New product development: product & innovation design
In the face of increasing competition, the development of a new product becomes a necessity that ensures the continued existence of the company, maintaining acceptable profitability, market share and competitiveness. And a lot depends on how the new product is created and by whom. In this article, we will analyze how to most effectively approach this issue and how to maximize the chances of success of a new product & innovation on the market.
How to start new product development
The "preparatory" stage begins a few months before the discussion of ideas. You organize a "semantic" collection of information for a new product, starting from the consumer and ending with your own sales staff: you must cover all stages of the passage of your product or service — from production to consumption. According to certain algorithms, the information collected over several months is analyzed and processed in the form of draft market insights.
At the same time, an external market audit is carried out for the category of goods or services in which the new product will be developed. It is necessary to create work maps for the target audience, competitors, their brands and products. Analysis of distribution and merchandising data is also important.
All this information will later help you to develop nuances on the characteristics of the future product, its packaging, promotion, as well as in the process of "acceptance" of the product by your company's employees and your trading partners; the importance of this aspect cannot be underestimated.
Creating a portrait of the target audience in the development of a new product & innovation
If you create a new product — it must be created for a specific group of consumers. The focus of the new product's orientation on the interests and needs of your future customers depends on the detailed study of the portrait of the target audience. In the future, of course, you can use mass communications to manipulate the perception of a product or service, but without the underlying reasons for trusting the product, all your resources will be wasted. Although the mass buyer is becoming more superficial, it is still not worth betting on the quack tricks of modern pseudo-marketers, aimed at selling goods at any price, and not at creating a product that you want to consume again and again.
What consumer problems will the new product solve?
At this stage, you actually go to the beginning of development. Here you need to answer the question of how your product will differ from others, what problems of consumers in the product category you are interested in are not solved or are not solved effectively. Deep insight into this issue will help in the future with the formation of the distinctive characteristics of the product and its competitive advantages. As an example — I developed a new product that solves the need of gourmet consumers who are in search of unusual combinations of flavors and who love snacks...
The factor of technological capabilities when creating a new product & innovation
Here you should note 3 possible options:
- production based on own capabilities,
- use of production outsourcing,
- development of own production.
- use of production outsourcing,
- development of own production.
The criteria for selecting an option are based on the financial capabilities of the enterprises and the expected prospects. However, outsourcing of production in most cases can not provide 100% reproduction of a new product, and in this case, the lost value of the future product is in the balance against the amount of investment in the modernization of its own production.
The question is very ambiguous and at this stage, with the wrong choice, about 2/3 of new products fail when entering the market. Therefore, initially you need to decide on the MVP of the product.
Design thinking as one of the tools of product development
At this stage, based on the conclusion and analysis of previous work, you develop the functions of the product, the needs of the consumer that it solves, and describe the consumption situation... Create a positioning concept and an image of a new product or service. All this is described in the product document. The final stage is verbal and visual identification.
As in the brand, the product name is developed, the design of the packaging form and label, and in the case of developing a new service, the creation of sales tools with a visualized presentation of the service and its distinctive features from the services of competitors. I specifically touched on design thinking as one of the tools for product development — the terminology has been gaining popularity recently, but the essence itself has been used for a very long time. Take as advice, design thinking should be used, but always in conjunction with analytics and the market situation. I will give my own example — a new product for washing vegetables and fruits with natural ingredients — an idea created on the basis of the real desire of society to use eco-products and maintain health.
Who should develop a new product & innovation
I will proceed from the fact that I am read by a experiensed manager who has no illusions that his employees will create something worthwhile without real additional monetary incentives. In addition, full-time employees have their own daily duties, from which they can not be released. To give additional functions to the load is contrary to the legislation of a number of countries, and such instructions will not be carried out efficiently. And don't forget the staff's resistance to everything new — it takes people out of their comfort zone. In this situation, for effective work on creating a new product, it is appropriate to use outsourcing, and involve the staff in periodic sessions to collect information, exchange it and discuss the project. Thus, without overloading the staff and without interrupting the necessary operational work, but at the same time involving them in the creation of new ones, you contribute to the harmonious development of your company.
Start creating your new product and innovation effectively
