Marc, good points you make and I agree with Michael that Margaret's "thesis" is pretty weak as far as the use of a single item to make a point. However, it does raise a good question about the importance of price and its relevance to innovation. I think we all were witness to the over indulgence of innovation in the late 1990's with regard to the Internet start-ups. People without degrees and little experience were shooting the moon and coming up with all kinds of online services that lacked a fundamental part of successful business - does it sell? I would agree with you that innovation has to be in line with what your consumers are willing to buy and how much they are willing to pay.

In terms of the growing green market, I think we must keep this lesson in mind as we move down the path toward sustainability. People are not going to go green overnight and there is certainly a price constraint that must be considered, especially in a down economy. Recent studies have shown that people are willing to pay more for green products but I think much of that has to do more with what a product *doesn't* do versus what it *does* do - i.e. products that are less harmful to your health, products sold with less packaging, products that aren't made in sweat shops, products that use less resources to produce. So, this example of a diaper with all the wing dings was probably not the best for me to use to pose my question.

With respect to what you said, I look forward to watching how innovation continues to deliver more green products to the market at the right price points and with increasing levels of performance for the most value.

Brad Peirce
Naturalinks Communications