Boiling Point

US BusinessWeek profiles “white-hot” New York-based company Fahrenheit 212’s fresh take on innovation for global consumer product companies. Named after the point at which water boils (“when one degree of difference can make all the difference”), Fahrenheit 212 was spawned by global ideas company Saatchi & Saatchi, with F212 CEO Geoff Vuleta and President Mark Payne leading a recent management buyout. Vuleta, former MD of SaatchiNZ, created F212 in Auckland before establishing the company in New York. Fahrenheit’s goal is to create new products from existing assets that will earn sizeable revenue from untapped markets. The hybrid management consultancy, agency and design house dives head-first into its clients’ product opportunities and gaps to research, prototype and bring to ready-to-go solutions to market. Fahrenheit 212’s clients include spirits giant Diageo (for whom it developed the Smirnoff Raw Tea range), Samsung, P&G, Hershey, UBS and NBC Universal. Says NBC’s Beth Comstock, “We need people who can take us to where we can’t see yet.”