E-Poster Presentation

Commercialisation - Blog 8

Commercialisation - Blog 8

The final stage of NPD is commercialisation, Commercialisation of a product or service is how that product or service is introduced into the market (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker & Brennan 2009). The introduction of new products and services incur huge financial costs for an organisation (Mcdaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2011). There are two major decisions organisations must make to ensure successful introduction of a product, timing of the launch and where to launch the product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012), this includes if you plan to sell directly to consumers or sell to retailers, and if you sell to retailers what retailers?, how many stores?, what areas of the country? During this stage of the process companies also need to make decisions on whether they are going to alter the marketing mix and also what they plan to offer with the product/service, i.e. warranties, warranties reduce consumer risk especially when it comes to a brand new product or service as consumers are given the guarantee of their money back if they are not satisfied.

An organisation that has used the commercialisation process is Rip Curl. They were the producers of the first ever power heated wet suit. In Rip Curls continuous search to advance wet suit they released a heated wet suit called the H Bomb. New materials were used to improve the performance; this technology enhancement significantly reduced the heat loss allowing the H Bomb to operate longer from its existing power source and this benefit offers considerable cost advantages in production. The Australian Institute for Commercialisation (AIC) was engaged to assist Rip Curl to find new technologies, the AIC also introduced Rip Curl to a number of private companies operating as technology providers. These businesses were identified as having complementary equipment; technologies and knowledge to achieve the development of a new product feature that Rip Curl had been seeking to develop. One of the technology companies was able to produce working prototypes using its existing manufacturing process and materials technologies. Bringing a product to market is very risky and expensive for a company so it is worthwhile them spending some time and money working with other organisations on research and using the information to build a campaign for the product/ service. (Ausinnovation.org, 2010)

Archball would be launched in May, the reason for this is that Archball would be predominantly marketed as an outdoor sport and that time of year is the beginning of the summer season, this will give the sport a fair chance to be successful. Also this month is the last of the conventional football season in the UK; this means people will still be attending games during this month. This is important because part of the marketing mix is to advertise as professional football games during the half time interval. Archball would concentrate its commercialisation to the north east region of the country, there three well known and strongly supported football clubs in the north east (Appendix A) whose home games we aim to use to market. If we concentrate our resources on the north east and the company is then successful, it will give us the foundation to branch out and travel south with our idea, into regions such as Lancashire, Cheshire and Yorkshire.

 

Appendix

 

A)

Geographical image representing out launch locations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B) Marketing Mix

 

	Marketing Mix
Product	Comes with 3 month warranty, Brightly packaged to stand out.
Price	To buy the board and ball set will retail for production cost + 75% mark-up, Facilities offering  the sport can decide their own price to play (i.e. hiring the equipment and area, approx. £15 per hour)
Promotion	Promoted at professional football clubs, during half time interval. (up to 50,500 people at NUFC)
Place	Local sports clubs (football teams), youth centres, schools, colleges, Public leisure / sport centres.

 

 

 

 

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M & Brennan, R (2009). Marketing an Introduction. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.

Ausinnovation.org, (2010). Australian Innovation: Rip Curl – Commercialisation of the first ever power heated wet suit. [online] Available at: http://www.ausinnovation.org/articles/rip-curl-a-commercialisation-of-the-first-ever-power-heated-wet-suit.html [Accessed 2 Feb. 2015].

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing 14th Edn. London: Pearson Education.

Mcdaniel, C.D, Lamb, C.W, & Hair J.F, (2011) Introduction to Marketing 11th Edn. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Marketing – Blog 7

Test Marketing – Blog 7

Test marketing is the seventh stage in the new product development process. During this stage the concept product or service is introduced into a limited market to determine the reactions of potential consumers of a product (Mcdaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2011).  Test Marketing is when the concept product or service and the marketing mix are tested in realistic market settings (Kotler and Armstrong 2012).  Test Marketing however can be very expensive, as costs are usually high, however it is cheaper to make a mistake at this stage than it is making a mistake once you fully go into business, as reputations can be ruined by one small fault (Armstrong et al 2009).  It allows management to evaluate alternative strategies and to assess how well aspects of the marketing mix fit together (Mcdaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2011). A marketing program consists of a whole range of concepts including the positioning strategy, promotion, distribution, pricing and packaging (Kotler and Armstrong 2012).

According to scotlandfoodanddrink.org test marketing helps companies answer a number of critical questions about your product or service. Target marketing also gives companies some ‘real’ information on difficult topics such as purchasing habits. Scotlandfoodanddrink.org also suggest that by conducting test marketing a business will have an evaluation of demand and also reduced investment risk. Scotlandfoodanddrink.org also list three types of Test marketing, simulated store test, controlled test and standard test marketing.

For Archball, Simulated store test marketing would be the most appropriate, this method will allow the company to collect useful information in a controlled way, results will be quick and also the advertising effectiveness can be evaluated. This method is also the cheapest of the three, and for a new company this is an important factor.  The company would invite 30-40 people from its target group (15-25) to come and try out the new sport, we would observe the natural reaction to the sport and then ask each individual to complete a structured interview at the end of the day (Appendix 1). During the day the sample of consumers will also be shown the promotional plans including the packaging and advertising ideas, there will also be questions regarding this on the interview. Each session would last approximately between 2 and 3 hours, (1 hour playing, 1-2 hours to complete all interviews). The company would hold two sessions per day for two weeks at Coach Lane Campus, Northumbria University, Newcastle.

Once we analyze the results the company will then go on to a staged rollout, product or service modifications or a national launch.  However there are some disadvantages to test marketing, competitors may try to interfere with your research or competitors may try to copy your idea and bring it to market before you do.

Appendix

1) The questions for the Structured Interview.

Structured interview:

• 1.     On a scale of 1-10 how much did enjoy the sport? (1 not at all, 10 best sport ever played)
• 2.     On a scale of 1-10 how often would you part take in this sport? (1 never – 10 daily)
• 3.     On a scale of 1-10 how reasonable was the pricing in your opinion? (1 much to expensive, 10 very cheap)
• 4.     On a scale or 1-10 how eye catching is the packaging (1 not at all, 10 very)
• 5.     On a scale of 1-10 how interesting were the adverts? (1 not at all, 10 very)
• 6.     Do you think the sport would be attractive if we used a celebrity endorsement? Yes / No
• 7.     If Yes, do you think a professional football player or a well-known TV personality would have a better impact for the sport? Pro Footballer / TV personality
• 8.     If there is anything you could change about the sport itself or the promotion of it (Packaging/adverts etc) what would you change? 

    References 

     Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M & Brennan, R (2009). Marketing and introduction. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited

How do I: Conduct a Test Market?. (2015). [online] Available at: http://www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/site/guide_doc/How-do-I-conduct-a-test-market-2.pdf [Accessed 26 Jan. 2015].

Kotler, P.  & Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing14th Edn. London: Pearson Education.

Mcdaniel, C.D, Lamb, C.W, & Hair J.F, (2011) Introduction to Marketing 11th Edn. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

W13017467 - Product development - Blog 6

Product development Blog 6

Product development is the sixth stage in the NPD process, product development is where the concept is developed into a tangible product allowing the design team to evaluate the products functionality and see if the product meets consumer needs (Armstrong, Kotler, Harker and Brennan, 2009), in this case a new sport concept will be evaluated rather than a product although it follows a similar procedure. The aims of this stage are to design a prototype that will satisfy customers, produced quickly and at a budgeted cost (Kotler and Armstrong, 2012). The marketing department should also decide on the products packaging and branding (Mcdaniel, Lamb and Hair, 2011).

One sporting example of product development can be seen on soccerreviews.com (2012). One post in particular shows how a global brand (Warrior) are using product development, they were in the process of producing football boots for the first time, so they had given a number of professional players a pair of their prototypes and allowed them to train in the. This gave Warrior the opportunity to get feedback from the players, who would advise them on how the boots could be improved to satisfy customers and functions correctly. In this specific instance the player was Vincent Kompany, at the time he was the captain of Manchester city, the team who had just won the premier league that summer and captain of Belgium’s national team. Kompany is a high profile player, in the most watched league in the world; this could also be part of their marketing plans to promote the brand and their new products.

When it comes to the equipment required for Archball, the main face of the board will have a target on with different colours equalling different points, i.e. Black = 1, White = 2, Blue = 5, Red = 10 and Yellow = 20, however the target will have another target on the back with only three colours and bigger target area’s to make the game easier for beginners/children (Appendix A). The legs which hold the main face up will also be weighted to help it stand upright, although it will also come with pegs for outdoor use (Appendix B). Each board will also come with two special Archball balls which will be made small enough to make the game possible but challenging, approx. size 2 (Appendix C). The sport will be trialled using a number of focus groups to help the development of the sports and the equipment, for example the focus group suggest that the balls are too big and that it would be better with a smaller ball, or that the equipment should come with some sort of case to help the transportation from location to location. This stage will also be crucial to the pricing strategy of the company, the focus group may be willing to pay more than what we anticipated which would allow us to increase the retail price and increase our net profits.

Refrences

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M & Brennan, R (2009). Marketing and introduction. 8th edn, Pearson education ltd: Harlow.

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing14th Edn. London: Pearson Education

Mcdaniel, C.D, Lamb, C.W, & Hair J.F, (2011) Introduction to Marketing 11th Edn. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning

Perkins, B. (2012). Vincent Kompany Training in Warrior Sports Prototype Boot - Soccer Reviews. [online] Soccer Reviews. Available at: http://soccerreviews.com/news/unreleased-warrior-sports-skreamer-klite/ [Accessed 17 Jan. 2015].

 

Appendix

 

A) Targets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B) Pegs For Stand

C) Ball Size