Product Development

LEARNING GOALS
• By the end of today’s period, you will be able
to:
– Understand the steps of the buying process
– Understand how new products fit existing topics
such as value equation, target market, product life
cycle
– Understand the role design and prototypes have
on the release of new products
 Product Development
• Stages of Product Development

• Marketers use innovations and inventions to make

profit. Sometimes the marketer and inventor are the
same person, but not often. Inventors usually sell or
license ideas to others.
 Product Development
• Stages of Product Development
• Innovators are usually marketers because their
motivation for product improvement is profit—a
better product leads to a competitive advantage.
Stages of Product Development
 Stages of Product Development
1. Idea Generation

• Entrepreneur may observe a market opportunity

• Market research reveals consumers want a new or
modified product.
• Marketers may ask “how can we improve our
product to improve sales?”
 Stages of Product Development
2. Idea screening

• Not all ideas are good

• Marketers need to see consumer reaction to the new
idea, and look at competition.
• Market Research, Focus Groups, Interviews
– Various forms of Primary Research
 Stages of Product Development
3. Concept development

• If it’s a good idea, a prototype of the product is made

– a sample of what the product will look like and how it
operate
– Does it work?
– Do consumers like it?
– How much will it cost?
Stages of Product Development
 Stages of Product Development
4. Market strategy

• Using market research, to establish a target market

• Develop a marketing strategy (4 P’s)
 Stages of Product Development
5. Feasibility study

• Can the product be made and sold such that it is

affordable for the consumer and profitable for the
company?
 Stages of Product Development
6. Product design

• Take into account preferences of the target market

• This includes features such as:
– Warranty
– instruction manual
– Packaging
– service information.
Stages of Product Development
 Stages of Product Development
7. Test marketing

• Get the product into the hands of people who fit

your target market. Have them use it, for a period of
time, complete survey to make suggestions.
 Stages of Product Development
8. Market entry

• Start of product life cycle, product is introduced to

the market.
 Product Development
• You are going to look for new products for 2012
– Use google, hotproductnews.com
– http://www.bestnewproductawards.ca/
– http://www.inventionconnection.com/whatsnew.html
– Search your own if you wish!

• Open the assignment entitled “New Products

Assignment”
• You will choose 3 new products to write about
– All must be a different product category ie.
computers, smart phones, cars, etc.