Product Introductions Developing and Launching

Product Introductions

Developing and Launching new Products into Global Economies

There are many challenges companies face in developing and launching new products into a global economy. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate the most significant challenges in the context of three specific new product introductions. The contributions technology has made to streamlining the new product development and introduction (NPDI) process will also be analyzed in the context of three additional product introductions. There are also legal and ethical implications of launching new products and this aspect of the new product introductions mentioned will also be analyzed.

Challenges to New Product Development and Introduction in a Global Economy

The most common area of challenge marketers face when developing and launching new products for global markets is in correctly interpreting the unique needs of cultures that vary from their own. The majority of new product introductions fail globally due to anew products developed in other regions of the world not being culturally sensitive and aligned with those of the target market (Molina-Castillo, Munuera-Aleman, 2009). Many companies have begun using the Cultural Dimensions Model as defined by Dr. Geert Hofstede (Hofstede, McCrae, 2004) to quantify the level of congruence between their new products and the global markets of interest. The Five Cultural Dimensions Model also provides insights into the second-most challenging area of global new product development and introduction, and that is relevancy of marketing messaging. This is an area where new product introductions also fail with the products being seen as either irrelevant or offensive to the market. Examples of product introductions that failed due to a lack of consistency to the global markets they were targeted at include Cocaine Energy Drink (Starling, 2006) (Starling, 2007), the New Coke (Schindler, 1992) and Earring Magic Ken (Pereira, 1993). Each of these product introductions failed to align with any aspect of the global economy and is considered among the worst orchestrated new product introductions as a result. Cocaine Energy Drink immediately ran into legal queries and lawsuits as their advertising was aimed at pre-teen and teenage children (Starling, 2007). The New Coke failed to define its unique market position and differentiation relative to the previous brand that had exceptional brand loyalty (Schindler, 1992). Earring Magic Ken was immediately rejected by parents globally, with especially loud critics in the UK (Gillian, 2003) and the U.S. (Pereira, 1993).

Use of Technology in New Product Introductions

Often companies who engage in global product introductions rely on technology to mitigate risk and gain insights into consumers' preferences. Coca-Cola's reliance on consumer tracking is well-known and was used extensively in the launch of the New Coke (Stout, Nitin, 1989). Additionally Mattel relies on focus groups and also seeks out consumer feedback through satisfaction surveys with existing products, and has extensive Voice of the Customer programs in place as well (Kaipia, Holmstrom, 2007). This still did not alleviate the mismatch of the new male doll Earring Magic Ken with the concerns of parents who saw this toy as offensive and troubling (Gillian, 2003). An additional example of how a company learned how to use techno0loigy effectively in their new product development strategies is Motorola. Having been initially challenged with the entire process of new product development and introductions due to a slow-moving company, Motorola was able to spin off the new product development of their popular Razr phone and gain significant market share as a result (Burkett, 2005). Each of these examples illustrates how technologies have been used to mitigate the risk of new product introductions. The success of the Razr product launch (Burkett, 2005) is a case in point. Mattel and Coca Cola both have extensive programs for using technology-based systems and applications for listening to customers, yet in the case of the product introductions mentioned, they failed to accurately gauge the level of interest in product concepts.