Archives for "New Product Introduction"
Avoiding NPI pitfalls: Plan for the total customer experience
A recent post in the Harvard Business Review (HBR) blogs tells the story of a product launch gone wrong:
“The market failure of the Michelin run-flat PAX tire illustrates the common mistake of failing to realize that even a groundbreaking product has to create a complete consumption chain. Broken links in the chain mean a broken customer experience, which can lead to new-product-launch heartbreak.”
The story is a reminder that solving an unsolved problem isn’t enough. You have to solve the right problem (i.e. one compelling enough to create behavioral change) – AND you have to make sure you don’t create new unsolved problems along the way.
The HBR post is a quick, interesting read. Check it out.
New product development…an early indicator of recovery?
At the recent Arena Fall 09 launch event, we asked 200+ customers what their companies are planning to do in the next 6 months to move their businesses forward. I expected to see cautious optimism…and there was a lot of that. But one response was a (very pleasant!) surprise – 58% of respondents said they were planning to develop new products in the next 6 months. Here are the full results:
What about you? What is your company planning to do in the next 6 months? Is new product development (NPD) on your list? If so, will you approach the NPD process any differently than you have in the past?
Best & worst gadgets of the decade (or, when a good idea just isn’t enough)
As we start the Arena blog, something else is ending—the decade. And that means best of (and worst of) lists are popping up everywhere. One of the lists that caught my eye is Laptop Magazine’s Best & Worst Gadgets of the Decade.
I’m sure most of you can name the big winners—like the iPod or the USB drive— but there are lessons to be learned from the losers. While 2002’s “wearable PC” was probably destined for failure from the outset, gadgets like the Garmin GPS phone sounded like a great idea, but were hurt by slow development. Announced in January 2008 and not released until late 2009, by the time the device was ready, it was already obsolete. “Garmin’s competitors in the GPS space, such as Navigon and TomTom, released apps that nimbly worked with the iPhone.” And the Garmin GPS phone was doomed.
The lesson? In the high-tech industry, change occurs rapidly, so product development has to be as streamlined as possible.
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