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