Assignment Topic Product Development.pdf

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITYENGLISH DEPARTMENTBUSINESS ENGLISH 1.2

Teacher: Mai Tuyet Nhung Class: ENPR4911

Group: 5

Hanoi 2023

Table of Contents 1.

WHAT IS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT? 4

1.1 The Importance of Product Development 4

2 THE REASON OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 4

2.1 Providing new value for customers 4

2.2 Changes in technology 4

2.3 Seasonal Fluctuations 5

2.4 Business's reputation and goodwill 5

2.5 To provide value to customers 5

2.6 To discover unique products or services to create a monopoly 5

2.7 Change your product to appeal to your market 6

2.8 To improve society 6

2.9 Growth of the Company 6

3 KEY STEPS OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT 6

4 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS 10

4.1 A unique, superior, differentiated product 10

4.7 A multistage, disciplined new product process 11

4.8 Market-driven, customer-focused new product creation process 12

5 CONCLUSION 12

1 What is Product Development ?

Product development is delivering a new good or item to the market or improving the existing products for increasing sales In the beginning, a product is just a sample A company needs to put a lot of effort and resources into transforming into something sellable in the market.

1.1 The Importance of Product Development

Product development is vital for businesses for several reasons, as discussed below The success of a new product requires a substantial amount of resources to be invested in it There is always a chance of outright failure Due to the high risk of failure, it is good to know why you should still invest in a product development plan By understanding the importance of product development, companies are convinced to use product development services of professionals and experts to make sure that the process is handled correctly.

2 The reasons of Product Development

2.1 Provide new value for customers

The first and most important reason for any new development is to provide new value to the customer Without this, there is no reason for them to trade their money for the new device However, if the product or service offers overwhelming value, then customers will flock to it.

This new and increasing value is what keeps companies growing If there is no new value to offer customers, the firm wilts and eventually dies If the value offered is not increasing, then the company is losing ground in the market as its competitors increase their value in the market.

2.2 Changes in technology

Due to continuous technological development, new production methods are invented While the world is constantly developing in all fields, it is necessary for businesses to replace old technologies and production methods with newer

ones In order to do that, a company spends a large amount of money for technology research to match the technological changes

2.3.Seasonal fluctuations

Customer’s demand usually changes in each period Therefore, the businesses need to provide products which meet seasonal requirements of customers Market is satisfied due to matching products in each of the seasons, and the company can get attractive business For example, in some big fashion brands in the world, they always follow and analyze the demand of users and provide products conforming to their fashion style.

2.4.Business's reputation and goodwill

To create an image and reputation as an innovative and dynamic firm, the innovation is adopted Company wishes to convince the market that it tries seriously to meet consumer’s expectations Obviously, a company developing new products periodically has more reputation, and can attract consumers easily.

2.5.To provide value to customers

If you come up with new product ideas and test them in the market, you will keep your business alive Because It gives an energetic feel to your brand and makes its brand personality more attractive This is because your customers can see that you always have something new to offer They get enticed to keep visiting your store every month, or at least visit your website regularly to check out what’s new

On the other hand, If you keep selling the same product to the same people over a long time, your audience will get bored with your brand and probably stop buying.

2.6.To discover unique products or services to create a monopoly

Entrepreneurs are tired of being like others Anyone can sell a product they didn’t make What makes them so special? Entrepreneurs can gain higher margins by selling their own products For most offline and online retailers, pricing is a race to the bottom.

Entrepreneurs are unable to evolve their brands otherwise Custom products will improve your brand awareness People would rather have something unique than an existing product that is flooding the market and has many different sellers.

Commonplace products earn poor customer loyalty When everyone is selling the same product, customers tend to look only at prices Customers become much more loyal to companies if they sell a product that fully caters to their needs.

2.7 Change your product to appeal to your market

When companies keep tabs on the needs of their market through customer feedback methods or research, it’s easy to notice when customers’

requirements change For those that listen, any change in market requirements is like a bright neon sign — and they act on it They amend their products to suit new requirements, ensuring the market always gets what it wants and needs.

For example, Coca-Cola is famous for putting the needs of its market first and adapting its original Coke beverage to suit new tastes As its market has become more health-conscious, Coca-Cola responded to its customers’ new lifestyles by creating new variants with reduced or no sugar content This led to Diet Coke and Coke Zero products that keep Coke in customers’ lives while putting their health first.

2.8.To improve society

There are many instances where new products helped in society improvement beyond any level The new features or technology has been proved to be a boon for society Also with the need for new product development practice, companies hire new resources which help the society in terms of employment and income generation.

New services or products are the lifelines of any company The new products and services are created by all size companies for the growth and improvement of their business

New products help in company sustainability by offering new value to its customers which generates additional revenues Many of the new products are at an incremental improvement stage for the past many years, with some new features incorporated in it.

3 Key steps of product development

3.1.Idea generation

Idea generation is the inception of innovation in the product development

process It involves not only brainstorming but also creative thinking and

problem-solving

At this stage, you seek to identify unmet needs and untapped opportunities in the market Understanding your target audience’s demographics, behaviors, and preferences is paramount.

- Effective idea generation often involves techniques like market research, trend analysis, customer feedback, and cross-functional brainstorming sessions The goal is to generate a range of potential product concepts that can offer unique solutions to customer pain points.

Example: (About mosquito spray product)

In the past, the environment was clean, there were a lot of trees, ponds and lakes, but there were a lot of mosquitoes because of their habitat habits And people are bitten by mosquitoes a lot At times, being bitten by them also leads to diseases that are dangerous to our health such as dengue fever, flu, etc Understanding such concerns in the market The school now has medicine to prevent mosquitoes and other insects.

You must do research once you have developed a product idea To accomplish this, you can take the following steps:

+) Analyze the current state of the market Find out if your product can fill any holes in the market, as well as its demand.

+) Identify what your competitors’ products and services lack Adding these features to your product will make it more effective.

Validation research will also involve competitive analysis If your idea or niche has the potential to take up market share, there are likely competitors already operating in that space.

Researching competitors will help you understand how they attract customers and make sales Ask your potential customers what they like or dislike about your competitors to define your competitive advantage.

The information compiled from doing product validation and market research will gauge the demand for your product and the level of competition before you start planning.

The third stage is planning, where you formulate a final product idea/definition based on your initial idea and research and begin coming up with your plans to bring it to life At this stage, it can often be helpful to have a clear product roadmap.

The best place to begin planning is with a hand-drawn sketch of what your product will look like The sketch should be as detailed as possible, with labels explaining the various features and functions Your plan should also answer the following questions to inform pricing, brand positioning, costs, and marketing strategy:

Will the product be an everyday item or for special occasions? Will it be a luxury or price-accessible product?

Will it use premium materials or be environmentally friendly? What will the packaging and labels look like?

3.4 Prototyping

A prototyping phase involves creating a mock-up of a product for mass production Prototypes are often called minimum viable products (MVP) Basically, this is a simplified version of your product By understanding how it works, you can identify areas that need improvement Testing and prototyping stages may alternate with each other during the development of a prototype Prototyping difficulty depends on the type of product you are developing The least expensive and simplest cases are products you can prototype yourself, such as:

Food recipes

Cosmetic or personal care formulations Some fashion and jewelry designs

The first usable version of your prototype (or minimum viable product) can be released to a small test group to gauge interest and test price sensitivity and messaging The feedback gathered at this stage allows you to create iterations of the product and build something more valuable for your target market.

3.5.Testing

Before launching your product you need to test it to ensure it will work as advertised and effectively solve your customer needs So, during this stage, you’ll share your prototypes with target audiences and ask for actionable feedback on how the product works

Essentially, you want your product to be used in situations that are similar to real-world use cases so you know exactly what works and what doesn’t It's not limited to functionality but also includes performance, security and usability testing User testing involves real-world scenarios and user feedback to identify pain points and areas for improvement Sometimes the results of your testing will require you to go back and make changes to your prototype, as mentioned above.

This stage involves the comprehensive assessment of all the expenses incurred in various stages of your business or product development It's an essential component of budgeting, pricing, and financial planning.

Your calculation should include raw materials, factory setup costs,

manufacturing costs, and shipping costs Factor in other costs such as shipping, import fees, and any duties you will need to pay in order to get your final product into the customer’s hands These fees can have a significant impact on your COGS, depending on where you’re producing the product

* COGS: cost of goods sold

If you were able to secure multiple quotes for different materials or manufacturers during the sourcing phase, you can include different columns for each line item that compare the cost Another option is to create a second version of the spreadsheet, so you can compare local production versus overseas production.

Once you have your total COGS calculated, you can come up with a pricing strategy for your product.

The final stage of your new product development process is commercialization, where you introduce your products to market This is the culmination of your brainstorming, research, iteration, where your audiences can finally make use of what you created.

If you don’t have the budget for expensive ads, don’t sweat it You can still run a successful go-to-market strategy by using the following tactics:

Sending product launch emails to your subscriber list

Working with influencers on an affiliate marketing campaign Getting your product featured in gift guides

Enabling Instagram Shopping Gathering reviews from early customers

4 Key success factors

4.1.A unique, superior, differentiated product

Having a differentiated product that is unique from the competition’s is a marketing strategy designed to draw attention to your products and company To successfully differentiate your product, you must identify and communicate its unique qualities and highlight the differences between your product and the competition’s This works effectively if you also develop a strong value proposition, so your product appeals to your target market.

You should also think of your brand as a product and do the same for your company.

If you differentiate your product successfully, it will give you a competitive advantage and build brand awareness.

4.2 Management Support

Creating a culture that values innovation and encourages it at every level has been found in countless studies to be one of the key indicators of success in this area The focus, resource and respect that your organization channels towards NPD will reflect the priority it is given in the minds of those who can influence its direction the most.

Apple, for example, famously made promoting its culture of iconoclasm one of its key objectives when Steve Job’s returned to the business in 1997, propelling the organization into a new and unprecedented era of innovation.

In many organizations today; knowledge is treated like gold dust and guarded by its owners as if they were stolen treasure Unfortunately, the creation of knowledge silos like these makes it impossible for knowledge to be effective Market research data, for example, can be incredibly useful to a design team but only if they can access that data and it’s not kept securely in the marketing department under lock and key Likewise user research data can be highly valuable to the marketing team but once again – only if they can access it Knowledge management structures will normally fall outside of the design team’s remit However, there is nothing preventing the design team from

advocating for open knowledge management structures or indeed persuading senior management to support such structures.

Speed to market is a critical factor in success If your new product development process takes 5 years but your competitor’s takes 2 years – it is likely that no matter how good your designs are; they will have been eclipsed by the time they get to market.

Refining the design process to maximize speed whilst protecting the user experience is a delicate balancing act and it is fully within the designer’s remit However, the development process speed is much less likely to be within the design team’s control and their ability to influence that speed may be marginal at best.

Having clear processes for design and development are essential While these may be tailored to fit specific circumstances – a methodology for working that is clearly understood and agreed to by all members of the product development team is highly likely to produce better results than those created with no formal process.

The design team will, normally, have some input into these processes and be able to negotiate modifications to processes when they fail to produce optimal results There is little control for the design team over the way other teams execute these processes Failure in execution, from other teams, is one of the few areas where it is reasonable to say that failure was completely outside of the design team’s control.

New product development normally brings together teams of diverse people from all across an enterprise It is strongly suggested that these diverse teams tend to be highly creative and more successful than teams of a more standardized nature.

The way teams work together is a critical factor in their success and designers operating as part of such a team have their part to play in this Professionalism and leadership can be displayed by any member of a team (including those without official leadership and management roles) and while the design team cannot bear any responsibility for the actions of others within a team – they bear complete responsibility for their own

4.7 A multistage, disciplined new product process