Launch a new product

CONSULTING METHODOLOGIES

One of the main growth opportunities for a company is to develop new products and services for its existing customers. Its competitive advantage in the new market will come from its existing customer and channel relationships. Entering a new market is like making an amphibious invasion (D-Day). Just like D-Day, successful market entry requires good intelligence, highly focused resources and a major planning effort.

I Executive Summary

[Summarise your product launch recommendation and your key rationale for it]

• Description of the opportunity
• Why this product will win
• What the financial returns will be

II How does this new product fit with our corporate strategy?

• Why is the new product needed?
• How does it fit with the current portfolio?

III What is the market opportunity for this product? 

• Who are the target customers? What are the benefits the new product will offer them? How does it fit the trends in their needs? How big is the market?
• What “job” will the customer use for? What is the “whole product” solution the customer will need to achieve them?
• How are we going to test the product with customers? Can we find a reference customer who will co-develop the product with us?
• Who are the competitors? Direct and indirect? Why will customers pick our product over competitors?
• What features will our product need? What trade-offs are we making?

IV Are we likely to make money?

• What price point will we need to hit? What would our gross margin be?
• Can we manufacture this product/deliver this service? What cost will we need to hit? What position are we taking on scale and risk (fixed vs variable)?
• Will this new product fit with our existing distribution/sales channels? What distribution targets do we expect to reach? What will be the value proposition for our distribution partners? What margins will we have to offer?
• What is our breakeven sales? What incremental P&L do we expect from the product launch? What are our leading metrics?

V How are we going to implement successfully?

• What is the team that will bring this to market?
• What are our product development milestones? Go/No Go Milestones? [Stage-gate process]
• What will be our launch plan?
• What are the key assumptions? How are we testing these?