Given the cost of product development today – design, development, tooling, initial production, shipping, support materials, sales and admin expense and the potential cost for taking and liquidating returns on failed products – how can you afford not to spend $1000 to prevent a product failure? Market research is cheap insurance and it’s the only insurance that you want to see a return on!
How does your company set its prices? Cost plus? Price to market? Some combination thereof? We are often asked to conduct research to find the right price. Sometimes price is the sole challenge and sometimes price is part of the larger puzzle. Regardless of context, getting to the right price can make or break a product’s success.
By now, with 10 keys to successful product development shared, we hope you have thoroughly explored all the various frameworks through which you can understand your consumers. Now it’s time to start linking consumers to products. By that we mean linking consumers’ visual preferences to the products they purchase. We started in this direction in an earlier blog on Design Segmentation. This entry takes it a step further with Color Segmentation.
You’ve done your homework and have a good understanding of the demographics of your consumers via consumer profile studies. Perhaps you’ve also studied your category and have working knowledge of your competitors’ demographics as well. The factors that describe your competitors’ customers might also fit yours. You may well be servicing the same consumer. Yet some of those consumers are buying your products and some are buying your competitors’ products. There is still something different about them. Psychographi
In our blog #7 we talked about the importance of understanding your current customer. We referred to Consumer Profile Studies as the best mechanism to identify the motivations, demographics and psychographics of your current franchise. Having this information is a critical step to improved understanding of your business -- leading to better informed decisions.
Some people wander around in stores, see something they like and buy it. Most plan their purchases with specific needs in mind. Most purhcases arise from life events that bring new or changing needs. 16% of consumers reporting buying Cookware because they bought their first home or got married. 34% reported buying Cookware because they redecorated their kitchen.
Do your product presentations to retailers present your partners with exclusive product opportunities? Are you able to say “We developed and tested this product for your customers Mr. Retailer. Here’s the research that shows your customers want this product in your stores.”
Do You Know Where Game Changing Unique Product Ideas Come From?
How do some companies introduce amazing, game changing products every year? What do they know that everyone else doesn’t know? They know how to create products that fill unmet needs, which solve unsolved problems. They are the first to introduce solutions to problems everyone has but no one recognized before. That’s why they are industry leaders.
