Affinnova

Affinnova, established in 2000, operated as a marketing technology company, providing a platform engineered to enhance innovation processes and marketing success for its clients. The company was founded by Noubar Afeyan and Kamal Malek, two PhDs from MIT with backgrounds in biology and mechanical engineering, respectively. Their shared interest in artificial life and product design, inspired by the 1999 Kasparov versus the World chess match, led to the development of Affinnova's core technology. The founders aimed to apply the concept of a collective mind to product design, allowing consumers to guide the development process. Kamal Malek had previously spent 12 years at the MIT Industrial Performance Center, focusing on new product development in various sectors.

The firm's business was centered on a proprietary software platform that utilized optimization algorithms, predictive analytics, and evolutionary computation to test and identify high-potential product concepts, advertising, and designs. This technology enabled marketers to explore a vast range of creative ideas and determine which would perform best in the market before launch. The process involved an 'Optimizer' that used evolutionary algorithms to refine ideas based on direct consumer feedback and a 'Benchmarker' that compared these top concepts against in-market competitors using discrete choice modeling. Affinnova's services were aimed at both large and mid-sized enterprises, counting Fortune 500 companies like Procter & Gamble, Nestlé, and Bank of America among its clients. The company's revenue was generated by providing these software and service solutions to verticals including Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), financial services, retail, and life sciences.

One of its specific offerings was 'Price Advantage,' a tool that helped companies like Sbarro optimize menu pricing by simulating guest reactions to thousands of price variations across numerous menu items. This allowed for a holistic review of pricing strategy based on forward-looking data rather than just historical sales information. A significant milestone for the company was its acquisition by Nielsen in October 2014, for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, the Affinnova team and its technology were integrated into Nielsen's Innovation Practice, complementing Nielsen's existing BASES new product expertise and adding digital capabilities to their offerings.

Keywords: marketing technology, concept testing, predictive analytics, consumer insights, product design optimization, evolutionary algorithms, innovation management, pricing strategy, CPG marketing, market research