 Artist might tell you that form should follow function. Marketing professors will tell you that to be successful you need to identify a consumer want or need, and then satisfy that need profitably. What is it that your customers want? To find out some companies ask customers what they want through extensive, and often expensive market research processes.
Market leaders however know what customers want even before their customers know themselves. They do this not by concentrating on what exist today. Instead they focus on what might be possible. Since consumers typically react only to what they know about or what their experience has told them they generally can’t predict the future. If you only research the present and past you’ll end up designing wonderful products for yesterdays markets. Like “low carbohydrate food product number 10,087.”
To be innovative a marketer must concentrate on what they know is, or might be possible that the customer will respond to. To be innovative and successful, the product or service offered should be something competitors can’t or won’t want to do. The selection of product innovations that create new possibilities that your competitors can’t or don’t want to emulate will differentiate you in the marketplace and help establish a profitable niche.
Numerous articles and books have been written about innovation. Many companies have spent lots of money training their people to use formalized brain storming and research techniques. Some of these formal processes work quite well, especially in large organizations where they can serve as a common language for research and marketing to communicate with each other.
An alternative approach to formal innovation processes that works very well is to make up a prototype or illustration with a short headline type description of what the product is or does. Take this prototype and display it in a prominent place where employees and customers can see it. (Be careful with confidential ideas) You may want to hang it on a wall in your office or in a show room. Do not try to sell the idea. -- Just listen to what people have to say. You will be amazed at how willing people are to give their opinion when they are not asked. You will also be surprised at how many different end uses people come up with, if instead of telling them when they ask “What is this for? You simply say “What do you think it could be for? ” or “What do you think it is?”
When you become engaged in this type of conversation you will often get many ideas for product changes or enhancements that you never would have thought of yourself. Incorporate the best ideas you get into the concept and then repeat the process.
Once you have identified a strong product or service improvement you need to ask yourself is this something that your competitors could easily duplicate or improve on. If the answer is yes you may still want to proceed with the innovation to be in the market first. A good rule of thumb is that with everything else being equal the first entrant into a new market typically gets the largest share. The second entrant often gets roughly half the share of the innovator and the third and fourth entrants (if any) divide up about half of the share the second entrant attains.
If you have identified a new product or service or a major improvement that your competitors will not or can not duplicate you are in the enviable position of having a product where you can charge prices that will yield a good profit because you will have little or no competition.
To consider your competitor’s reaction you need to ask: What is their overall orientation? Are they in a growth, hold or harvest mode? Are they financially sound? Do they have excess capacity? Do they have the manpower or technical resources to compete? If your analysis tells you that you have a product consumers will want and your competition can’t or doesn’t want to react to, you are on your way to a successful innovative new product introduction.
If your decision involves a major capital or resource commitment or is a “bet your company” type of decision you will probably want to invest the money to do more extensive research to give you and your bankers some insurance that you really have a good idea. For many projects however this relatively fast and easy bulletin board method will get you started on the innovative path of creating the future instead of just trying to predict it.
About the Author – Scott Francis is President of Topline Development LLC a Strategic Marketing Consulting Group that provides helps companies determine how they can make the most amount of money with the least amount of resources. To learn more about Topline Development LLC visit their web site at www.ToplineDevelopment.com or contact Scott directly at scott@toplinedevelopment.com. |
