Question

What are the stages in the new product development process? Give some examples of how you could apply these stages to your marketing plan topic.

Answer 1

New product development process is one of the key processes of an organization to launch new product in the market to remain competitive. Below is the 8 step process of New Product Development –

1. Idea Generation – This phase involves generation of ideas for new product or innovation. Ideas can be generated from employees, external research, competitive research, from customer feedback etc.
2. Idea Screening – Once a pool of ideas is created/generated, the next step is to screen the ideas to shortlist the most relevant, feasible and achievable ideas. Various factors influence the screening and selection of ideas which include relevance to customers, affordability, ROI, capability of the firm etc.
3. Concept development – The next step in the process is the development of concept which is a blueprint version of an idea. It helps in visualizing how the idea can be made presentable for better understanding. Once the concept is developed, feedback is taken from specific customers and experts to ensure idea is being taken for development in the right direction.
4. Development of business strategy – This step involves coming up with overall business strategy on how to develop and produce, how to market the product, how the product can challenge the competition, what can be an accurate pricing etc.
5. Product Development – This step involves development of the product by considering the concept/design and the business strategy according to the specifications based on which a prototype of the product is developed.
6. Test/Pilot Marketing – This step involves taking feedback from customers by providing a prototype of the product. Any changes suggested would be incorporated as a part of the product features and validated to make it ready for launch.
7. Commercialization – This phase involves identifying the right marketing mix for the launch of the product into the market for commercialization. The launch of the product is planned, the targets are decided and the required marketing activities are carried to prepare for the launch.
8. Launch of the product and post-launch review – This is the final stage of the process where the product is launched into the market successfully and is the phase when the product life cycle begins. Reviews from customer are considered to estimate the success of the product and how the next life cycle stage needs to be planned.