Step 7.10

Finalize marketing and sales plans.

Primary Findings

Secondary Findings

Primary findings

Barriers

Adopting new technologies is presumed to be a logical decision; however individual users determine for themselves the costs and benefits of investing in new tech, including their own natural resistance to change. If the return on investment doesn’t support the change, not adopting new tech is the rational choice for the user.
Case study findings
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Developed knowledge and processes around a current practice can create a form of lock-in where new innovation has to provide advantage above a threshold before sustained change occurs. 
Case study findings
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Carriers

Coordination between product development teams and functional departments is linked to greater product success at market.
Non-experimental study
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Platformed products perform better in the market.
Case study analysis
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Roles for partners during commerciliasation include experts, users, distributors, demonstrators and other complimentaries. 
Case study findings
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State aid can incentivize R&D as well as drive down prices.
Case study findings
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The relative advantage a technology provides over incumbent practice or technology impacts adoption and risk in terms of return on investment or the cost of failure. 
Case study findings
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Implement system to facilitate self-education of target market to encourage them to begin to recognize their need for a product.
Case Study
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Utilize other stakeholders to help target market to see their need for a product or service.
Case Study
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Successful adaptation is linked to availability of user support such as training, customer service, and local repair techs. 
Case study findings
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Models

Distribution of collaboration during the Trial Production and Market Planning stages was manufacturer involvement (100%), user involvement (0%) and third-party involvement (21%).
Case study of seventeen medical equipment innovations marketed by 13 Dutch firms.
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Methods

Modular product architecture is a product generation strategy where one subsystem is created, and then efficiently expanded upon and split into many varietal products.
Case study analysis
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Beta testing — A common practice is to extend the beta test beyond the product itself to address support elements such as training and documentation, and the marketing and sales strategies.
Literature review, analysis of twenty-one programs, and four in-depth field investigations.
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Human Factors should be treated as part of the critical path in product design, including usability testing, training of users or sales personnel, writing operating manuals, and writing labels and package inserts.
Medical Device Industry experience.
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Market Predictability as a category had the highest correlation with product success. It was comprised of the following four statements: 1) The customers needs were well defined; 2) The customer's needs could be readily into product performance specifications; 3) We were completely familiar with the market; 4) We could accurately forecast demand for this product.
A balanced sample of 62 success products and 62 failure products drawn from 31 hi-tech firms, were analyzed via questionnaire and case study interviews.
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Market information applied during the commercialization (production) phase of NPD, is shown to be related to product success, when it is used to position the product in the customer's minds within the right market segment.
Survey of 166 firms.
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Marketing Skills and Resources as a category had the second highest correlation with product success. It was comprised of the following six statements: 1) Our market research skills were at ideal level for this product; 2) Our perceived marketing expertise in this project area was very high; 3) Our marketing skills were at ideal level for this project; 4) Our forecast of the market demand for this product was accurate; 5) There was a close fit between our marketing skills and the needs of this project; 6) Our predictions about customer requirements were accurate.
A balanced sample of 62 success products and 62 failure products drawn from 31 hi-tech firms, were analyzed via questionnaire and case study interviews.
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Product positioning is crucial for success. As a product gets closer to launch it may be found to offer no competitive advantage. Therefore it is important for early analysis to focus on product issues such as compatibility and versatility, cost effectiveness and ease of technical service may all differentiate the new offer from existing competitors.
A balanced sample of 62 success products and 62 failure products drawn from 31 hi-tech firms, were analyzed via questionnaire and case study interviews.
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Respondents identified eleven areas covered to some degree in product support planning activities, in descending order of companies covering each topic: 1. Installation methods; 2. User Training, 3. Documentation requirements, 4. Preventive maintenance methods, 5. Repair philosophy (e.g., modular diagnostics), 6. Spare parts requirements, 7. Field organization requirements, 8. Technical/application support required, 9. cost of ownership, 10. Service profit, 11. Upgrades.
Survey of 66 companies plus one case study.
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Utilization of market research early in the new product development process, and continuing throughout the entire development phase is critical to ensuring success.
Survey data.
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Measures

A range of measures for quantitatively measuring customer and product support could be used in combination to generate a more comprehensive evaluation of support requirements at the design stage and during pre-launch planning. These are: 1) Installation — time required; 2) User Training — time required to train to skill level; 3) Maintenance — mean time between and time per maintenance; 4) Repair — failure rate, fault diagnosis time and mean time to repair; 5) Upgrades — time, human resources and materials required.
Survey of 66 companies plus one case study.
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Quality Function Deployment is a tool for bringing the voice of the customer into the NPD process from conceptual design through to manufacturing. A survey also found that QFD was most commonly used to clarify customer requirements and ensure those customer requirements are considered in the product engineering requirements.
Survey of 400 companies.
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Tips

Construct a Critical Path Analysis which specifies a schedule of events and dates with required timing for all production and marketing activities to be completed by launch.
Experiential
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Develop the Communications Mix, including press releases, trade shows, public relations, promotions, media ads and others.
Experiential
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Influencers on new product success or failure are changing, with social media grows in influence. Younger customers are more highly influenced by recommendations by peers, particularly through social networking. Concept and product development must be conducted in tandem to ensure a good product-concept fit, and to avoid costly changes to product features.
Experience as head of new product development and innovation in a corporation.
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Secondary findings

Barriers

Two studies identified the principal causes of new product failure as ineffective product marketing and poor market research.
Source: Hopkins, 1980; Cooper, 1975. In: Zirger, B.J., & Maidique, M.A. (1990)

Tips

Use customer information when planning and managing the launch because the product must be positioned towards the customers' needs while communicating the product solution. A good source for finding customer information is at trade shows.
Source: Di Benedetto (1999), Stryker (1996), Ylinenpaa (1997). In: Frishammar, J. & Ylinenpaa, H. (2007)