Product & Product Development
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In the case of most successful businesses,
product development is an ongoing, major
marketing activity.
For example, in the 1940s, J. -Armand
Bombardier started a company to
manufacture his invention: tracked vehicles
for transportation on snow-covered terrain.
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Bombardier Inc., as the company is now
called, used its expertise and innovative ideas
to develop and manufacture tractors, allterrain vehicles, rail cars, subway cars,
watercraft, jet airplanes, and, of course,
snowmobiles.
A feasibility study, which is a study to
determine if any business opportunity is
possible, practical, and viable.
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Inventions are new devices, methods, or
processes developed from study and
experimentation. Businesses use inventions
to create original solutions to meet consumer
needs.
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An innovation is a product or service that
uses new technology, items, or processes to
change existing products, to change the
methods used to produce products, or to
change the ways used to distribute them.
There are many more innovators than there
are inventors. Innovators conceive of ways to
improve on existing products, processes, or
distribution methods.
There are several stages a marketer must go
through to bring a new product to market.
(p.175)
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1.Idea generation. A company's marketing
research reveals that consumers want either a
new product or an existing product modified
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Companies need to test both consumer
reaction to the new idea and the competitive
situation in the market.
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...the making of a prototype - is a sample of
what the product might look like and how it
might operate. The prototype is tested to
establish whether it works.
It is also market-tested to determine if
consumers like it.
7. Test marketing
8. Market entry
At this stage, the product enters
the product life cycle
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Product development provides new or different value to a
product or service.
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Utility refers to what is added to a product to make it
valuable on the market.
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Utility affects the value equation by providing consumers
with something they did not have before. This could be a
benefit (easy-to-open can), a difference (lemon-flavoured
cola), or simply information as to the product's uses.
There are five types of utility: form, information, place,
time, and possession.
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Form utility is the relationship between a
product or service's form and its function.
Form refers to the product's "look" or the type
of service provided.
Function is what the product or service is
intended to do. Designers make pens that
write, glasses that hold liquid, clothes that fit,
and cars that move.
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Form utility can also be affected by
innovations in production materials and
technologies.
New processes for moulding plastics
revolutionized the toy industry. New
manufacturing technology led to the
cereal industry's ability to make cereals
in interesting shapes, like Lucky
Charms and Alpha-Bits.
An entirely new way of making potato
chips Ied to the development of
Pringles.
Form utility takes into consideration the material used in
making a product, and the product's scent, flavour, color,
design, and packaging.
MATERIAL: New technology provides new
materials that can be used in product
innovations.
New, lighter metals can be used to make
faster planes and more economical cars.
New plastics are more environmentally
friendly. New textile blends become the
latest fashion in clothing.
Scent
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The entire perfume industry is built on the innovations in scents
developed by perfumers.
The new trend in aromatherapy, which encourages consumers to
create a different mood using scents, has led to new ventures in the
creation, manufacturing, importing, and sales of scented candles
and candle accessories, oils, burners, potpourri, and other methods
for creating pleasant aromas.
Scent innovations have affected the development of detergents,
fabric softeners, soap, baby oils, hand lotions, mosquito repellants,
shampoos, floor cleaners, and many other products.
A change in scent may even be a product's only innovation.
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Flavourists are scientists who use new
technology to create artificial flavours that
simulate the original.
Because of the work of flavourists, marketers
have developed almond flavoured coffee,
strawberry-flavoured milk, jalapeno flavoured
potato chips, and hickory smoke-flavoured
ketchup.
Today's consumers demand colour, and manufacturers
respond by developing products in a multitude of
colours.
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Home furnishings, such as linens, towels, carpets,
and furniture, add form utility with wide colour
choices, enabling consumers to add style to their
homes.
In fact, many consumers are influenced by the latest
colour trends and preferences when it comes to
purchasing clothing, appliances, computers, or cars.
A product's design is perhaps the most
important part of its form utility. Often, a
badly designed product will have little or no
utility.
Think of a toaster that doesn't toast, or a pair
of basketball shoes that fall apart after one
game.
Design (con’t)
..consumers are demanding more ergonomic
products, which are products that engineers
design for maximum comfort, efficiency,
safety, and ease of use.
Large-handled kitchen utensils, easy-open
packages, a computer mouse shaped to fit
the hand, and office chairs that support the
back are all examples of ergonomic products.
An innovative package can create a
whole industry. The development of
the aseptic beverage carton
packaging by Swedish inventors
Ruben Rausing and Erik Wallenberg
established AB Tetra Pak in Lund,
Sweden, in 1944.
Thirty years later, innovative Canadians
were using Tetra Paks to package
juice and milk. Now, consumers can
purchase many products in Tetra-Pak
form, from beverages to sauces to
whipped topping.
The twist-off cap, the reseal able bag,
the plastic bottle-all were package
innovations that added form utility to
thousands of products.
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Information utility provides consumers with
instructions, directions, and user manuals.
Service representatives, Internet hotlines, and
dial-up consulting are information utilities
that, in a complex, high-tech world, add a
great deal of value to a product.
Advertising delivers
information utility.
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Many consumers read
advertisements to determine what
products are available, where, and
at what price. Consumers with
information receive more value
from their purchases.
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Marketers add place utility to a product when
they make it possible for the consumer to
purchase the product. The easier the product
is to find, the more place utility it has.