Product development and innovation is key to ensuring a building product manufacturer remains ahead of the game and does not have a portfolio of commodity products, earning commodity prices.
Benefits of introducing new products include:
The new product development process involves a series of stages, all of which are resource intensive. Most companies lack the staff for such a process which is where Competitive Advantage can help you.
We can facilitate workshops with your team to identify new applications or product opportunities.
Undertake market research amongst potential specifiers, buyers, distributors and users obtaining feedback on how new products might be reacted to, concerns, benefits and opportunities. The legislation and certification it should comply with and importantly, who would comprise the Decision Making Unit.
Undertake desk research to identify similar products already in the market. Act as an interface with your technical and product development teams to prioritise features and enhancements for product development. Monitor progress ensuring deadlines are met.
Facilitate focus groups to gauge reaction to the product, identifying issues and opportunities. Provide user feedback which allows design finalisation.
Working with your team to develop marketing collateral; literature, product directory entries, data sheets, product specifications, CPD seminars, samples, online calculators and other sales tools. Identify suitable stockists and sales partners.
The Competitive Advantage team are experienced in the NPD process and we also have the industry knowledge and understanding to appreciate the impact industry drivers such as sustainability, legislation and digitisation can have.
Trying to run an NPD programme with insufficient staff is inviting failure, bringing in expertise for the short term will allow you to achieve objectives without your day to day marketing activities suffering.