Print
Email
Print Edition Stories
Friday, May 29, 2009
Inside Product Design & Development
4-step marketing process to launch new products
MHT's Galen Moore: Two differing web-based news business models
MHT's Efrain Viscarolasaga: How social networking is changing business
MHT Sales Roundtable: Web 2.0, Meet Sales 101
Congratulations! Your R&D team has just developed a working prototype. This is great news because new products are the lifeblood of tech companies.
A critical challenge for technology businesses is effectively introducing new products. Most technology companies don’t lack for good product ideas. However, many potentially successful new products don’t make it out of the lab. Others make it to market but fail to meet expectations.
According to research published in August 2007 by the Boston Consulting Group, fewer than 50 percent of the 2,500 senior executives surveyed were satisfied with their return on innovation spending. The Marketing Leadership Roundtable — a division of the Corporate Executive Board, serving thousands of marketing executives at midsize companies — believes that a major cause of these disappointments is the lack of a coordinated go-to-market strategy.
Traditionally, marketing has focused on executing marketing communications programs or providing uber technical sales support. To succeed in the innovation economy, marketing must assume a new role: that of quarterback for new product launches.
If marketing leads the organization through the following customer-focused four-step process, it will significantly increase the chances for a successful new product introduction. Research conducted by the Marketing Leadership Roundtable shows that companies should seek to co-opt the support of key lead users at each stage of the product launch process.
1. Collect relevant data from lead users
Just because a product works in the lab, doesn’t mean that it will succeed in the marketplace. Beta sites lay the foundation for a successful product. Chosen correctly, these early users can provide critical data used to validate the product’s value proposition, and later serve as an influential reference site. Beta site selection criteria include interest in being a first mover; willingness to collaborate; willingness to serve as a public advocate; and strong industry reputation.
Some companies are so excited to find a beta site that they don’t finish the deal, and put a beta site agreement in place. Other companies are afraid that if they ask for a beta agreement, the customer will walk away. It is at this point that marketing must inject the organization with enough confidence in the potential value of the product to require a signed beta agreement. Don’t be afraid to act from a position of strength. Without a beta agreement to define time lines, identify roles and set expectations, these early engagements can wander aimlessly. The beta agreement should require the customer to publicize their results.
2. Develop product messages using lead user insights
As you sort through the data from the beta sites, it is important to decide which messages will resonate with the market. If you are asking them to pay $50,000 for a product, will they receive significantly more than that in benefits? Effective messages go through a three-step filtering process: Will the message address what the customer values most? Will the message resonate with the rest of the market? Can the message highlight quantifiable results?
One outcome is a single question to ask potential customers that effectively arouses their curiosity. The heavy lifting required to develop this question is led by marketing.
3. Create sales tools that support the customers’ buying process
Whatever your chosen channel to market, it is critical to empower the sales organization with tools they can use to qualify opportunities and build credibility. The foundation to develop effective sales tools is an analysis of the buying process (not the selling cycle). Marketing should lead this, and will then develop sales tools aligned to each step in the purchase process. For complex B2B sales, marketing (with the help of finance and other groups) should create a return on investment calculator.
4. Turn lead users into advocates
To build awareness for the new offering, partner with your lead users to launch a multi-channel promotional campaign. After all, this is a key reason why you put the beta agreement in place. The key is to understand what is in it for the lead users’ companies and for their personal careers.
Neil Baron is a veteran B2B technology marketing executive in Needham. He can be reached at neilbaron@verizon.net
RSS Feeds
Comments (1)
Please Login/Register to post comments.