What does it take for a radical “new and improved” product to succeed in consumer markets? A meticulous pre-launch market research? An aggressive promotion campaign? A genuinely innovative product? Or, perhaps, just a stroke of luck and unusually perfect timing?
No concrete set of guidelines can ensure fool-proof success for a product’s successful adoption. Marketing consultants and corporate honchos may employ numerous tools and, in the bargain, whistle all the way to their banks. In the long term, however, if the said product is not market oriented, no amount of promotion, glitzy packaging or celebrity endorsements can do the trick.
Marketing history has abundant instances of “innovative” products that were confidently launched and promptly shunned by their “target consumers”. According to a report by AC Nielson, more than two-thirds of new product launches fail in the market scenario today. New product success is a tricky affair and several factors need to be perfectly tuned to ring out a melody that resonates with the target segment.
Here is a list of what not to do when introducing a new offering in the market:
Find a ridiculous, almost laughable product idea: The world is full of concepts that elicit only one response - what were they thinking? Some of these (purely for comic relief) include banana-scented tanning lotion, yoghurt-flavored shampoo, Throx’s idea of selling three socks instead of a pair to solve the problem of a missing sock, and even Crystal Pepsi (Pepsi’s translucent cola drink).
Fail to understand your target market: Marketers need to clearly define their target market and dig deeper to understand their aspirations and lifestyles. Kellogg’s learned this the hard (and highly unprofitable) way when they launched their breakfast cereal in India. Not only did they underestimate the price-conscious nature of their target market, they also overlooked their habits and preferences. It’s obvious that Kellogg’s would be unable to compete with local manufacturers’ low-margin pricing strategies. However, they even failed to align themselves with Indian customers’ tastes and preferences. Indians usually add lukewarm milk to their cereal, which rendered their developed-for-cold-milk cereal soggy and unpalatable. Of course, marketers took this failure in their stride and successfully re-launched the brand later.
Make the product larger than the consumer: Today’s consumers are more empowered than ever before. With the social media revolution, users have a platform to share their views and experiences. The era of Henry Ford’s memorably arrogant quip, “people can have the Model T in any color - so long as it's black”, is long gone.
Companies have even begun collaborating with them to create more consumer-oriented products. Even in the 1980s, when such virtual megaphones were unavailable, Coca-Cola bore the brunt of a product-focused strategy. They reformulated the Coke formula and launched it as New Coke. This met with heavy public resentment and they had to surreptitiously withdraw this offering to pacify angered loyalists.
Plan the launch inadequately: Sometimes organizations devote so much time to laboratory researches, that they skip the equally essential activity of planning the product’s launch. A failed launch could even result in a mortifying premature death of the product. It’s most advisable to plan for every contingency and focus on creating a wow factor, one defining moment that the press and public can discuss over the next few months. When Steve Jobs pulled out the MacBook Air from a plain manila envelope, the audience gasped at how slim and light it actually was. This dramatic demonstration was flawlessly executed and has new-age marketers awestruck till date.
Finalize on a haphazard post-launch strategy: Manufacturers tend to get so mesmerized by the product that they fail to prioritize post-launch strategy. Teaser campaigns are circulated, a glitzy press conference is arranged for and the “life-changing” product is pompously unveiled. Thereafter, the communication strategy never really passes the litmus test of growing customer expectations. A classic example of this in the recent past is the launch of Google Wave. Google used their elitist, by-invite-only strategy to generate buzz online. Once a user managed to enter Google Wave (having put a virtual gun to his friend’s head), they were left clueless about what to do next. Similar sentiments echoed globally: “So here I am, now what?” The buzz fizzled out, and so did the seemingly-complex Wave software.
Forget about timing your launch right: Companies sometimes launch the product too late. For instance, pagers were launched in India two decades after their release in the United States. By the time people warmed up to this concept, mobile phones raided the market and pagers were history. On the contrary, some companies are so determined to become “pioneers of a revolution”, that they introduce products ahead of their time. Ideally, the company should work towards customer education (pre- and post-launch) to enable smoother adoption. Nestlé slipped up when they launched their Paloma iced tea brand in the 1980s, having considered Indians’ avid tea-drinking habits and tropical climate. Unfortunately, consumers didn’t fall for the concept of icy-cold tea. Twenty years hence, in 2002, having licked its wounds and bided its time, Nestlé returned with a vengeance and succeeded.
Develop an unjustifiable pricing strategy: Consumers need to see the value in an offering. The benefits (whether physical, emotional or social) must considerably outweigh the costs borne in owning the product. When a US-based brand, Thirsty Cat, sold bottled water for pets at the astronomical price of $1.49 per quart, their product was a complete wash-out.
Several factors are involved in adopting a new product, some yet undiscovered, due to the intangible, dynamic nature of consumer psychology. Continuous product and market research is essential; even a seemingly inconsequential fact about the target market, if ignored, could spell doom for the product, brand, and perhaps even the organization.
However, sometimes marketers need to go beyond numbers and facts, to a gut feeling about the market’s response. Need gap identification, planning and instinct are three essential factors riding on which a new product has greater chances of quick adoption, high growth and popularity. This tripod is the very support for successful launches like the Sony Walkman, Compaq laptops, the Apple iPod and even the über-popular search engine, so inherently intertwined in our lives that I need not even name the brand…now that is the true essence of a successful launch!
Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in April, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.
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