In using “Great to Good” in my title, I am quoting from new product development consultant Monica Wingate, of Fountainhead Brand Consulting, whose recent Evolve NPD Blog post summarizes key insights that she gained from the 2010 Market Research Summit held at University of Wisconsin, Madison’s A.C. Neilson Center for Marketing Research. I advise reading her post to learn how research methods will change in today’s challenging economy. The conference insight giving rise to Wingate’s Great to Good reference is that  “Companies will embrace the ‘new normal’ by focusing on taking out less important features and lowering the price rather than adding value and cost into products.” If this is branded consumer goods companies’ core strategy for the “new normal,” they are stepping into commoditization’s quicksand. Why do I use the word quicksand in talking about commoditization? Because that is how commoditization happens…