Category: Product Development

Introduction

Marketing mix models are defined by the 4Ps Marketing decision variables. The marketing mix models are concerned with either:

1. The individual effect of a marketing decision variable and
2. The levels of the marketing mix variables as their optimal effect on the target variable or profitability

New product development can take the form of any of these forms i.e. changes to augmented services/product, core product revision, lines extensions, new products lines, repositioning, and completely new products.

Most industry leaders see new product development as a proactive process where resources are allocated to identify market changes and seize upon new products development before they occur. In contrast to a reactive strategy in which nothing is done until problems occur or the competitor introduces an innovation.

My product is out of a reactive strategy as many people now have developed unique diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure. Due to these ailments that are more prevalent as people are enjoying innovative products that include, developed to make work easier, relaxing, and sweat-free.

The Brand

Drink while moving (DWM) is ready to drink product that is rich in nutrients and easily absorbed by the body. This refreshing and nutritious product is developed out of fruits. The DWM shall have a high calorie and less sugar content that could be best suited for diabetic persons and those lovers of fluids who need less sugar taste in their drinks.

Target market

The product DWM is mainly meant for those who enjoy taking fluids both sufferers of diabetes and preventing it. The sportspersons like taking water as they play but this fruit-rich drink DWM shall substitute water and other enough boosting drink for players and active sportsmen. However, since they will be required to take water, it shall complement and the only substitute for diabetes.

The social value of new products development could be viewed from the perspective of what the new products do in terms of brand positioning, a channel of distribution, quality, and preference by consumers, and how the societal values are held concerning products/services. According to Van Kleef, innovativeness is unlikely without skilled leaders to guide the teams which develop new products and technologies.

The specific practices of effective team leaders are not ignored as the methods adapted, roles, and functions employed by leaders of operating and innovating teams f new products development.

Operating and innovating teams are parts of the daily activities of the firms that are involved with current markets and develop products similar to current products offered.

New product development has other related issues that include reducing the market share of competitors which could result in price wars and unhealthy competition. Other firms may experience huge losses retrench some of their employees and/or replace them with new ones or refrain from them to suit the new product manufacturing demands.

According to David (1996), the social value of using biodiversity in the new pharmaceutical product research has pointed out that there has been considerable interest among natural scientists and conservation advocates in ‘biodiversity prospecting’ – the search for new commercial products among naturally occurring organizations. Substantial biodiversity loss may occur as a result of global changes in climate.

Therefore climate at atmospheric stabilization measures demands substantial sacrifices in world products can not be justified by this consideration done.

There are also other esthetic, ethical, ecological, and even spiritual reasons for which new products development may be important

The social value of brands

Brands provide economic value to their corporate owners; however, the social value provided by brands is an issue of contention. Brands are directly linked with such issues as the exploitation of workers in developing countries and the homogenization of cultures around the world. They also stiffen competition and limit the virtues of a capitalist system by encouraging monopoly and limiting consumer choice.

Therefore, the social value lies in the individual within benefits to the society, consumer benefits, freedom of choice, and freedom of self-expression.

Product

This is the tangible element that the consumer can see, through feel, taste, or smell, in this case, Drink While Moving which will be bottled in plastic carriers portable and easy to use.

Price

Price is what the customer pays. It includes direct and indirect costs as well as opportunity costs. The benefits of the product have been great enough to warrant the price since this is a diet-sensitive product, its cost will be based on the ingredients, processing, and preservation style. However, the competitor’s product shall be considered as these related products in the market.

Place

Since my company is relatively small, it shall be distributed within the smaller geographical area and will position the distribution to wider networking shortly. The place is where the customers receive the product. The place of delivery including all of its resources, this is part of what the consumer buys. A place that meets his/her needs better: DWM shall be distributed to retailers within hospitals and nearby as well as information passed to medical practitioners handling diabetic patients. However, the big burden should not be laid on consumers but rather on the economies of quantity sales/ distribution by my firm. Other areas shall be sports grounds and gymnasiums then further networks to various institutions.

Promotions

Promotion includes all forms of communication one can use to communicate the benefits of the product to the target markets. The objective is to persuade the customer in such a way that he/she recognizes the uniquely qualified to meet his/her needs.

The advertising channels that will reach most people are television and personal selling. Sales promotion through networking shall also be carried out.

This may include direct marketing and word of mouth as powerful promotion techniques. This will also ensure the firm creates a competitive advantage that will allow for incremental volumes. We intend to optimize the trade plan by choosing the most effective trade channel and targeting the most effective promotion actively.

Conclusion

New product development activities may seem likely to encourage consumers to discard products as worn out. However, other products offer variety and choices to the consumers while others offer completely innovative ideas and products that will require manufacturers’ and marketers’ efforts in passing across relevant usable information to consumers.

The 4Ps of products, pricing, place, and promotion needs to be well considered for effective marketing and distribution.

References

1. Van Kleef, Van Trijp and Luning (2004) consumer profiling and new product development tool box.
2. Amy craft and David Simpson (1996) the social value of using biodiversity in new pharmaceutical product research.
3. Jan LinderMann (2007) Social value brands.
4. Belliveau, P., Griffin, A. and Somermeyer, S. (2004) PDMA ToolBook 2 for New Product Development, John Wiley, New York, 2004.
5. McGrath, Michael E., Next Generation Product Development: How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2004

Introduction

The product development of the private trend fully depends on the matters of the product position, and the market concentration in the particular sphere. It is necessary to mention, that there are numerous factors, that influence the following development of the product, and it relates not only to private labels but to every if it is not only the production of prime necessity.

The Trends of the Development

The trends of the development, which are generally attributed to the labels, may be different, but in general, they are divided into three groups:

• Failure
• Staying comparatively competent
• Success

It is not necessary to define these trends, but it should be stated, that the way, which the trademark will go depends on the following components:

• Presentation and price quotation
• Agreement to supply private label
• Design of packaging
• Production
• Delivery to customer
• Advertisement
• Vends policy of the company

If at least one of these factors is not included in the policy or has not succeeded in the realization, there will not be a success in the further development, until corrected.

The companies and corporations aim to try as many mechanisms to grow as possible. But it is often rather difficult for a private label to gain new customers, as the central part of the market players have been already conquered the sector, and the retailers prefer dealing with the checked and reliable providers and manufacturers. This statement is about both small and huge private companies.

While there is a huge number of companies, that prefer focusing solely on their proprietary brands, many other companies have realized the immense potential incomes that may be gained from promoting the private brands. Despite the numerous difficulties of the initial advertising, if fixed in the market niche, it is featured by higher incomes.

Retailers’ attitude towards private labels is revealed by the fact that they aim to get the maximum profits, but they are reluctant to deal with innovative brands. Nevertheless, the rate of private labels in the supermarkets is 86%, and it is forecasted, that this rate will three to five percent increase in the following year. However, the weak points are evident in dealing with private labels. (Michman, 2008) These manufacturers are more subjected to threats if the national financial situation is not stable. It is closely connected with the fact, that private manufacturer rarely produces the whole spectrum of the goods, required for the production (packaging, some parts of special materials), and the link with the supportive manufacturer (if private too) may be lost during the crisis. That is why the retailers deal only with reliable manufacturers, who also may afford to reduce the wholesale price.

Conclusion

In the conclusion it is necessary to summarize, that the trends of private label development may be different, however, often dependent on the particular factors, that should be realized as perfectly, as possible. As for the retailers, they are reluctant to deal with the private manufacturers, until they become reliable and stable.

References

Michman, Ronald D., and Edward M. Mazze. Specialty Retailers: Marketing Triumphs and Blunders. Westport, CT: Quorum Books, 2008.

Introduction and Background

Headquartered in Boston, MA, GE is a giant digital industrial conglomerate dealing in a wide a range of products and services spanning from aircraft engines and parts, medical imaging, financing and power generation to industrial products, and oil and gas production (Reuters, 2019). It has more than half a dozen segments and is indicated to have been reaching out to customers in over 180 countries worldwide by the close of 2016 (Reuters, 2019).

GE is currently producing on a lean Six Sigma product development process. The Six Sigma was a strategy CEO Jack Welch introduced between 1981 and 2001 in order to measure and analyze internal performance and reduce defects to the margins of 3.4 per 1,000,000 (General electric, n.d.).

This strategy eliminated a lot of internal bureaucracies and enhanced performance and efficiency. Under CEO Jeff Immelt between 2001 and 2017, GE took a swipe towards lean unrelated diversification and digitization. The GE Capital exit plan announced in 2017 under the 2016 Annual Report (Lohr, 2017) is ostensibly a move towards an even leaner diversification in a commercial-market focused strategy. The removal of GE Capital from its portfolio implies that GE eliminates its focus on consumer-based markets and can now channel all its efforts into diversifying products for its commercial consumers of power infrastructure and technology.

Main Objectives

The Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) is the systematic methodology that utilizes tools, training, and measurements to give GE the ability to design processes and goods that align with the customers’ expectations. The DFSS also ensures that the goods and processes are within Six Sigma quality standards (General Electric, n.d.). The Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) is a production process for GE that ensures continued improvement (General Electric, n.d.).

The DMAIC is not just systematic; it is equally scientific and fact-based. It is a closed-loop process and thus eradicates unproductive steps, emphasizes new measurements, and utilizes technology to initiate development. The DMAIC process is versatile and is transferrable to new products that GE may intend to produce. The versatility of the DMAIC process at GE arises from the adaptability of the products to the production process. In order to take advantage of the human resource and other resources in the developing world, GE has outsourced manufacturing plants as well as Research and Development (R&D) to these countries.

The recent developments and policy changes in China and India have encouraged great foreign direct investments by giant multinationals of GE’s threshold, and GE has moved into these markets to capitalize on that (Mullock, 2016). The reasoning behind these moves has been to remain cost-effective in pursuit of global expansion.

Figure 1 below shows a summarized process map for how GE produces its products.

At GE, the business-level strategies involved are in three-fold: focused low-cost, focused integration, as well as integrated low-cost and differentiation strategies (Kobayashi-Solomon, 2014). The focus for GE’s businesses in the many industries the corporation operates is on providing power and technologies to the aging industrialized world (Kobayashi-Solomon, 2014) primarily through digitization and to provide the budding developing world with the requite infrastructure and power (Kobayashi-Solomon, 2014). Therefore, the Define and Improve sections of the process map are the areas of process improvement for GE.

Conclusion

GE is a highly innovative and a diversified conglomerate and is both a make-to-order and an engineer-to-order type of a producer. The focus of GE’s business-level strategies is on who its customers are, what they need, and how GE should satisfy the need of these customers. Most of GE’s customers are commercial who will need highly differentiated products and services rather than individual consumers (Kobayashi-Solomon, 2014) and therefore GE focuses on producing products and services that are more commercially-oriented than they are consumer-oriented. The need to focus on the emerging markets in the developing world makes it necessary to incorporated focused low-cost into the focused differentiation because of the limited capital power in these markets.

References

Best Business Tips. (2018). Benefits of the lean six sigma methodology. Web.

General Electric. (n.d.). What is six sigma? The roadmap to customer impact. Web.

Kobayashi-Solomon, E. (2014). General Electric’s business strategy (pp. 1-6). Advisor Perspectives, Inc. Web.

Lohr, S. (2017). G.E.’s new strategy: Less is more. The New York Times. Web.

Mullock, H. (2016). Impact of globalization on General Electric (GE) policies. Web.

Reuters. (2019). Company profile: General Electric Co. (GE.N). Web.‌

Introduction

The article gives an in-depth discussion of IDEO’s product development strategies and procedures, highlighting some projects in which the company has successfully designed and developed products for its clients. The article describes IDEO as one of the largest and most successful product development firms in the world. The firm’s philosophy is based on respect and appreciation of new inventions and ideas. This ideology has seen IDEO contribute to the designing and development of many new products, winning different awards and accolades in the process.

The article also highlights the firm’s history. It points out that IDEO was founded in 1991 in a merger that brought together three startups. These firms were David Kelly Design, Matrix, and ID Two. David Kelly owned David Kelly Design while Mike Nuttall founded Matrix. On the other hand, Bill Moggridge was the leader of ID Two. The coming together of these companies ensured that all services that clients required to design, develop and manufacture new products were brought together under a single entity. David Kelly took over the leadership of IDEO since he was the owner of the largest company among the three. The privately-owned firm started with a small number of employees, but in the late 1990s, the number had risen to over 300 employees. The primary driver of this growth was an increase in the number of client companies seeking IDEO’s services. Some of the customer companies were AT & T, Apple Computer, Philips, and Samsung. The increased demand for the firm’s services also led to the establishment of design centers in other cities around the world. The article also highlights the corporate strategy utilized by the enterprise. The company maintained an open office framework in which employees could freely roam around and interact with each other, a process that encouraged sharing of ideas. Additionally, there was no clear leadership structure, a factor that contributed to the creation of an innovative environment.

The role of prototyping

The role of prototyping was central to the firm’s philosophy. The approach was an important way through which the firm could communicate to its clients, marketers as well as end-users. The firm’s culture encouraged frequent interactions between employees. Apart from that, cases of employees being fired were relatively low compared to other companies in the “silicon valley”. Employees were divided into smaller units, with individual employees being encouraged to come up with their workspace designs. Additionally, the firm did not require employees to adopt an official dress code. Formal titles were rarely used, and even the firm’s leadership discouraged them. These factors contributed to a low employee turnover (5%) during the 1990s. The company’s product development was divided into different phases namely the understanding/observing phase, visualizing/realizing phase, evaluating/refining phase, implementing/detailed engineering phase, and the manufacturing liaison phase.

The analysis of IDEO’s product development

The analysis of IDEO’s product development, as presented in the article, is closely related to the internal and external analysis of a firm’s environment. The article reveals how effective analysis of the external and internal environment ensured that IDEO was able to set up appropriate controls. Through the creation of an internal environment that encouraged free interaction among employees and which did not subject the employees to strict and authoritative leadership, the company succeeded in promoting innovation. This strategy enabled the firm to have a competitive advantage over its competitors.

SIntroduction

A new product or service is always a challenge that has to be thoroughly prepared. This means that a group of market researchers is developing a strategy to launch a new business product to satisfy customers’ demands and to keep its position in the market. Competition is an integral part of every business, so, it is necessary to do one’s best to develop and introduce successfully a new product or service to the market.

Stratified Sampling

Evaluating a new service or product

Developing new products and services with qualitative marketing research. The research can be carried out with the help of nine applications introduced by Hoets (2007) which include “expert exploratory interviews, exploratory groups, new product screening groups, positioning groups, marketing tactics, competitor’s customer groups, pre and post quantitative groups and interviews, diagnostic groups, interviews, and … channel interviews” (p. 4). In addition, the guide presented by Seasholtz (2003) suggests that financial models assist in evaluating new business products, so, they should be developed by the degree of assistance (par. 3).

Business evaluation solutions. Different financial models presuppose time consummation and competition which is believed to be an integral part of planning and introducing new products into the market, as suggested by Williams (2007). Using mystery shoppers can become the most effective way to evaluate the new product. This is a kind of research, moreover, very effective which helps to conduct market research without engaging a great number of participants in it.

Market Research Methods

Qualitative market research. The data can be collected, analyzed, and interpreted by observing and listening because the main objects of the investigation are people and their behavior (Qualitative market research, 2003). This method of research is called qualitative market research; it is based on collecting and summarizing results to choose the most appropriate method for this kind of product. Surveys are another method that can be used; the study by Stanton & Rogelberg (2002) contains an analysis of the advantages and drawbacks of using surveys as the method of research.

Creating effective customer satisfaction surveys. Surveys can help to investigate customers’ expectations from a new product (Creating Effective, 1999). As suggested by McNamara (2010), focus groups help to conclude while researching because consumers divided into focus groups provide an opportunity to gather information from people of various backgrounds, perspectives, and demands.

Cut the Risk of New Product Development

The risk is an integral part of every business, though risk can be reduced to a minimum as well as costs on the development of a new product. Prediction and possible requirements of potential consumers are considered while market research (Trytten, 2005). Traffic safety research is a great example of reducing the concept of danger on the roads just by introducing specialized education for drivers (Washington & McHale, 2010)

Conclusion

Development and launching of a new product or service are always preceded by profound research which is aimed at reducing costs and foreseeing customers’ expectations in terms of considering demands and requirements.

Reference List

Best Evaluation Services. Mystery Shopper Services. 2010. Web.

Creating Effective Customer Satisfaction Surveys. (1999). Web.

Hoets, H. (2007).Developing New Products and Services with Qualitative Marketing Research. Nine Applications You Can Apply. Web.

McNamara, C. (2010). Basics of Conducting Focus Groups. Web.

Qualitative Market Research. (2003). In New Penguin Business Dictionary. Web.

Seasholtz, J. (2003). Developing Effective Financial Models to Evaluate New Products. Web.

Stanton Jeffrey M. and Rogelberg Steven G., (2002). In Blackwell Handbook of Research Methods in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Web.

Trytten, J. (2005). Cut the Risk of New Product Development With New Research and Methods. Web.

Washington, F., & McHale, M. (2010). AAA Foundation and BMW of North America Collaborate to Evaluate Effectiveness of Driver Education. Web.

Williams, E. (2007). Will It Fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea? Web.

The Customer

According to the World Health Organization (2021, p.1), approximately 1.3 billion people live with some form of visual impairment, of whom 36 million have blindness. The leading causes of visual impairment are uncorrected refractive errors and clouding of the lens. Eye disease can occur at any age, regardless of profession or wealth. There are visually impaired people in almost every family, and sooner or later, everyone can encounter it. The target audience of our product is people with visual impairments of varying severity. By helping them, we can cover a large part of the U.S. population.

The Customer’s Problem

There are several hundred known diseases that affect the organs of vision. The most common are myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, inflammatory diseases, eye injuries, and tumors, as well as cataracts and glaucoma. Timely detection and correction of these diseases can prevent blindness in eight out of ten cases (Centers for disease control and prevention, n.d., p.1). The possibilities of modern ophthalmology allow to slow down the disease development at the early stages. One of the methods of treatment and correction used is wearing medical glasses. People who encounter them experience several inconveniences. The first one is that ordinary glasses cannot help track the dynamics of vision deterioration; one has to go to a doctor. The second problem is the need to change the lenses in the glasses in case of changes in vision abilities. During this procedure, the patient usually uses replacement glasses with old lenses that no longer fit him, and he experiences discomfort. Another inconvenience is the need to wear sunglasses in the summer. They have no diopters, and the person must choose between quality vision or protection from the sun. All these problems we took as a goal to solve in the design of our product.

Empathize

The entire process of developing the final product will be based on design thinking methodology. It divides the development into several stages to provide the most customer-oriented product possible (Pressman, 2018, p. 79). The first step in this process is empathy. In our weekly workshop on this section, we discussed the critical differentiators of empathy. A thorough and unbiased study of the customer’s target audience and their main concerns are among them. The main conclusion I drew from this section was that it is necessary to take a non-judgmental approach to audience research. In addition, it is essential not to superimpose one’s personal opinion on an issue, even if the developer himself falls within the target audience. At the empathy stage, the objective experience should trump the subjective one. To develop our product, we will conduct audience research in online surveys and personal interviews. People will freely share their problems and what solution they see as optimal.

Define

Then the process of design thinking flows into problem definition. In the workshop on this topic, the main task was to design the persona our product will be intended for. The persona should have all the standard qualities of the target audience. The persona’s needs must then be met by providing a product that solves the persona’s problem (Chambers et al., 2018., p. 74). All tactics in the problem definition phase of the design process will work for our product. We will use the persona technique in the design process. We will systematize the data obtained from the interviewed subjects and highlight the most frequent problems and requests for her portrait. We will draw a picture of the challenges we need to solve with our product. This way, with a clear definition of the task, we can move on to the ideation stage.

Ideate

In the weekly workshop on ideation, we concluded that this is an essential step in product development. Thinking design methodology describes that ideation involves generating ideas for a future product. It is essential to hear and celebrate each idea because the final product can combine several of them (Mashhood, 2018, p. 45). A mind map or the six-hat technique can be used for an effective ideation process. In the case of our product development, we used the latter technique and divided responsibilities into the group responsible for idea generation. This way, we could reach a consensus on the future product reasonably quickly. The ideation process is basically about choosing the best and most optimal from several ideas. Our team compiled several ideas to optimize the product to be presented to the public.

Prototype

Regarding prototyping, at our weekly workshop, we discussed several techniques for prototyping. We know from the theory of design thinking that a prototype should be tested in several dimensions (den Dekker, 2020, p. 27). For example, it is worth creating a model of an object and making a storyboard to determine the product’s difficulties. Our product is smart glasses, with several functions that solve the target audience’s problems. First, they will read the condition of the eye lenses and send the information to an app on the client’s smartphone. In this way, it will be possible to monitor the dynamics of vision quality and reduce the number of visits to the doctor. Secondly, these glasses will adjust diopters to the state of vision. In this way, the patient will always wear the relevant lenses and not experience the discomfort associated with changing them. Another essential feature of the glasses will be the darkening when exposed to ultraviolet light. This way, people will not have to choose between the quality of their vision and protect their eyes from the sun. To test the prototype, we will create a paper model of the glasses and play out a scenario of their use. In addition, we will create a separate list of problems that we will encounter during prototyping for further design adjustments.

Test

The testing stage is the final stage according to the design thinking model. In our weekly sessions, we concluded that testing is a critical step in identifying problematic aspects of the product. The testing phase implies better final product modeling than the prototyping phase according to the methodology. This stage also involves role-playing to simulate a full-fledged customer experience. At the testing stage of our product, we will work closely with the company to produce the final product. They will provide us with an initial prototype, which the target group will test. If the testing is successful, we can negotiate for production.

Reference List

Centers for disease control and prevention (n.d.) Common eye disorders and diseases. Web.

Chambers, F.C., Jones, A., Murphy, O., and Sandford, R. (2018) Design thinking for digital well-being: theory and practice for educators. London: Routledge. Web.

den Dekker, T. (2020) Design thinking. London: Routledge. Web.

Mashhood, A. (2018) Transform ideas into business with design thinking: the structured approach from Silicon Valley for entrepreneurs and leaders. New York: Productivity Press. Web.

Pressman, A. (2018) Design thinking: a guide to creative problem solving for everyone. London: Routledge. Web.

World Health Organization (2021) Blindness and vision impairment. Web.

Every business needs innovation and new product developments because, without them, the likelihood of incurring significant financial losses in the future increases. This leads to the fact that creative development should be one of the critical factors that management should consider. When creating a global strategy, the company must be guided by what can provide it with high profits. One of these factors is paying due attention to the scope of innovation in the field of activity (Baxter 41). The management and development department must receive regular technical assignments to ensure that new products are regularly updated in the company’s product line. In addition, an innovative product must carry the function of helping society and solving any social problem. Such a question can be, for example, loneliness. For this, a unique toy was developed to attract people’s attention for a long time.

A great way to promote a product is to advertise the function of artificial intelligence as a full-fledged human companion. Thus, this toy will eliminate the problem of loneliness for children in society. This development is unique because it has in its structure a processor that operates with artificial intelligence with self-learning capabilities (Zhang et al. 2). This, in turn, provides the most advanced and comfortable experience of using the product. While playing with this toy, children can think that they are talking to a natural person. However, this person will never leave them unattended and will be able to answer all questions. In addition, the toy will distinguish the company from competitors because it has no analogs on the market. Thus, this development should be put into practice and production, as it can significantly improve the company’s position in the future. Moreover, it seems possible to develop several variations of the toy. Each of them will have its characteristics, while there will be no differences in production. This way, maximum optimization of production processes can be achieved, and excellent benefits can be obtained.

According to its structure, the toy can be in the form of some fantastic animal. However, the internal design provides some features, such as a gyroscope, moisture protection, and shock resistance. All this will provide the toy with additional opportunities for interaction. For example, she will react to how she is raised, lowered, or in what position she is being held. Moisture protection is necessary so the child cannot spoil the toy if he accidentally drops it into the water or wants to take it into the bath. Such improvements will lead to the product’s interaction with the child for the longest possible period. This is necessary so that the child who plays with it feels that the creation is genuine and not just a toy. Such an effect will have the most positive effect on the statistics of purchases since children will want to acquire such a toy when they see it with one of their peers.

Sales can be made through the dissemination of information about the innovativeness of the toy and the purchase of the latest advertising media. Emphasis on uncovering the innovative capabilities of a product is vital when serving it to customers (Kline 9). However, there is a second way involving presenting as little technical information as possible to lure people in with a sense of curiosity. Thus, all the new product’s advantages will be revealed to potential customers, and as many people as possible will want to buy a toy.

It can be summarized by saying that this product has a unique system within itself. This differs from all currently presented products on the toy market. Thus, it will help to provide this product with a free niche with no competitors. This factor will allow managers to quickly recoup investments in the production of goods since sales will be significant. The presented project can strengthen the company’s position in the market and increase its profitability.

Works Cited

Baxter, Mike. Product design. CRC press, 2018.

Kline, Stephen. “Limits to the imagination: Marketing and children’s culture.” Cultural politics in contemporary America. Routledge, 2022. 299-316. Web.

Zhang, Fangyu, et al. “Consumer innovativeness, product innovation and smart toys.” Electronic Commerce Research and Applications 41 (2020): 100974. Web.

Product category description

Our product category entails developing a squeeze toy similar to that used for relieving stress. The squeeze ball entails a handheld device that can easily be squeezed using one hand, and thus apart from decreasing emotional tension, it reduces muscular stress. The squeeze ball usually targets muscles including the thumb flexors, fingers, and wrist (Stalvey and Brasell 8). The squeeze ball will be made of foam rubber to improve the ease of squeezing and thus facilitate the effortless acquisition of associated skills.

For instance, the toy could be used to enhance nerve stimulation for enhanced cognitive development, divert attention, and prevent the occurrence of repetitive injuries. For improving the effectiveness of the toy in facilitating the mentioned functions, the squeeze ball will be designed in such a way that its color changes if squeezed thus capture the attention of the individual in a manner that fosters their development (Kim 330).

Methodology

The idea to develop the squeeze toy bases its findings on a comprehensive market research undertaken by a team of engineers. The research is founded on secondary and primary research to gather substantial data on the need for fostering cognitive and physical development. The goal of conducting the marketing research was to acquire insight into the simple methods of children development that are commonly applied today.

Thus, the findings of the market research were to generate insight on the prevailing gaps concerning the available products in the market with the aim of fostering the intellectual, social, and physical development among children. The marketing research targeted different customers such as students and employees. The rationale for targeting these groups arises from the realization of balanced development as a common phenomenon affecting different individuals irrespective of their demographic characteristics. The simple sampling technique was employed in selecting the respondents. The research team constructed a sample of 100 respondents.

Ethnographic studies and interviews would characterize the primary data collection approaches. The study sample comprised of individuals, mainly children, with different demographic characteristics hence making it representative. On the other hand, secondary data collection involved gathering data from available online sources.

Target Consumers

The squeeze balls target a specific population composed of the young generation. Particularly, the squeeze ball would focus on consumers between five and seven years old. The primary and secondary research findings reveal that children in the given age group experience several aspects of cognitive, social, and physical development and thus, the application of the squeeze ball would successfully facilitate childhood development (Streisand et al. 515).

In particular, the team of engineers engaged in the development of the product believes that parents would also embrace the squeeze balls since they appear in the form of a toy that could also improve the various elements of children development. In this regard, the marketing aspect of the squeeze toy would focus on middle and upper-middle class households that earn an annual income that ranges between $50,000 and $125,000.

Given that the price of the squeeze balls would range between $14.5 and $21, the said social classes would afford the products for the improvement of the household’s well-being (Dawson-McClure et al. 55). Regarding the psychographic aspect of the target market, the squeeze balls would appear in a manner that appeals to both boys and girls regarding their interests and attitudes.

Key Competitors

The undertaken research reveals that several competitors would offer a hot contestation for the identified target market given the rising cases of altered childhood development today. Notably, Generic forms part of the key competitors in the sector by offering the product under the brand name “Abilitations Gel Squeeze Ball.” The competitor uses both the online and physical stores to market the product domestically and globally. S &S, through its brand, “Shamrock Squeeze Balls”, is another key competitor that poses considerable competition in the market. Similarly, the competitor markets its products globally through online retail stores like Amazon.

Additionally, Fun Express, an outstanding player that provides squeeze balls at reasonable prices would undoubtedly exert pressure on the competitiveness of our product. As such, the identified key competitors would require the marketing team for our product to identify the gaps in the existing market and fill them in a manner that fulfils the needs of the target consumers. Specifically, gaining a competitive edge in the market requires us to offer affordable prices for the products besides raising awareness regarding the usefulness of the squeeze balls in fostering childhood development.

Major Needs and Expectations Based on Problem Identification

In conducting the research, several needs and expectations of the target market emerged, and thus they should be considered for the sake of enhancing the development issue among children in a satisfying manner. For this reason, the undertaking sought to focus on the critical needs and anticipations of the consumers to restore the growth equilibrium induced by harmful experiences using the squeeze balls. The following list depicts the needs and expectations of the consumers ranked from the most important to the least important one.

1. The need for a squeeze ball that manages growth by restoring the developmental imbalances significantly among young boys and girls
2. The consumers expect a squeeze ball of the right size and thus, appear in the form of a compact to that bolsters skills for physical, cognitive, educational, and social improvement.
3. The expectation that the product would integrate the playful aspect of childhood development so that parents would collaborate with the children in the management of the issue
4. The need to provide a safe product to be used by children also acts a considerable concern for solving the identified problem instead of deteriorating it.

The consumer statements gave an insight regarding the expectations and needs that necessitate consideration to solve the problem efficiently. In this respect, the parents raised concerns over the effectiveness of the squeeze balls in mitigating the escalation of growth issues among children. Notably, they required us to explain the manner in which the squeeze balls function and thus, an elaborative explanation of tension release mechanism proved essential in convincing them on the practicality of the product.

Additionally, the research unearthed that the consumers anticipate a product easy to grip and squeeze in the tiny hands of the children (Seaward, “Managing Stress” 68). In this regard, the team saw the essence of using appropriate materials for designing the product. Therefore, the designing aspect of the product would consider an appealing surface and a squishy inside of the squeeze ball of the right size for a comfortable grasp.

What is more, the statements from the respondents revealed that they expect a product that could be used collaboratively facilitate physical and educational growth. In this regard, since toys are the items commonly used by children when playing, designing the squeeze balls in a manner that takes the form of a toy would fulfil this need. As such, several kids could use the squeeze balls simultaneously as they play thereby collaborate in fostering development.

Parents could also use the squeeze balls in a manner that inculcates its essence among the children thereby fostering its utilization as a stress relief toy (Seaward, “Health and Wellness” 124). Moreover, the safety aspect of the product proved essential as the parents expect it not to harm their children. In this respect, parents raised concerns regarding the possibility of the product to choke or suffocate their kids owing to the size and marbles possibly contained in the product. As such, the product would uphold the essence of safety to curb the emergence of hazardous events when using it.

Future opportunities through new product development

Concerning the identified needs and expectations obtained from the primary and secondary sources of the market research undertaking, the following developments would ensure that the squeeze balls solve the identified need satisfactorily.

1. Creating awareness regarding the efficacy of the squeeze balls in fostering development among the children between five and seven years old would considerably facilitate its acceptance among the consumers. In this concern, the initiative would seek to raise awareness of the products significance in handling the identified problem by persuading the members of the identified households that it functions effectively. Therefore, in the process of raising awareness, the team would demonstrate how squeezing the ball makes the involved muscles release the tension. In so doing, the consumers would understand its functionality and thus, reduce the potential resistance.
2. Designing the squeeze balls in a way that appeals to the consumer would also act as a key consideration to ensure the generation of new opportunities for the product. In this respect, the team of engineers would design the product to be of the right size to ensure that the kids squeeze it easily. Further, the surface of the squeeze balls would be designed in a way that prevents it from slipping during the squeezing and release process. Additionally, designing the squeeze balls in a way that makes it change color and appear in a squishy interior would also be considered besides giving it the perfect size.
3. Additionally, in a bid to incorporate play in the educational, physical, and social development process using the squeeze balls would require consideration. In this concern, the developers of the product would consider inscribing images on the balls that foster the playfulness aspect of the product. For instance, engraving faces that smile upon release of the squeeze balls would make the experience enjoyable. In doing so, children and their parents or caregivers could use the squeeze balls as playing toys as well as childhood development inducers.
4. Moreover, the product would observe the standards requisite to guarantee the safety aspect of its application. In this regard, the designing team would ensure that the surface of the ball is not corrosive by using the authentic rubber. Further, the team would put precautionary measures to prevent choking or suffocation of the kids using the squeeze balls. For instance, indicating that the products should not be made accessible to children under the age of 3 years would enforce the safety measures on the use of the squeeze balls.

Works Cited

Dawson-McClure, Spring, Esther Calzada, Keng-Yen Huang, Dimitra Kamboukos, Dana Rhule, Bukky Kolawole, Eva Petkova, and Miller Brotman. “A Population-Level Approach to Promoting Healthy Child Development and School Success in Low-Income, Urban Neighborhoods: Impact On Parenting and Child Conduct Problems.” Prevention Science 16.2 (2015): 279-290. Print.

Kim, JongHan. “Physical Activity Benefits Creativity: Squeezing a Ball for Enhancing Creativity.” Creativity Research Journal 27.4 (2015): 328-333. Print.

Seaward, Brian. Health and Wellness Journal Workbook, Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Print.

—. Managing Stress: A Creative Journal: A Creative Journal, Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Print.

Stalvey, Sheryl, and Heather Brasell. “Using Stress Balls to Focus the Attention of Sixth-Grade Learners.” Journal of At-Risk Issues 12.2 (2006): 7-16. Print.

Streisand, Randi, Erika Swift, Tara Wickmark, and Clarissa Holmes. “Pediatric Parenting Stress among Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Responsibility, and Fear.” Journal of Pediatric Psychology 30.6 (2005): 513-521. Print.

It is very important for any company with an intention of developing a new product to ensure that all competing goals are well balanced. New product development should follow a systematic process and organizations should therefore be able to adapt to new opportunities for sustainable development.

The process of developing a new product should be thoroughly followed within the frameworks of new innovation. As much as an organization may be interested in short-run profits, it is very essential not to lose sight on the long-term goals (Annacchino, 2003).

The new-product planning process is divided into seven fundamental stages that are interdependent. The decisions made at each stage affect the ultimate outcome of the process. The first stage of a product development process is the idea generation stage where new ideas regarding new products are generated by the research and development department.

Market and consumer trends are analyzed at this stage together with the available opportunities and threats. Ethnographic development methods and competitor analysis are very important in generating ideas about new products. Opportunity analysis should be thoroughly done in order for the organization to come up with concrete facts to be used the screening phase.

Brainstorming can lead to excellent ideas about new product lines and features. The possible threats and opportunities presented by the new ideas should be used to decide whether the idea should proceed to the screening stage or not (Annacchino, 2003). The second stage in a new-product development plan is idea screening.

The main objective of this stage is to ensure that an organization’s resources are only committed to sensible ideas and concepts. In product screening, various issues such consumer benefits, market trends, profitability and the current competitive pressures are considered before any new idea is approved.

The company should also have the capacity to produce the new product or else the whole process remains to be a dream (Annacchino, 2003). The company should have the required technologies and manpower to produce the new product for the idea to sound practical.

After idea screening, the next stage is concept development and testing. During this stage, all the intellectual property issues are explored and the target market identified. Product features and all the engineering details are developed at this stage. The cost and methods of production are evaluated at this stage in order to determine the feasibility of the new product (Kolar, 2000).

The other way of testing a new concept is through interviewing prospective customers as the organization tries to find out their thoughts about the new idea before a final decision is made. The fourth stage is the business analysis stage where the price and profitability of the new product is estimated based on market trends and competition.

Methods such as break-even analysis are used at this stage to estimate the profitability of the new product. The next stage after the business analysis stage is product development. During product development, all the resources are assembled and the actual final product produced.

The products are produced according to the initial design and customer demands before being taken out for test marketing (Kolar, 2000). The next stage after product development is test marketing where the prospective market performance of the new product is determined.

At this stage, the new product is produced and tested in actual situations in which it was designed for. All the necessary adjustments are done at this stage before the product is taken to trade shows. Customer acceptance is very important and it is therefore very necessary to make sample sales to prospective customers at this stage to find out how the new product is received by customers. A test market area is selected and the actual product sold as the new product tries to penetrate the market (Kolar, 2000).

The seventh and final stage of a new product development process is commercialization. After the new product has been tested in the market during the market testing stage, the product is now ready for launching. The organization embarks on serious promotion of the new product with substantial resources being invested in advertisements.

During the commercialization stage, distribution channels are identified and the product supplied to the market. Many new products tend to fail in the market due to poor market analysis (Kolar, 2000). A serious organization should be able to foresee any potential failures and this can only be done through careful market analysis.

Lack of market demand is among the major challenges that companies face when introducing a new product to the market. Market assessment should be done in the right way for a company to avoid investing its resources in an idea that is bound to fail. There are various mistakes that companies make during market assessment that can result in new-product failures.

To begin with, a company that is unaware of its capacity to create a market demand is bound to fail. The market demand is very important for a new product to penetrate in the market. The other mistake that most companies make is only focusing on its technical merits at the expense of business and commercial factors.

Incomplete and biased market demand feedback during market testing is another reason why new products tend to fail in the market. Overdependence on the customer’s interests can make a company forget to consider other factors that affect purchasing decisions (Kolar, 2000).

Some companies rely on third party market forecasts that can be at times deceiving. It is essential for an organization that intends to introduce a new product into the market to conduct its own market research using the right methodologies. It is not a wise idea to only rely on the assumptions made by a third-party.

Sound business decisions can only be if the market is assessed professionally using proven methodologies (Kmetovicz, 1992). Detailed market investigation is the key to the success of a new product but many business executives tend to ignore this fact. Since there is always a lot of market competition for new products, an organization must put in extra effort to ensure that its products and services remain competitive within the market.

Organizations that offer services to customers have to provide other peripheral services to their customers for them to have a competitive advantage. According to the goods/services continuum, a firm should focus marketing the services it provides rather than focus on marketing pure goods (Kmetovicz, 1992).

A firm should specify its core services regardless of whether it is goods or service oriented. The bond between the company and customers is made stronger when there is more emphasis on the basic services offered to the customers. Marketing pure goods is important but what makes a company more competitive are the services it offers to its customers (Kmetovicz, 1992).

References

Annacchino, M. (2003). New product development: From initial idea to product management. London: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Kmetovicz, R. (1992). New product development: Design and analysis. New York, NY: Wiley-IEEE.

Kolar, A. (2000). The new product development process. New York: NY: Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Introduction

The monumental importance of the product/service development process in the world today has been a fundamental concern not only for business personnel; but also for a wide range of organizations whose ultimate success greatly depends on it. Notably, over the recent past, there has been an increasing popularity of this process based on the inherent need and pressure for organizations to constantly innovate new products and services.

This is vitally necessary for them to stay relevant to their clients while having an advantage in today’s globally competitive market. The product/service development process is a highly intricate and involving process that requires several factors to be keenly observed.

However, Vonderembse (2010) authoritatively opines that amongst all the fundamental factors, customer involvement in the product development process is the most essential one since it significantly determines the acceptance or rejection of a particular product or service in its targeted markets.

Preliminarily, any product development process should ensure that it utilizes price friendly materials while ensuring the creation of a good product or service with exceptional functionality, high quality, market appeal and importantly; cost effectiveness.

More business (2006) however interestingly notes that “Price can be a business killer to compete on, because someone’s always able to do it cheaper than you” and consequently; it is vital for organizations to nurture an environment that allows for adequate customer involvement in the design process.

This will in turn open a vista of opportunities for the organization to know how to exactly tailor their products in a way that appeals to their clients. According to Ciccantelli and Magidson (2006), the most common ways of customer involvement include the use of product-design focus groups, questionnaires and surveys; which have reportedly been able to offer a good number of benefits and a few losses (depending on organizational implementation) as discussed below.

Discussion (Dissertation)

In spite of the amassed immense values of involving customers in the design process; some business experts and analysts have been in strong opposition to this. To them, this involvement offers more demerits than merits thus should be avoided at all costs.

According to Ciccantelli and Magidson (2006), effectiveness is measured by the ability of a product to provide what the consumers want, rather than just doing away with what they do not want. So the imperative question to ask at this point is; is it effective to involve consumers in the design process? Well, the answer here can go either ways; both yes and no—depending on how one looks at it.

Starting with the yes, it is inherent to primarily note that new products/service development and the involvement of customers is not just practiced in the UK and USA alone; it is also extensively in other parts of the world with lots of benefits realized through it (Ishmael and Namiranian, 2003). This in itself is a strong indicator that customer involvement in the innovative design of new products is an effectively vital component of any business.

Additionally, Ciccantelli and Magidson (2006) say that “Involving consumers in designing products and services can put the organization back in touch with its consumers and infuse fresh ideas.”

This is principally based on the fact that getting genuine ideas from clients helps in knowing what they want thus incepting products and services that aptly suits their needs. Ishmael and Namiranian (2003) support this point by articulating that proper sieving of ideas from many people increases the probability of getting invaluable ideas that can help in positively propelling any given organization.

Moreover, the involvement of consumers in the design process helps in avoiding extra-costs that are usually incurred through repair of products as a result of less or no customer consultation in the product innovation design process (Vonderembse, 2010).

Furthermore, adequate consumer involvement in the design process facilitates its smooth running hence saving a lot of time that can be used for other vital organizational functions (Vonderembse, 2010). In relation to this, Vonderembse adds that the use of pertinent information and technologies together with adequate consumer involvement can also greatly accentuate the product/service development process thus saving even more time for the organization.

Finally, consumer involvement plays a fundamental role in the prototype design and testing part of the product/design process. This is very important since the consumer reaction to the product/service—in most cases—represents how the clients will eventually react in the real world market (Ishmael and Namiranian, 2003).

Vonderembse (2010) exemplifies effective company involvement of consumers in product/service development by citing IBM who managed to smashingly slice the assembly time of their printers from 30 minutes to 3 minutes. He additionally talks of the Texas instruments company who, through customer involvement in the design process, managed to incorporate the DFMA software which immensely improved their infrared sighting mechanism services.

Mynampati (2000), an advisory architect at IBM, also illustrates how the involvement of consumers in the architectural design of services has been able to improve the efficiency of the company. This was most notable with the implementation of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) by the business and IT section of the company. By involving clients in SOA implementation, the company revenues shot sky-high, in contrast to the previous inceptions that did not involve consumers.

On the flipside, those opposed to effectiveness of customer involvement in the product/service design process argue that: Firstly, determining what consumers need through customer involvement does not necessarily translate to success. This is generally because most consumer needs are elusive thus not being able to sufficiently project what should be done during the design process (Ciccantelli and Magidson, 2006).

Secondly, Ishmael and Namiranian (2003) argue that most organizations tend to get so engrossed in the innovation of new products through customer involvement to the point of getting sidetracked from other important organizational duties. In turn, this increases the likelihood of less performance of such organizations.

Thirdly, involvement of a wide range of consumers consumes a lot of time and resources—which would have otherwise been used for other significant organizational duties like marketing and advertisement among many others (Ishmael & Namiranian, 2003).

Fourthly and lastly, most of the methods used for sampling views and ideas from consumers tend to limit them to talk in certain ways that limit objectivity.

As a result, most ideas elicited from such people are inclined towards what the organizations want to hear rather than what the consumers really want to say. This further leads to development of products/services that do not necessarily represent what most consumers really want (Ciccantelli and Magidson, 2006). There are many examples of failed product/service development processes.

According to most business analysts, the most pronounced one organizational failure, was the economic hiccup of 2008 that led to the momentarily slump of the Dell computer company.

Having “blindly” followed the consumer prospected ideas, the company decided to increase the production and supply number of their computers while ignoring important factors on the ground like the global economic meltdown at the time. As a result, many computers were produced and distributed while very few of them were bought. This led to huge losses especially with their further undoing of not incorporating recent technologies that were priority to most consumers.

So in order for there to be continuity in the beneficial use of consumer involvement in the design process, it is fundamental to circumspectly review the new product/service development process then through it; organizations will be able to analyze how to get the right informational input and policies which –in turn—deals with the aforementioned challenges.

Different organizations have different notions of the new product development process. This is the reason why its stages can be summarized as five stages or as many as eight stages depending on factors like: organizational structure, leadership and social cohesion. However, Mayo and Hausler (2010) authoritatively give a 7-stepped model which is widely accepted as the most representative model of the new product/service development process. These seven steps are as follows:

First is the idea generation which is done through methods like brainstorming, interviews or even questionnaires which are given to the relevant audiences. Second, there is idea screening. Here, the ideas are partially reviewed and sieved so that only important ones go to the next stage.

The remaining ones are kept for future references. Third in this hierarchy is concept development and testing. At this point, ideas are molded into tangible concepts in relations to the organizational policies and goals. Fourth, there is the business analysis stage where the concepts from the previous stage are analyzed. The fifth stage involves prototype development; This greatly requires consumer involvement so as to develop something that would be viable in a real market.

The sixth stage in turn involves market tests of the prototype which greatly projects how the product would perform in the market. Seventh and lastly, we have the commercialization and pricing of the product. This is only done if the product or service passes the market test.

Recommendations

In relations to the above process, some of the ways to outsource good ideas, solve the aforementioned challenges and ensure efficient management of consumer involvement in the design process include; incorporating professionals in the idea generation part. This will greatly limit the chances of wrong ideas ending up in the product/service development pipeline.

In addition, more accommodative and objective methods should be used to sample consumer views. According to Ciccantelli and Magidson (2006), one of such ways is the consumer idealized design developed by Russell L. Ackoff. In this process, potential consumers get to talk in an unconstrained environment about what would be an ideal product or service to them.

Mayo and Hausler (2010) propose for the establishment of a cumulative plan for a given number of projects. The logic of this is to have a cut-across plan for various projects and thus knowing how to easily go about them. In effect, there will be more order in the organization and thus facilitating smooth running of the projects. This also ensures and orderly involvement of consumers in offering their input which consequently ensures saving of time.

Again, Ciccantelli and Magidson (2006) propose early the incorporation of consumers in the design process. This will hugely eliminate the chances of having to make costly changes towards the end of the product/service development cycle.

As a personal recommendation, organizations can increase the number of opinion-sampling techniques like use of questionnaires, interview and surveys. This makes it relatively easy to get increased input and active involvement of consumers in the product and service development process.

Conclusion

In finality, it is invaluable to remember that customer involvement in product/service design is a wide concept with many facets. Consequently, each facet should be thoroughly put into consideration whenever viewing it.

Additionally, there previous notion of customer purchase being primarily based on price and quality has been faced out with clients who look into other factors like: product/service design, its customizability, its safety, longevity, efficiency and cost of maintenance among many others (Vonderembse, 2010). It is therefore fundamental not to just concentrate on consumer involvement in the innovation or development of product/services; but also remember other factors (like the ones abovementioned).

References

Ciccantelli, S. and Magidson, J. (2006) Consumer idealized design: Involving consumers in the product development process. Club of Amsterdam Blog, Feb. 2008, p. 6.

Ishmael, G. and Namiranian, L. (2003) Using consumers to fuel your new product generation a pipeline: The role of idea-centric creativity. Decision Analyst, Vol 16 (5), p. 96.

Mayo, C. M. and Hausler, D. (2010) New product development. Reference for business, Vol 7 (1), pp. 14-18.

More business (2006) New product development process: Steps to develop new products and services. Web.

Vonderembse, M. (2010) Product design. Reference for business, 87 (1), pp. 34-38.