- Published: September 25, 2022
- Updated: September 25, 2022
- Level: Doctor of Philosophy
- Language: English
- Downloads: 36
Since competition is inevitable to every business, a business introducing its product to the market for the first time need to develop passion and care of the customers’ feelings with a special focus on the anticipated value and benefits. This special focuses will help the competitor build up a strong foundation that will later become a competitive edge and assure the competitor of the continued survivor. A number of steps have been used in decision making and information input, more so when it comes to the successful developments of new products as discussed here below (Mital, 2008).
The first step is to evaluate whether the product to be designed fits in the mission, vision, and overall strategy of the business. To get this information, brainstorming is done internally with the conclusions to be done by the purchasing personnel. The information can also be sought externally through external market research where secondary research and competitor analysis are done. Second is the screening of ideas which later paves way for the initial design of the idea by the development teams (Mital, 2008). The third step will be the formulation of a marketing plan where a market researcher may go a step further to seek external input and also come across the real products in addition to other various elements of the product including; pricing, optioning, and advertising (Fleisher, & Bensoussan, 2007).
Actions to put into place to test if the product will fit the overall mission and strategy.
To come up with a solid decision, a marketer may opt to observe the reactions of a customer before he even introduces his products to the market. Observing customers’ reactions will also provide important information related to understanding the product and estimated purchase prices as well as the value that the product has to its customers. If the feedback from the customer is negative, adjustments will be made directly and if positive, the products will be ready to be launched (Fleisher, & Bensoussan, 2007). Lessons from concept testing and market testing will greatly help in the launching of the product.
The best marketing test will be the one that avails the product to a given small portion of the whole market. Initially, the marketer may have to work extra to get his products to potential customers and persuasion becomes inevitable. The marketer may also adopt another form of market testing where he can recruit customers in a store with specific shopping instructions
The various approaches to market testing to be used include virtual reality and computer simulations. Talking of virtual reality, the focus is on exposing customers to a computer-controlled environment and given the chance to select products. Later, target market feedback is examined. If the results from the virtual reality program are positive, the product will be ready to be launched. Such controlled programs will assist in the tuning of the market (Fleisher, & Bensoussan, 2007). Computer simulations also work somehow close to virtual reality with the use of computer programs in monitoring customer purchases. For success in these two approaches, the business may have to know its strengths and weaknesses and rhyme their strengths with the underlying opportunities (Fleisher, & Bensoussan, 2007).