, our weekly podcast where we
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analyze the latest in advertising,
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marketing, customer behavior, retailing,
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new product launches, branding. I'm
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Barbara Khan, the Patty and JH Baker
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Professor of Marketing, and I'm joined
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by my co-host, Americus Reed, the
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Whitney M. Young Jr. Professor of
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Marketing and the brand identity
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theorist. Hello, Americus.
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>> Hi, Barbara. So uh you know we are
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coming uh towards the end of uh 2025 and
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uh uh I was recalling one of my students
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in class asked me uh what is the
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definition of innovation and business
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innovation is defined according to the
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interwebs as the process of implementing
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new ideas, products, services or
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processes to create value, solve
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problems, increase efficiency and gain a
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competitive edge ultimately driving
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growth and boosting bottom line by
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meeting evolving customer needs. So, I
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was thinking about, you know, as we
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think about the big picture of 2025,
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there's probably a lot of innovation
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that happened out there that we need to
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talk about and to sort of celebrate in
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terms of some of the great things that
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have happened. And I was wondering if
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you had anything for me that we could
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jump in and sort of deal with that
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particular issue today.
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>> Yeah. And given it's the end of the year
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and a lot of media likes to make lists,
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we decided to go to the media and in
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particular we have with us today Emma
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Barker was the editorial director at
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Time and she oversees major projects
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that they do such as Times 100 most
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influential companies and Times to your
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point best inventions. and she's been
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recognized by lots of different
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companies including the Gerald Lobe
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Awards. And the reason I picked that one
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out in particular, although she has a
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long list, is because I think that's
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given by UCLA, and I used to be at UCLA,
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and I used to be on the comm on the
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committee that uh chose some of the
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award-winning journalists who wrote in
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business and marketing. So anyway, Emma,
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thank you so much for being here.
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>> Thanks for having me. So, um, Emma, is
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it true that you guys do all these end
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of the year lists at the, you know, to
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celebrate December and the beginning of
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January and you have a lot of lists or
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they're just a few lists or
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>> So, Time is kind of famous for lists
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because we've had the time 100 for a
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long time. Uh, person of the year is a
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very short list but has become a little
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a slightly extended list and that's been
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happening for almost a hundred years.
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Um, and so we're sort of known for our
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lists. We do them throughout the year,
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so it's not just an end year thing, but
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we do do most of them annually. Um, and
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yeah, every every fall we do best
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inventions each year. And this year is
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our biggest ever list. Uh, there's just
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constantly more and more uh, innovation
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happening in the world that we feel like
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we need to recognize.
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So let's save some drama before you tell
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us what they are and tell us a little
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bit about the process like how do you
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decide these?
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>> Yeah. So we do have an application
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process. Um companies can apply for
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their products and ideas and really
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that's just a way for us to be able to
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sort through the tons and tons of cold
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pitches we get. Um, and so we take
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applications,
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uh, and then we do our own research
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throughout the Time newsroom. The
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different desks are pitching things. You
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know, the health team pitches medical
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innovations, the tech team is pitching
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AI stuff. It's across the board. Um, and
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so we get a lot of pitches from
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reporters as well. And then myself and a
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small team of editors combs through them
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all. And really, as you know, we're
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looking for
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>> mainly news news newsworthiness. So,
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we're looking for products that really
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moved the needle this year. Um, it's a
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little different than some things like
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CES or things that are a little earlier
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stage. We're really looking for things
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that are like changing consumers lives
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today or this year. Um, and
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uh, yeah, so we're really impact is huge
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for us. global impact um is what we're
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looking for. And it's a really big mix
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of of B2B product ideas. You know, one
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year we had a new shape. I don't know if
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you remember this. It was a couple years
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ago, but mathematicians discovered a new
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shape that that had uh
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>> oh dear
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>> could be could be um uh repeated, you
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know, into infinity. Uh and that was on
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the list. Um, and then all the way down
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to really basic consumer products that
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are just smartly designed or or had a
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big moment this year.
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>> How important is design? How important
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is beauty or something like that? Or is
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it functionality that you prioritize?
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>> Yeah. Well, we do we separate into
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sectors and so everything has its its
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moment. Um, I think when it comes to
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beauty, um, we're really looking for,
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um, like standout innovation where with
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scientific backing. So, there's a lot of
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kind of wellnessy things that maybe
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aren't quite the right fit for time. Um,
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>> I meant beauty in terms of beautiful,
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like aesthetics.
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>> Oh, aesthetics. Yeah, design is huge.
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>> Yeah, the design category is is one of
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our most popular categories actually in
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terms of readership. Um, and what you
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know, we get stats on what people click
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on and what people look to buy. And um,
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>> interesting.
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>> And design is top of that. People are
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always really excited about that. And
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when we're looking at design, we're
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looking at, you know, things we'll put
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in the design category maybe wouldn't
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have stood out in a separate category,
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but are just fun to look at or really
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smartly designed. Um, that
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>> Oh, that's an interesting thing. Also,
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you have it set up so people can
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immediately buy it.
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Yeah, we have um we do have uh buy now
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links on products that are available for
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purchase. There's also a lot of things,
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you know, you're not going to buy a John
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Deere tractor on the internet. Um
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>> I don't know. I might do that.
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[laughter]
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>> Why not?
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>> I mean, the affiliate kickbacks on that
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would be incredible, but [laughter]
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but um but no, it's mostly the beauty
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stuff and the design stuff sells. Uh
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people are really clicking on that as a
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gift guide type thing.
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Interesting. [clears throat] Let me ask
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you this, Emma. So, you know, one of the
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things that we were talking about
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earlier is this notion of innovation
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acceleration
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>> as you you there's a big history here
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with time looking at this over multiple
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years if not hundreds of years, hundred
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years you said. And so are you noticing
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that the amount of what you define as
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global impact is actually something that
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is increasing as a function of the speed
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of adoption or the speed of traction
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that happens with respect to these these
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kinds of innovations that you're
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celebrating. Is that something is that a
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trend that you've been noticing in the
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last let's say 10 to 20 years?
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>> Yeah, definitely. Um so we've been doing
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best inventions specifically for 25
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years. It started in 2000. Um but
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obviously time has been covering
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innovation for our entire 101year
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history. And um I think the biggest
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change we've noticed is yes in terms of
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speed of adoption but ability to have
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global impact even if you're a small
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company or a small product. Um mainly
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that's a social media thing and an
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internet thing. Um, you know, we have
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companies or products that are made by a
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single inventor, like a man in his
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garage, um, that have made the list
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because, um, you know, they really took
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off online or, um, or on social media
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and and just, uh, blew up. And so, um,
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it's a lot easier, I think, for smaller
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companies and smaller innovators to, uh,
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to make these kind of lists now.
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So, let me ask you, what's your favorite
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one? Not not the number one, but your
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personal favorite one on this list
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[clears throat]
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>> from this year.
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>> Yeah.
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>> Uh, okay. This is this is a going to
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reflect on me personally, but um
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[laughter] my my favorite one is called
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Heat It. It is a little device that you
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can plug into your phone. It heats up to
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a scientifically determined temperature
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that um neutralizes bug bites. Um and
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then you put the So you plug it into
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your phone, you put the other end on
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your bug bite and it stops the itch. Um
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>> which I think is just brilliant. And I
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am a permanent target of mosquitoes. So
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I
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>> Oh, me [laughter] too.
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>> Yeah.
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>> And then as a click link, I got to go
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click on that. Yeah, actually that one
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people ordered a lot of um and it's not
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very expensive. It's pretty pretty low
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priced. And there's another one that's
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really fun um that came from a Japanese
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company. This was in the design category
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actually. I think that it's a very cute
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little cat um sculpture that perches on
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the edge of a cup or a bowl and it blows
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on your soup or your hot beverage for
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you, [laughter]
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which I just think is adorable.
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>> That's Emma. I I did not know I needed
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that, but as the moment you said that, I
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have to have that now. [laughter]
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>> Well, I need the mosquito bite one.
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Absolutely. Without question.
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>> Yeah, that's pretty cool.
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>> So, yeah, that's exactly what I was
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looking for. Like kind of weird ones.
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And on the rest of them, do you order
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them or is it is there like a one, two,
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three, or is it just um
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>> Yeah, so we try out certain ones. Um,
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usually we we also have a really wide
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range of uh reporters that work with us,
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freelance reporters that work with us on
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this. Um, and so when we assign it, so
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sometimes they'll try it out, sometimes
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we'll call one into the office. We um
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photograph a good number of them in our
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studio as well. So we bring them in for
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that. Um, and then some just aren't able
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to move. We've done we've
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[clears throat] done things like a huge
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observatory in you know South America
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and that's the kind of thing that we're
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not going to be able to try out but
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we're going to interview an astron
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astronomer about uh how they use it. Um
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so it really varies but definitely the
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consumer stuff we're all we're always
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trying out. Um and we of course return
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everything.
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>> No, but what I mean is is there an
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order? Is there like is there like this
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is the top one the best new invention or
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>> No, it's not ranked. It's not a ranked
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list.
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>> It's definitely not ranked. Yes, I
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should know that.
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>> Although in its in its in its uh
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original state, this list was ranked. We
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did used to have invention of the year.
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>> Um and I believe the year it came out,
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2007, the Apple iPhone was the invention
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of the year. And then we would have
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others on the list. It was a much
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smaller list. Um and uh yeah, so they
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used to they used to name that. I think
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it became more
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>> difficult and we wanted to just be able
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to you know draw attention to a wider
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range of products.
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>> Yeah. So if you look at your 25-y year
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hall of fame, there's the iPhone was
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that in 20 2007. Then you had uh YouTube
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in 2006. That's kind of an interesting
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one. And then you had the Tesla um the
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and then I see here the James Web Space
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Telescope. So, that was a great one.
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>> Yeah, that was in 2022. And the Roomba,
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you know, that's kind of
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>> that one I think just went out of
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business.
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>> Yeah, they're back in the news because
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they just filed for bankruptcy.
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>> Oh, okay.
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>> Sadly, [laughter] but they really
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spurred the entire robot vacuum space,
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you know, like that was that was not a
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thing. Um, and now pretty much every
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every home cleaning company makes a some
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sort of robotic vacuum. So they I think
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they had big impact despite despite not
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having a strong business model
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apparently.
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>> And then you had one that turns out to
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be quite political. The mRNA vaccine was
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one of your
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>> So that was in 2020 that was one of your
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hall of fame selections. So that's kind
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of interesting. And I don't know if you
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know but that was developed here at
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Penn. So we're quite proud of that.
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>> Yeah. We've there's a really strong
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history in best inventions of um the
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biggest medical innovations of the year
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um and featuring a lot of those. The
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first year in 2000 we had some um really
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interesting medical innovations
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including uh something that um stops
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tremors. It's the it was the first
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implant uh that they would implant to
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stop tremors in people with Parkinson's.
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And actually just this year we featured
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a new version of that same product that
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has now been improved upon for 25 years.
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Um so it's come come full circle.
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>> Interesting. And let me ask you this
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Emma because there is discussion of you
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know the return of manufacturing let's
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say in this country. So I'm I'm just
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curious are there are there examples on
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the list of uh innovations in that space
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in sort of the B2B space where you know
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different ways to or different products
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let's say that are more enterprisebased.
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What are some of the the standouts in
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that space?
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>> Yeah certainly. I mean,
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>> in terms of American manufacturing, we
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always have John Deere stuff on here,
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and they're a really big American
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manufacturer, and so I think they really
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speak to that story. They've been really
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pushing um the innovation in the
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agriculture space. Last year, they had a
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um fully electric and connected tractor,
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which was really interesting. Um and
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really, you know, pushing that that
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boundary. Cool. [laughter]
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>> Yeah,
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>> a connected tractor. I'm just I'm
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wondering what that means.
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>> Stats. You have to track your stats. I I
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can only you know it it does things like
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connects to the cloud so that you can
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monitor your
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>> your uh tractoring
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>> your tractoring your agricultural needs.
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[laughter]
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>> Yeah,
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>> that's interesting. That's interesting
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because it's sort of like that's really
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interesting, right? taking the the
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science and all of the all of the
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potential elements of the ecosystem that
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would allow you to optimize your farming
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and your agriculture and bringing that
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data into this product to be able to
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react in different ways that will be
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able to optimize your crops or or
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whatever. Is that kind of the idea?
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>> Yeah, absolutely. Yep. And they're one
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of very few companies I would say that
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is still doing most of their manu all of
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their manufacturing I believe in the in
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the US. Um which is really interesting.
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Um so they always come rise to the top.
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There's a lot of action in the sort of
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fulfillment center space where it's you
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know either robots robotics that can you
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know pack or or deliver items more more
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smoothly. Um we've featured some of
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these humanoid robots that Amazon is
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triing in their warehouses. So a lot of
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warehouse um technologies whether that's
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um yeah fulfillment delivery or just uh
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specific you know kind of sorting tools
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things like that that use AI and
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robotics.
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>> So if we look at some of the ones on
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this year's also it looks like on the
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cover you featured the figure AI's
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figure 03. What exactly is that?
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>> Yes, it is a humanoid robot. Um
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>> Oh, dear.
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>> It is a humanoid robot. And actually,
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it's the second year in a row we've had
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a a humanoid robot on the cover. Uh last
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year we had um a different robot that
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was doing more factory work. Um that was
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doing things like what you see in Amazon
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where it's, you know, sorting packages,
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doing that kind of stuff in a
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fulfillment center. Um there have been a
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few companies that have have branched
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into that and Figure is one of them.
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It's actually working in a BMW factory
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um right now. Um I forget if it's West
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Virginia or Virginia somewhere out east.
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Um and actually working on the floor,
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you know, 10 hours a day assembling
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cars. Um and that's sort of in a trial
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period. So that's sort of been done. But
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what made us really interested in Figure
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and the Figure 3 specifically is that
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Figure is one of the first companies
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that's targeting the home for humanoid
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robots. Um. Mhm.
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>> Yeah. [laughter]
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We all shudder.
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>> I'm excited. Actually, I'm not sure what
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[laughter] he's going to do, but I want
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him to do it.
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>> Yeah. I don't know. I I've seen this
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movie.
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>> Well, you know, see the CEO, um, Brett
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Edcock has he talks about this. He has
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several of the robots in his home.
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They're they're there with his young
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kids and they're doing laundry and
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washing dishes.
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>> Doing laundry, cleaning the floors.
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That's what I want. Oh, man. I know.
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Very interesting. So, we've we found
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that really interesting and it that
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poses a threat to a whole new area of
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job replacement, which is domestic work.
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>> Um, and you know, that that has pros and
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cons. It could take a huge burden off of
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parents and and
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>> you know, anyone with a home, I guess,
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but largely women who do home work at
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home. And then, uh, but then it could
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also, you know, take away jobs from
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people like housekeepers and nannies and
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things like that. So, um, just huge
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implications there and and they just
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introduced that new robot this fall.
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>> Jeez, that's so interesting.
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>> And just to sort of just to sort of make
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sure I understand this, Emma,
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>> help me understand that. So, humanoid
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just means that it's moving more and
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more to the the technology and the robot
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itself is moving more and more to uh
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essentially replicating humanlike
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movements, things like that. Is that
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what humanoid actually means? It's sort
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of like you're almost going to get to a
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point where you don't recognize the
00:18:10
difference.
00:18:11
>> I don't know if that's the goal. Um
00:18:13
>> I I saw Bladeunner. I watched this
00:18:15
movie. It's one of my favorite movies
00:18:17
and the replicants. I mean, I tell you,
00:18:18
you know, they had to come up with a
00:18:20
test to figure out, you know, do they
00:18:21
have an emotional response or not. And
00:18:23
so,
00:18:24
>> no,
00:18:24
>> I'm getting nervous. Emma,
00:18:26
>> I don't know if the total human
00:18:28
replication is um is the goal, but
00:18:31
essentially a humanoid is just it has a
00:18:33
human form. It has arms. It's bipeedal.
00:18:35
it has a head. Um, and uh, you know, I'm
00:18:40
also kind of interested in in why
00:18:43
companies go for that. I think it's
00:18:45
probably especially in the home. Um, our
00:18:49
homes are so set up for a human body.
00:18:52
You know, the cabinets are up high where
00:18:53
you reach the fridge opens this way. And
00:18:56
so I think you kind of need that that
00:19:00
>> way of movement in order to navigate a
00:19:02
home.
00:19:02
>> Interesting. Interesting. the but if you
00:19:05
if you look at the figure three I mean
00:19:07
its face is just a black
00:19:10
>> oh dear [laughter]
00:19:12
>> the black pad in the sink
00:19:14
>> this is not instilling confidence
00:19:15
>> it's just a black screen it's a black
00:19:17
screen
00:19:18
>> this is the screen
00:19:19
>> and it is eerie um
00:19:22
>> but uh yeah they're definitely not
00:19:23
trying to make it actually look like a
00:19:25
human yet so
00:19:26
>> interesting that's interesting the
00:19:28
reason I'm asking because I was recently
00:19:30
Emma in a uh and you can tell me if this
00:19:32
is on a list at
00:19:34
but a driverless car called Whimo.
00:19:36
>> And it was odd to me that the steering
00:19:38
wheel in the seat in the front was still
00:19:41
intact because there's no one sitting
00:19:43
there, but yet the the steering wheel is
00:19:45
turning. And we were sort of saying
00:19:47
like, you know, you don't have to have
00:19:48
that space there. There doesn't need to
00:19:50
be a steering wheel. Uh and one of my
00:19:52
colleagues was like, actually, you do
00:19:54
because you want to create familiarity
00:19:56
and you want to create a sense of more
00:19:59
of a sense of safety, let's say. Yes.
00:20:01
because it's something you're used to.
00:20:02
And maybe that's the same idea here,
00:20:04
which is a humanoid, you know, or a
00:20:07
designed that looks like a humanoid is,
00:20:10
you know, you're almost hardwired to
00:20:12
kind of accept it more because of how it
00:20:15
moves and because of you because maybe
00:20:17
you have this connection with, you know,
00:20:19
humanness.
00:20:19
>> Yeah. But in a way, Mo, there's no
00:20:21
person sitting there that
00:20:22
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, but but and that's
00:20:23
the thing. It's sort of like that's the
00:20:25
thing that freaks you out. But, you
00:20:27
know, this interesting kind of idea of
00:20:29
like, you know, maybe it's some comfort
00:20:32
to see the the steering wheel turning
00:20:34
and I don't know.
00:20:35
>> I think so.
00:20:36
>> Maybe it's a poltergeist thing. I don't
00:20:37
know. But if you had knowing that if you
00:20:40
had to jump into the front seat and
00:20:42
steer, you could.
00:20:44
>> Yeah. That's what that's the part of it.
00:20:46
That's good. Yeah.
00:20:47
>> Yeah. Yeah.
00:20:48
>> Not the part with nobody turning it and
00:20:50
it's just moving. That's not That's not
00:20:52
>> No, I think there is an element to that.
00:20:54
The familiarity, the comfort of wanting
00:20:58
to speak, you know, especially if it's
00:21:00
going to be voice commanded, wanting to
00:21:01
be able to speak to something that looks
00:21:04
familiar to you and isn't too foreign.
00:21:07
That said, we're already totally
00:21:08
accustomed to speaking to smart
00:21:10
speakers. So,
00:21:11
>> fair.
00:21:12
>> I don't know if people really care about
00:21:14
that, but I I'm sure a lot of um
00:21:16
research has gone into this um in terms
00:21:19
of what people want to talk to. Um,
00:21:21
>> does the is the driverless car
00:21:23
technology making the list or is that
00:21:24
sort of old hat by now?
00:21:26
>> No. No. So, Whimo had a huge year this
00:21:29
year. They were on the cover of our time
00:21:30
100 most influential companies. Uh,
00:21:32
their two co-CEOs
00:21:34
um were on with their they expanded into
00:21:37
I don't have the exact number because
00:21:38
they're announcing new cities every day,
00:21:40
but um
00:21:42
>> one
00:21:42
>> tons of cities. They they just announced
00:21:45
that they're launching in London, which
00:21:46
is a huge launch for them. They they did
00:21:49
LA last year, which was their biggest
00:21:51
city yet.
00:21:52
>> And I know they're testing in New York,
00:21:53
which is a little bit scary.
00:21:56
>> They're testing in New York, but that is
00:21:58
where the driver's seat comes in. When
00:22:00
they test, they're mapping the city, but
00:22:02
they have a driver sitting behind the
00:22:04
wheel just
00:22:05
>> as as protection. I see. Um I see. So
00:22:08
that only gets removed when they get
00:22:10
clearance to actually operate
00:22:12
driverless.
00:22:13
>> Gotcha. Gotcha. And my understanding
00:22:15
there is that all of Tell me if this is
00:22:17
uh incorrect, Emma, that all of the cars
00:22:20
are Jaguars. Is this true? Currently, I
00:22:22
believe that's the case. Okay.
00:22:23
>> Currently, they are, which is a huge um
00:22:27
the biggest barrier to Whimo is
00:22:29
profitability. They are bleeding money
00:22:32
and that's the reason they're doing very
00:22:34
well, but their cars are super
00:22:36
expensive. They have incredible safety
00:22:40
statistics, but part of that is because
00:22:41
they have so many sensors on every car,
00:22:44
which is great,
00:22:45
>> but also so expensive.
00:22:48
>> Yeah. Like that's what I heard like in
00:22:49
some of those cities where they're
00:22:50
running, they're not cheaper than taxis
00:22:52
or anything. They may
00:22:54
>> they're not, but um I think you know I
00:22:57
was in San Francisco
00:22:59
um earlier this year and they seem to be
00:23:01
you know not drastically different from
00:23:03
an Uber in pricewise. Um, but I'm
00:23:07
curious, what did you think of your your
00:23:08
first Whimo ride?
00:23:10
>> You know, I had a bunch of colleagues
00:23:12
with me, Emma, and we were all a little
00:23:14
freaked out, but uh, it was kind of
00:23:16
cool. And we were sort of thinking back
00:23:18
to that first Uber ride.
00:23:19
>> How many people were in the car?
00:23:20
>> Uh, let's see. One, two, three, four of
00:23:23
us.
00:23:23
>> Wow. So,
00:23:24
>> someone was in the front seat.
00:23:25
>> Someone was in the front seat and there
00:23:26
were three of us in the back. And, uh,
00:23:28
>> Wow.
00:23:29
>> Yeah. I and I was recalling, Emma, to
00:23:31
your point, the very first time I got
00:23:32
into an Uber, uh, with some students in
00:23:35
San Francisco that they dialed this
00:23:37
thing up and the car pulls up. Yeah.
00:23:38
>> And they're like, "Come on, professor.
00:23:39
Let's go to the bar." And I'm like, "No
00:23:41
way, man. I'm not getting in that car
00:23:43
with a stranger that just pulled up."
00:23:45
And now it's like completely ubiquitous.
00:23:47
So, to your point, Emma, you know, for
00:23:50
Whimo driverless cars, that kind of
00:23:52
thing, the more it scales up, that's the
00:23:54
profitability question as well, but also
00:23:56
just this the familiarity and the trust
00:23:58
issue. widely speaking across consumers.
00:24:00
>> Well, they've done something really
00:24:02
interesting which is this sort of the
00:24:04
opposite what of other Silicon Valley
00:24:06
companies which is this very slow roll
00:24:08
out. They've been operating for years
00:24:11
and years and um you know a lot of them
00:24:15
start Phoenix is sort of their um their
00:24:18
trial area. That's where I saw them in
00:24:19
Phoenix.
00:24:20
>> Yeah, that's sort of their trial area.
00:24:21
They always launch new stuff in Phoenix.
00:24:23
Try it out.
00:24:24
>> Nothing happens in Phoenix.
00:24:26
>> It's [laughter] fine.
00:24:27
>> Nice and safe. just a little hot but uh
00:24:30
>> um yeah and then they you know they
00:24:33
expand it to different cities slowly one
00:24:36
by one and sort of gain this corporate
00:24:38
trust and um something that we found in
00:24:42
our reporting for that cover story was
00:24:44
that they're largely being very you know
00:24:49
welcomed by the local communities with
00:24:50
open arms which is not something that
00:24:52
we've seen with a lot of other
00:24:54
technologies usually there's an initial
00:24:55
kind of push back to something that
00:24:58
Um and um
00:25:01
>> yeah, people are really I most locals in
00:25:04
cities where they have this like it
00:25:06
which is was surprising to us.
00:25:08
>> So let me look I'm looking over the list
00:25:10
this year and I see one of my favorite
00:25:12
things which is the Aura Ring.
00:25:14
>> Oh dear. And you have here the Aura Ring
00:25:17
4. So is that a specific model of the
00:25:20
Aura Ring that
00:25:21
>> and before you answer that Emma I have
00:25:22
to give you some uh information on
00:25:24
Barbara. Uh, she I think she usually
00:25:27
wears about four wearables. Is that
00:25:28
correct, Barbara?
00:25:29
>> It's my [laughter] favorite.
00:25:30
>> Wow.
00:25:31
>> But I like I do like um my others. You
00:25:35
have an Aura Ring now?
00:25:36
>> I do. I have my watch. I have my Fitbit.
00:25:39
Yeah.
00:25:39
>> Nice. Aura Aura is really taking off.
00:25:41
Tell us about it, Emma.
00:25:42
>> But why is it Aura Ring for? Is it
00:25:44
something?
00:25:44
>> That's just the That's just the newest
00:25:46
one. They've added some sensors. They
00:25:48
track new biometrics. So, they've really
00:25:50
just expanded the offering of that. Um
00:25:53
but that is that particular recognition
00:25:55
is a little bit of a lifetime
00:25:57
achievement. Aura is kind of amazing.
00:26:00
They came out of nowhere with a single
00:26:02
product. Um and they have totally
00:26:07
revolutionized the the um wearable space
00:26:11
to the point that you know major
00:26:14
companies like Apple and um other
00:26:16
wearable makers are filing you know
00:26:18
patents. There's always rumor that
00:26:20
they're going to do a ring and filing
00:26:22
patents that are sort of seen as um
00:26:25
trying to replicate what Aura has built,
00:26:27
which is really amazing for a company
00:26:29
that does one specific thing and is not
00:26:32
Silicon Valley based.
00:26:34
>> Yeah. And I love that point to sorry to
00:26:36
interrupt Barbara, but just really
00:26:37
quickly the big one of the big issues
00:26:39
that they solved was the real estate
00:26:42
problem. Yes. Right. In the sense of,
00:26:44
you know, you only have two wrists and
00:26:46
you know, where are you going to put
00:26:47
this thing? You could go all the way up
00:26:49
your arm.
00:26:49
>> Yeah. But but yeah, but I mean the idea
00:26:51
that Well, two things to your point,
00:26:53
Barbara. Two things. One is what us
00:26:56
normal people, we're not [laughter]
00:26:58
we're not going to necessarily do that,
00:26:59
but but perhaps. But and then the other
00:27:01
idea of a modality, Emma, that pulls in
00:27:04
potentially the fashion piece,
00:27:07
>> I think is really really interesting as
00:27:09
well. You know what I mean? So in some
00:27:10
sense that innovation fashion plus
00:27:13
solving a little bit of the real estate
00:27:15
problem and then providing because my my
00:27:17
whole thing was like can you get the
00:27:18
same kind of quality of metrics if the
00:27:22
thing is on your finger and the answer
00:27:23
apparently is yes. Yeah. Really good. In
00:27:26
fact they're better in some sense
00:27:27
because you know like when you go to the
00:27:29
doctor this is where they get your blood
00:27:31
you know your pulse and things like
00:27:33
that. That's actually quite We don't
00:27:35
have that much time left, but there's
00:27:36
just one more product on this I wanted
00:27:38
to ask you about just cuz it's so weird
00:27:40
to me. You have a whole milk formula on
00:27:44
on this.
00:27:45
>> Yes. Okay. So, this is I don't know if
00:27:48
you either of you guys have kids. Um I
00:27:50
do.
00:27:51
>> This is a space that is a little more
00:27:55
US-specific. A lot of these products are
00:27:58
global. Um this product specifically is
00:28:02
um you know uh Europe and most of the
00:28:05
rest of the world has a lot stricter uh
00:28:07
regulations on what is in infant
00:28:09
formula. Um and this has become a big
00:28:13
sort of battleground issue in the US of
00:28:16
what's in infant formula how is it based
00:28:18
is it actually what's best for infants.
00:28:21
Um, and largely it's seen that that
00:28:24
whole milk is superior to uh skim milk
00:28:28
or lower fat milks for for babies. Um,
00:28:31
in terms of brain development and other
00:28:33
things, a lot of the US formulas are
00:28:35
skimm milk based. I assume because
00:28:38
they're cheaper, but I actually don't
00:28:39
totally know why. Um, and a lot of them
00:28:42
will have additives. Some of them have
00:28:44
high fructose corn syrup. They have
00:28:46
actual like sugar in them. So, there's
00:28:49
been this sort of blowback. And I don't
00:28:50
know if this is a little bit of the sort
00:28:52
of wellness beat uh a little bit of the
00:28:56
maha movement happening here, but
00:28:58
there's been this real blowback against
00:29:01
additives in food in general. And so a
00:29:03
lot of attention has been drawn to what
00:29:05
is in baby formula in the US. And um so
00:29:09
a a couple of these startups have have
00:29:12
launched these um formulas available in
00:29:15
the US that meet the European standards.
00:29:18
And this is uh one of the only formulas
00:29:21
that is available in the US that is only
00:29:24
uh based on whole milk which I we
00:29:25
thought was pretty interesting.
00:29:27
>> What an innovation. [laughter]
00:29:28
>> Interesting.
00:29:29
>> Yeah. Simple but effective.
00:29:32
>> Yeah. I mean I bet each one of these has
00:29:35
an incredible story, but unfortunately
00:29:37
we're out of time. Um Emma, thank you so
00:29:40
much for joining us today and bringing
00:29:41
us this interesting list of innovations.
00:29:44
And where can our listeners go to find
00:29:46
the entire list and all the stories and
00:29:48
find out more about this process?
00:29:50
>> So the whole list is on
00:29:51
time.com/bestinventions.
00:29:54
It's also we have a special issue that's
00:29:56
on newsstands right now that has all the
00:29:58
the uh issue u all of the inventions in
00:30:01
it. Um it just says time best inventions
00:30:04
so you'll know it when you see it. Um
00:30:06
and it's uh all across the world so uh
00:30:09
yeah you can find it anywhere there's a
00:30:11
news stand.
00:30:12
>> Wow that's so cool. Thank you so much
00:30:14
for being with us. Yeah.
00:30:16
>> And thank you all for listening today.
00:30:18
We'll be back next week. Till then, this
00:30:19
has been Marketing Matters on the
00:30:21
Wharton podcast network. I'm Barbara
00:30:23
Khan here with America's Reed.
