New Product Development

8 August 2009
Classify the product on the degree of newness dimension (Booz, Allen and Hamilton classification). Describe the product’s attributes and benefits. 2. Why do you believe the organization developed the product? Where do you see the product’s fit with the firm competencies and market opportunities?

Select a new product that was recently either unsuccessfully/successfully introduced into the marketplace on either a test market, regional, national, or international basis.
1. Classify the product on the degree of newness dimension (Booz, Allen and Hamilton classification). Describe the product’s attributes and benefits.
2. Why do you believe the organization developed the product? Where do you see the product’s fit with the firm competencies and market opportunities?
3 a. If the product chosen is a market failure, either through an interview with a company executive or through secondary sources (business-oriented publications or the Internet), or, through your own reasoning and any available outside information, summarize the key reasons for the Failure of the new product in the market. Weigh the factors in order of importance. Could the product have succeeded if mistakes had been corrected?
3 b. If the product chosen is a market success, either through an interview with a company executive or through secondary sources (business-oriented publications or the Internet), or, through your own reasoning and any available outside information, summarize the key reasons for the Success of the new product in the market. Weigh the factors in order of importance. Were any mistakes made which, if avoided, could have meant an even more successful new product?
For the individual assignment, there is an upper limit of 3 pages of text with 12 point font and standard one inch margins, a maximum of 2 extra pages for tables or graphs or other supporting material (use at least a line and 1/2 spacing) and 1 extra page for references.
Evaluation Criteria
1. Content: Thoroughness of research, accuracy of answers, application of concepts learned in class, originality of ideas, logic and persuasiveness of causal analyses
2. Organization, appearance, references
3. Communication clarity

1. Trend spotter: Select an industry. Spot a market opportunity by reading newspapers/articles and keeping your eyes open. For instance, there could be significant technological advances, different usage situations such as a growing trend among people to eat ‘food on the go’, external threat/opportunity such as the entry of Asian firms into the appliances industry, changing cultural patterns among urban youth, new user groups such as the Urban singles, or the rich retired and so on.
2. Problem-based ideation: Alternatively, you can observe people having difficulties/frustrations in performing an everyday task. For instance, spilling food on clothes while eating on the go, or difficulties in developing digital images.
3. Product Innovation Charter: Observe the fit to the competencies of your organization, and identify a likely product opportunity. Develop a Product Innovation Charter for this opportunity.
4. Concepts: Use the concept generation technique of your choice to develop variations of the basic concept with respect to different product form, features, benefits, positioning, and customer target. Write down 3 to 5 written concepts. Briefly explain the logic by which you narrowed down your 3 to 5 concept finalists, and also the concept generation technique that you used to come up with each of these concepts.
5. Testing: Each team member can interview 5 prospective customers to obtain their reactions to the 3-5 alternative concepts. Explain your research sample and procedures, and describe consumers’ overall reactions, specific likes and dislikes, confusion, and purchase intentions.
6. Evaluation: Evaluate the concepts based on the consumer reactions, firm characteristics and market opportunities, and select the winning concept.
7. Marketing Mix: Describe the general elements of the marketing mix (branding, pricing, packaging, distribution and promotion), paying special attention to the branding elements. Describe the consistency, or lack of, in the positioning with respect to all these elements.
8. Testing and Launch: Describe briefly whether you are likely to conduct product testing or test marketing, and if so, when, to whom and where? What are your launch management strategies?
9. Summary: In one paragraph, summarize why this product is likely to succeed/fail in the market place.