New Products in Global Marketing¶
In global marketing, introducing new products involves creating and launching goods or services that cater to consumers across different international markets. This process requires understanding diverse consumer needs, cultural nuances, and regulatory environments. Companies aim to innovate and adapt their offerings to appeal globally while also meeting local preferences and standards. Success in this endeavor means balancing standardization for efficiency with customization for local relevance, ensuring the product resonates with consumers worldwide.
Basic Methods of Product Development¶
Product development is a crucial aspect of bringing new products or services to the market. It involves a blend of creativity and systematic planning. The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and the Product Development Institute (PDI) provide guidelines for deciding on the most effective method for product development. Here, we'll explore three basic methods of product development.
Fuzzy Front End (FFE) Method¶
The Fuzzy Front End method outlines a flexible approach to product development, where the sequence of steps is determined based on the product type. The five steps are:
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Identifying the Design Criteria: Brainstorming sessions are conducted to float various product or service ideas, aiming to select a promising one for further development.
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Analyzing the Idea: This involves a thorough analysis of the selected product idea, evaluating its business feasibility and market relevance through studies and research.
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Concept Generation: The selected idea is further refined into a concrete concept, ready for prototyping.
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Prototyping: Rapid prototypes are developed to represent the product concept, serving as preliminary versions for testing.
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Product Development: This final step ensures the product concept is fully developed into a viable business offering.
Design Thinking Method¶
Design thinking focuses on fostering creativity and collaboration through a structured sequence of steps:
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Empathizing: Understanding the problem from various perspectives to gain deep insights.
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Defining: Clearly outlining the problem's characteristics and scope.
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Generating Idea: Brainstorming potential solutions to address the defined problem.
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Prototyping: Creating prototypes to explore the feasibility of the solutions.
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Testing: Seeking feedback on the prototypes to refine the solution.
Development Method for Manufactured Goods¶
This method is more detailed and is specifically tailored for manufactured goods, consisting of eight steps:
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Generating Idea: Continuously searching for new product opportunities and improvements.
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Screening Idea: Filtering out infeasible or impractical ideas through creative thinking.
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Developing and Testing Concept: Gathering customer feedback on the product concept for further refinement.
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Business Analysis/Marketing Strategy: Building a strategy based on the four P's: product, price, placement, and promotion.
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Feasibility Study/Analysis: Analyzing critical success factors through prototype testing and evaluating feedback for product viability.
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Product Development/Product Technical Design: Finalizing the product design based on feasibility study feedback, addressing any shortcomings.
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Market Testing or Test Marketing: Demonstrating the complete product concept, including marketing and distribution strategies.
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Commercialization/Market Entry: Launching the final product to the target market, utilizing insights gained through the development process.
Product development varies by the nature of the product and the management approach. Some organizations have dedicated research and development teams, while smaller ones might rely on marketing agencies for new product development.
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