Practice shows that new products occupy only 10% of the market. Yes, a gaming application Angry Birds It became successful only on the fifty-second attempt. All other launches of the application went unnoticed by users. Only thanks to the persistence of the developers, who did not give up after fifty failures, this game gained worldwide popularity.

In this article you will read:

• How a new product is most often released in Russia
• What are the different types of new products?
• Where to get new product ideas
• How to create New Product and promote it on the market
• How to set a price for a new product
• What mistakes are most often made when introducing a new product to the market?

What are the different types of new product?

1. Revolutionary new product. An innovative, original product, not previously sold by anyone. The most famous revolutionary products are the first mobile phone, the first printer, the first MP3 player, etc.

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2. Product new for the manufacturer (New for us product). Most often, this is the company’s response to similar proposals from other market participants. One company's successful new product is copied by competitors with little extras in the form of flashy packaging or better prices. This type of new product does not bring much profit because... the idea is not original and requires large advertising costs to win at least part of the market from the pioneers. An example is the introduction of strong beer into the range of some breweries after Baltika 9 began to be in high demand among customers.

3. Next generation product, improved product. The new product is not original, but has undeniable advantages over its prototypes. No odor, leaves no residue, more compact, longer service life, etc. An example of such a new product: new smartphone models with increased memory capacity, speed, camera quality, and additional functions.

4. Expansion of the product group (Line extension). The most common option for selling a new product on the market. Despite the simplicity of these measures, it invariably brings good profit. Based on a product already known on the market, the consumer is offered:

– Old product in a new size or volume. Larger packaging of diapers indicating the “20% cheaper” promotion, portioned packaging of cereals, economical packaging washing powder 5 kg - all these are examples of such innovations;

– Simple or advanced type of product. Thus, almost every car model today is presented by the manufacturer in two versions: economy (with a minimum of additional options) and luxury (more expensive and advanced equipment);

– An additional packaging option for a familiar product. For example: Lyubyatovo corn flakes can be purchased both in cardboard box, and in the package.

5. Repositioning of the product, new packaging. Repositioning aims to present a well-known product in a new quality. This option for promoting a new product is used by manufacturers who want to reach a new level or occupy a new niche in the market. For example, alcohol products of the “Crystal” brand, after repositioning, took a place in the more expensive segment of the market.

New packaging can give new life old product. Changing the packaging is intended to increase demand for the product and interest the buyer. Most often, food manufacturing companies use this method of introducing a new product. For example, one of the milk producers developed a new package that resembles the color of a cow; consumers perceived this product as a novelty.

Introduction of a new product: how they do it in Russia

1) In a short time. The development and promotion of a new product in Russia is carried out at a more accelerated pace than, for example, in European countries. The unstable economic situation does not allow producers to rely on long-term prospects. Sometimes such haste and financial savings lead to the company deliberately ignoring the standard procedure for developing and promoting a new product. There are times when hasty introduction of a new product into the market gives an advantage over competitors and allows you to take a leading position in the market, but more often than not, haste affects the quality of the product.

2) As voluntarists. In our country, there are often cases when a new product is developed and brought to market in a short time only because management set such a task. The management's order must be fulfilled on time, no matter what efforts. Even active financial investments into a new project do not guarantee the quality of the resulting product.

3) With the priority of the product over the consumer. Only after introducing a new product to the market does the manufacturer realize that the product is not in demand and begins to select products for it target audience.

4) Focusing on Western models. The vast majority of new products launched on the Russian market over the past five to seven years are of imported origin. These are either adapted products from Western companies, or goods produced on the basis of imported raw materials, technologies and ideas. These include food products, household chemicals, and many other goods.

5) Presenting “pseudo” products. In the context of the financial crisis, more and more manufacturing companies are resorting to producing “pseudo” products. Under a well-known brand, the consumer is presented with his most budget option. Due to savings Money During production, lower quality domestic raw materials are used, the weight or composition of the product changes. These changes cannot go unnoticed by the consumer; a decrease in quality can lead to a decrease in consumer demand.

6) By releasing new products despite the crisis. Some new products, the development and promotion of which began in the pre-crisis period, are entering the market in new economic conditions, because a running process cannot be stopped. There is a chance to promote products participating in the import substitution program. European brands that have left the domestic market are being replaced by domestic goods. Competition has decreased sharply, and in some niches has completely disappeared.

Why introduce a new service

Vladimir Mozhenkov, General Director of Audi Center Taganka Company, Moscow

Before introducing a new service to the market, determine the end goal of this activity. Conditionally, services can be divided into:

Services whose purpose is to generate income.

Services that do not provide profit, aimed at increasing consumer loyalty .

These directions are completely different. It is important to decide whether you want to make a profit as a result of launching the service, or, conversely, are you ready to spend money on it.

Determine the ultimate goal of the service that requires cash injections. This could be company PR, sales support for a profitable product or service. Each of the pursued goals must be clearly formulated and divided into tasks. If you want to increase attention to the product, indicate who your target audience is, how attention will be attracted, what you will get in the end and whether it is worth the upcoming costs. Each service that requires financial investment must ultimately generate income by expanding the consumer niche, for example, or by returning old customers.

Introducing a new profit-oriented service to the market is similar to launching a new product. More often than not, even highly profitable services exist within the framework of a well-known brand and do not receive their own brand, with rare exceptions. Banking services, for example, are almost never presented as a separate brand, but rather presented as a whole. The same applies to areas such as insurance, tourism and other types of services. The main goal of a new service from a well-known brand is to increase sales and maintain its image. Therefore, each stage of development and promotion of a new service must be worked out to the smallest detail.

Creating a new product: 5 options where to look for ideas

Option 1: Learn from nature. All organisms around us consist of particles (cells), which, when combined under the influence of a program set at the DNA level, create countless unique specimens. Taking a cue from nature, use a modular system in new product development. All your developments, products, services, programs can be assembled in different combinations, obtaining an original product without much effort and expense on your part.

Option 2: Play with the names of your services. When creating a new product, use fresh names, designs, details, and presentation methods. An old product, modified, presented using additions, in new conditions, with a different sequence, is perceived by the consumer as a new product, despite the fact that you are not making fundamental changes.

Option 3: Mix and match the product from various unusual elements. Proper use of this method of releasing a new product allows you to not just double, but multiply the desired result. If there is a lack of internal resources, attract external ones, invite outside professionals - your costs will pay off many times over. The principle of “combine the incongruous” provides unlimited scope for creativity and the creation of original goods and services.

Option 4: Tie your products to people's most important needs and wants. The most win-win options are the types of new product that focus on basic human values. Health, food, beauty, safety are needs that are relevant for every person at all times. When offering a new product to the consumer, demonstrate what needs it can satisfy.

Option 5: Follow the news. Always be aware of new trends, trends, technical innovations, social and political processes. This way, you can not only competently assess the relevance of introducing a particular new product to the market, but also get fresh ideas for new products and services. An example is the Olympic theme, which was actively used by manufacturers in 2014.

How a new product is developed

New product development is the process of creating original goods and services by inventing innovative products, improving ready-made offers, conducting scientific research and testing prototypes.

Let's highlight the main stages of the process of launching new products:

Stage 1. Generating ideas - collecting information about new products. The generation of new ideas begins with the developments and projects of the company’s internal services (marketing department, R&D, sales department); the most popular requests of the target audience, the experience of competitors, materials from specialized media, new exhibitions, and recommendations from consulting companies are also examined.

Stage 2. Selection of ideas - a thorough analysis of the collected information, eliminating the most irrelevant and unpromising options. As a result of this work, the main idea of ​​the future new product emerges.

Stage 3. Concept development and testing - the concept is brought to life in the form of a conceptual sample, which is tested in a focus group. Monitoring studies allow you to assess the prospects of a product on the market. A focus group can evaluate a product based on a description or graphic.

How new products are promoted: step-by-step instructions

Step 1. Develop a marketing strategy for introducing a new product to the market

It is necessary to analyze the state of the market and identify the most interesting segments and consumer groups. To do this, the following data is collected and examined:

– the state and structure of the market, the pros and cons of similar competitors’ products and their promotion;

– conditions accompanying the purchase of the product;

– consumer attitude towards brands, signs of brand popularity;

– habits and moods of consumers;

– consumer requests and the most common motive for purchasing;

– social group, to which a potential buyer can be classified, a psychological portrait of the buyer.

Studies that provide this information:

1) Study of motivation (work with focus groups, various surveys);

2) Study of consumption and reaction to the product (U+A studies, quantitative surveys, including face-to-face);

3) Sales analysis (retail audit) allows you to obtain information about sales volumes, competitors’ sales figures, the quality of presentation at distribution points, and helps to find new ways of promotion;

4) The introduction of consumer panels allows you to assess the frequency of product purchases, brand loyalty, changes in brand perception and demand trends. Tools used: (diaries, tables, periodic surveys of a certain group of consumers).

As a result of the research, shortcomings in marketing policies and potential sales markets are identified. The next stage will be the choice of marketing policies and activities aimed at promoting the product.

Step 2. Determine the optimal concept for the new product

At this level, new product launches are underway active search ideas in several directions: consultation with experts, general discussions, consumer surveys.

The selection and testing of new product concepts is carried out both by the manufacturer itself and third-party experts, as well as by consumers. The collected materials are examined to look for the strengths and weaknesses of the product, market features, and “pitfalls” encountered during promotion.

Step 3. Create a product formula (product description)

The following tests are carried out:

– quality of the product: composition, color, smell, taste, etc.;

– buyer’s reaction to the product;

– the pros and cons of the product from the buyer’s point of view;

– areas of application, benefits of the product.

The optimal result is obtained from a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. Both types of analysis are aimed at achieving their specific goals. Qualitative methods include focus groups and direct interviews, quantitative methods include in-hall, in-home.

Focus groups and personal surveys provide an opportunity to assess consumer attitudes towards a new product and analyze their perception of the product as a whole. Quantitative tests aim to prove or challenge the results of qualitative research. Often, the results of quantitative studies are not taken seriously by the manufacturer; preference is given to more economical group surveys. However, it is quantitative analysis makes it possible to identify the most successful product formula.

Step 4. We support the finished product with packaging and other elements

After the stages of choosing a concept and creating a product formula are completed, Marketing Mix is ​​carried out. These are additional activities such as:

– analysis of the brand name (does the consumer remember it well, does it evoke negative emotions, is it associated with the desired group of products);

– analysis of the appearance of a new product (convenience for the consumer, attractive design, accessibility of the information contained on it);

– assessment of the consumer’s reaction to the declared cost of the product, compliance of the price with their expectations.

To study spontaneous reactions, they resort to the help of focus groups and direct surveys, after which the necessary adjustments are made. Quantitative research is then carried out.

Step 5. Conduct comprehensive brand testing

Before the final introduction of a new product, comprehensive testing is carried out, on the basis of which a verdict is made - approval of the new product or refusal to introduce it to the market. At the same time, the decision to close the project does not mean financial losses, because promoting an unpromising product will become much more costly than all previous research efforts.

For final testing, quantitative tests are carried out:

– Concept - Use Test determines how well the concept and formula of the product match, and whether it meets customer expectations.

– Simulated Test Market imitates natural market conditions and makes it possible to estimate the likely volume of sales and profits. Several options for performing this analysis are known. Let's give an example of testing: consumers from the target audience are offered to familiarize themselves with advertising for a new product and a similar product from competitors. After they have become acquainted with the product, they are taken to a simulated store with a certain assortment and price tags, where they have to choose a product among other analogues and purchase it, paying with simulated money. The purchased product can be picked up and tested at home. After some time, the participants in the experiment return the test sample and are given the opportunity to actually purchase the product with their own money. A discussion is held with consumers about the pros and cons of the new product, impressions of use, and compliance with expectations.

The results are processed according to a specific scheme, which makes it possible to calculate the percentage of the total market volume that the product can receive over time. To make calculations according to this scheme, the customer must be given information about the desired sales volumes, the expected degree of recognition and brand popularity. The reliability and relevance of such research may be affected by volatile market behavior during a financial crisis.

New product evaluation helped improve service

Mikhail Safran, Marketing Director of the ROSNO group of companies, Moscow

We test any idea without fail. Theoretical research may be inaccurate; we pay attention to how our consumers relate to new services and master them. We recently offered clients such a product as “European Service”. It consists of comprehensive support for compulsory motor liability insurance and includes the service of an emergency commissioner visiting the scene of an accident involving the client’s car. The commissioner supervises the independent examination and undertakes communication with representatives of the insurance companies of other participants in the accident.

The product fully met our expectations and successfully passed testing. As a result, demand, sales and our market share increased similar services. We managed to convey to our clients the benefits of cooperation with our company (they do not have to waste their time and nerves), which contributed to the expansion of our client base.

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Next to get feedback from consumers, company employees called each client who used the new service and asked to evaluate the service, express their comments and wishes, and ask questions. Difficulties that arose for several clients at the same time were eliminated, and the service was improved. Thus, during the surveys it turned out that we missed such an important point as evacuation vehicle from the scene of the accident (in cases where the vehicle’s ability to move independently is limited). The error was corrected and the service was added.

What should the price be for a new product?

There is a tendency for new products to have reduced price. How to determine the adequate cost of a new product or service? It is better to initially increase it in order to be able to reduce it if necessary. Undervaluation leads to loss of possible income and incorrect positioning of the product on the market. Many companies have learned from their sad experience that after fixing a certain price, increasing it occurs with great difficulty.

Targeting the most popular market niches seems promising to many, but large sales volumes do not yet guarantee high incomes. Here are 4 factors that must be taken into account when choosing a pricing policy for a new product:

1. Starting point. The price of a product, minus discounts and taking into account other promotions, is the starting point, which shows how the manufacturer positions its product on the market.

A low starting point negatively affects potential profits: a low cost of a product helps to quickly conquer the market, but at the same time the income will be low. Difficulties may also arise when low price does not correspond to the level that the company would like to occupy in the market.

2. Reaction of competitors. The low cost of the product and the rapid conquest of the market leads to a negative reaction from competitors and confrontation with them, because these actions will also oblige them to reduce the price and lose profits. A high benchmark demonstrates the company's focus on generating revenue rather than gaining cheap popularity. This position is met with a rather neutral assessment from competitors.

3. Life cycle strategy. When consumers who are actively interested in new products are willing to pay an inflated price for a product, the manufacturer can take advantage of these conditions to obtain additional profits, and in the future reduce the cost and thereby expand the sales market. This strategy will also allow you to assess the relationship between demand and production capabilities.

4. Cannibalization. The manufacturer should analyze the possible impact of the new product on previously introduced products. If the old product is in constant demand, it is advisable to overprice the new product and try to promote it to a new level for a different target audience. On the contrary, if the product is outdated, a low starting point will be more effective because will attract in a short time a large number of clients.

What are the risks of a new product?

1. An “inadequate idea” for a new product from the organization’s management. Often, the head of a company, using his unlimited power, inspired by the company’s successes, tries to impose his opinion and his view on the idea and ways of promoting a new product on the team, ignoring the results of research and not taking into account the objections of specialists.

2. A new product solves a technological problem but does not satisfy consumer needs. Sometimes when developing a new product, technical improvement becomes a priority. A kind of “arms race” and the endless release of new-generation models is becoming a game of chance for manufacturers, it is drawing them in too much. Unfortunately, the needs of end consumers remain unnoticed.

3. Entering the market without preliminary marketing research, or implementing them at a low level. In order to save money, companies ignore the importance of marketing research or conduct it superficially and unprofessionally. As a result, the market is assessed inadequately, and failed plans and strategies are adopted.

4. Detachment of top management from the process of creating a new product. If the company's management does not show interest in the process of developing and introducing a new product, and exercises insufficient control over the stages of its creation, employees vaguely understand their tasks, may incorrectly evaluate the goals and principles of work, and understand them in their own way. The initiative can pass into the hands of active employees pursuing their own individual goals that run counter to the goals of the company.

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5. Expectation of an immediate effect from the introduction of a new product. Not receiving profit and recognition as quickly as they would like, some manufacturers make false conclusions about the failure of the product, its futility and abandon it. Naturally, conquering a market takes time and patience, especially if it is a revolutionary product that consumers must evaluate and master.

6. Lack of control over all stages of the process. If several organizations are involved in the development of a new product, the process of control over the stages of work for the manufacturer becomes more complicated. This applies, to a greater extent, to small companies using the services third party companies and specialists.

7. Compromise product as a result of consensus. Sometimes, in the process of creating a new product, developers focus not on the needs of target groups and market demands, but on solutions that were approved by the majority, the so-called compromise product. Such an average option will lose to competitors aimed at the consumer.

8. Wrong price policy. Overpriced or underpriced new products.

9. Poor quality control. An initially good idea suffers for various reasons due to the poor quality of the final product.

10. Late launch of the product to the market. The manufacturer missed the moment to launch a new product, or, conversely, introduced it too early, when the market is not yet able to accept it.

11. Weak distribution of the new product. Dealers are not ready to take on an unknown, poorly selling product. A weak sales organization negates all advertising and promotion efforts.

3 examples of new product launch

1. A pseudo-product enters the market. Due to rising prices for ingredients, one of the well-known domestic yogurt manufacturers decided to change the composition of their product, reducing its cost. This made it possible to leave the selling price unchanged and win in the competition against manufacturers who were forced to raise the cost of their products under the influence of the changing dollar exchange rate. As a result of replacing ingredients with cheap analogues, the quality of the product suffered, which led to a decrease in consumer demand and loss of market position. Properly conducted marketing research would help to help anticipate this outcome and prevent such losses.

2. Unsuccessful launch of a “good” product. A large Russian manufacturer of dairy products has launched a new bio-yogurt of excellent quality on the market. Even the high popularity of the brand in its region did not affect the fact that the product was unclaimed and did not interest buyers. The fact is that consumers are already accustomed to the taste and consistency of imported yoghurts that appeared on the market earlier. As subsequent studies showed, buyers did not even understand what the product was. The manufacturer missed the time to introduce a new product, but by conducting full testing, he could have found ways to solve this problem.

3. Refusal to bring the product to market. A European manufacturer of soft drinks is preparing to launch a new juice on the Russian market with an unexpected composition for our public: apple, carrot and banana. The product was positioned as a natural drink that could satisfy the daily vitamin requirement of an adult. But studies have shown that for Russian consumers the composition of the juice turned out to be too exotic, and the abundance of vitamins in their understanding was associated with the addition of artificial ingredients to the composition. Thanks to these findings, the manufacturer was able to avoid spending on promoting an obviously unsuccessful product by abandoning it.

Information about the author and company

Vladimir Mozhenkov, General Director of the Audi Center Taganka company, Moscow. Graduated from the Bryansk Institute of Transport Engineering, Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship (Moscow). Completed training and internships in the UK, Germany, Italy and the USA. "Audi Centre Taganka". Field of activity: auto retail. Form of organization: part of the AvtoSpetsTsentr group of companies. Location: Moscow. Number of personnel: 267. Experience General Director in position: since 1998.
Participation of the General Director in the business: shareholder.

Mikhail Safran, Marketing Director of the ROSNO group of companies, Moscow. Open Joint-Stock Company Insurance Company ROSNO-MS is a medical insurance organization specializing in compulsory and voluntary medical insurance. OJSC ROSNO-MS was registered on November 18, 1994. The company's authorized capital is fully paid and amounts to 600 million rubles.

Each new product at a certain stage of its life cycle goes through the procedure of being introduced to the market. As you know, this is preceded by activities to develop the concept of the product itself, which are not touched upon in this work.

In preparation for introducing a new product to the market, the marketing group, based on available marketing tools, must forecast sales at certain time intervals when penetrating the target market segment, assess the volume and saturation of this segment, corresponding to the achievement of a given profitability. In addition, it is necessary to take into account the costs of marketing communications complex activities.

The sales forecast for a new product is based on an analysis of the following market factors:

Analysis of the company's own potential,

Competitor analysis,

Target market analysis,

Macro-environment analysis,

Analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the product (competitiveness),

Risk assessment

The purpose of this analysis is to identify the company’s own capabilities (both tangible and intangible) to assess existing resources and their compliance with the strategic goals set for the enterprise, in particular, introducing a new product and capturing market share. First of all, here it is necessary to consider the worldview, entrepreneurial culture and philosophy of the company and its leaders, since they are the determining factors for both structural organization enterprise, and for business goal-setting itself. The following factors influence the formation of the entrepreneurial culture of a particular company:

Internal standards and rules specific to the company,

Informal communication channels

Ideas and values ​​that prevail throughout society

Personal potential of company managers,

Examples to follow.

With the help of experts, one should evaluate the accumulative capacity, ability to change and mobilize the firm’s mobilization power, and check the degree of its compliance with the basic principles of business modern business: principles of competition, intra-company planning, innovation, contractualism and consumer dictates.

In addition to reflecting the corporate culture, this analysis should include data on all aspects of the existing company activities, as well as material reserves necessary for the promotion of a new product.

To access new market This analysis has one of the most important meanings. The successful introduction of a new product requires an unambiguous identification of all firms that can be classified either as real competitors already operating in the selected market, or as potential competitors who have the opportunity to enter the market with a competing product.

This issue is especially important when considering highly profitable, growing, promising markets, for example, markets for certain consumer goods, or markets that are fairly easy to access, that is, markets with a low level of competition.

To be able to compare the parameters of your own company with the parameters of competing companies, you need to analyze the same parameters that were considered when analyzing the potential of your own company. Collecting sufficient information on competitor firms is usually not possible, but data such as goals, development strategies, market behavior and employee motivation systems are especially valuable for analysis and decision-making in preparing responses.

Target market analysis refers to the systematic study of all other aspects of the market that were not covered by the competition analysis. First of all, this is consumer analysis. First you need to identify the target market segment of interest, and then research its characteristics. For this purpose, special marketing research is used, in particular, consumer segmentation, determining market characteristics, as well as sales reports, the press and other possible sources of information. The following quantitative indicators are considered as necessary information for market analysis:

market potential,

market volume,

level of market saturation,

market elasticity,

pace market growth,

shares of main competitors,

stability, etc.

Qualitative market indicators include the following indicators:

structure customer needs,

purchase motives,

type of purchasing process

ways for the consumer to obtain information,

established preferences, etc.

In addition to considering the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of consumers, it is necessary to have data on existing suppliers, business partners, trade partners and intermediaries who are also part of the company’s microenvironment. Information about these market entities allows you to adjust marketing policies and plan activities.

This analysis is aimed at studying the surrounding macro-environment, which has no direct connection with the market, but equally affects all enterprises in this field of activity in this particular region. It is customary to divide the macroenvironment into economic, socio-cultural, physical, political, legal and technological components. Each of these components consists of a very large number of factors that have different effects on certain product groups.

For a specific type of product, it makes sense to identify several factors whose importance in a given region is maximum, and then consider only them. For example, for imported products in the group of political and legal components, the most significant factors will be such factors as rates of customs duties and import quotas, the status of the exporting country, excise taxes on goods, sales rules, payments for a license to trade certain goods etc. To perform this analysis, the assistance of independent experts is usually required.

This analysis compares the results of an analysis of a firm's (or product's) own potential with an analysis of competing firms (or competing products) and is aimed at identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the company in relation to competing firms. For this, the engineering forecasting method or another assessment method can be used.

Based on the results obtained, those product characteristics are identified that provide the maximum advantage over competing products. At the same time, identifying the weakest competitive aspects of a product makes it possible to adjust either the product itself or the methods of its presentation and positioning in the market.

Risk in entrepreneurship arises in a situation of uncertainty and is a probabilistic value. The risk assessment combines the results of all previous analyzes of the market and the company itself. The purpose of this assessment is to provide the earliest possible warning of changes in market circumstances, internal factors in the company and the situation in the macro environment that are relevant to the strengths and weaknesses of the product.

Risk analysis begins with identifying possible sources of risk, its causes and places of occurrence. In all cases, the risk is associated with sufficiency or insufficiency information support activities of the company. The resulting risk assessment is the basis for choosing an action scenario.

When conducting a risk analysis, points and places of possible risk occurrence must be identified. At these points, the timing, causes and duration of risk actions are determined. The final result of a quantitative risk assessment is the construction of a system of critical values ​​of the main risk indicators. Naturally, different firms have different risk tolerances. Risk reduction is facilitated by diversification of the company's activities, but without scattering funds and resources. When conducting a risk assessment, it is necessary to consider trends in the development of the situation.

Products introduced to the market must satisfy certain consumer needs. When used only economic indicators(such as sales volume, profit, coverage fixed costs) at the stage of introducing a product to the market, it is impossible to determine how much this new product will meet these needs. Therefore, to understand the needs that push a person to make a purchase, it is necessary to determine their economic importance. It is these economically significant needs that should ultimately lead the consumer to purchase a product.

The purchase of a certain brand of goods directly depends on how much the desires of consumers are concentrated on this brand. The direction of consumer desire for a particular brand is the result of the influence of all marketing tools, therefore the object of desire is not a product in the narrow sense, but the result of the complex influence of marketing means. However, desire itself does not yet determine the purchase of a product; it must be transformed into demand, which at this stage of planning is limited by purchasing power.

An important element in the process of purchasing a product is the degree of its availability, that is, its availability at the place of purchase. This is especially important for the first trial purchase, which often determines the volume and frequency of subsequent purchases. This implies the importance of a wide presentation of a new product in the sales system and the availability of sufficient inventories.

If there are competing products on the market, the buyer will spend energy searching for this particular product only if he has a strong desire to purchase this particular brand (with repeated purchases, we can talk about loyalty to the brand). In consumer goods markets, where competing products are very widely represented and can be easily replaced with each other, the issue of proper distribution of a newly introduced product to the market is especially acute.

As a result of all of the above, a product can be subjected to consumer attractiveness tests before being launched on the market. The most common models for assessing the attractiveness of a product are the following:

Rosenberg model

This model is based on the idea that consumers evaluate a product in terms of its suitability for satisfying certain needs.

Q j = S X k Y jk ,

where Q j is consumers' assessment of brand j;

X k - importance of characteristic k (k = 1, n) brand j from the consumer's point of view;

Y jk - characteristic evaluation k stamps j from the consumers' point of view.

Different customer requirements for products provide ideal conditions for market segmentation, as well as information about the importance individual characteristics goods.

Models with an ideal point

Unlike the Rosenberg model, an additional component is introduced into the model with an ideal point - the ideal (from the consumer’s point of view) value of the product characteristic.

Q j = S W k |B jk - I k | r,

where Q j is consumer assessment of the brand j;

W k - importance of characteristic k (k = 1, n);

B jk - characteristic evaluation k stamps j from the consumers' point of view;

I k - ideal characteristic value k from the consumers' point of view;

r - parameter showing when r= 1 constant, and at r= 2 decreasing

marginal benefit.

It is logical that the consumer will prefer the product that is closest to ideal point. Thus, this method gives an idea of ​​the ideal product from the consumer's point of view.

Another variation of this method is to measure customer satisfaction, which determines what value is expected by customers and what was actually perceived.

One of the latest models for describing and evaluating a product complex is the so-called. " Commodity system " - a set of components that unambiguously and self-sufficiently describe a certain set of needs underlying competing products.

During the modeling of the commodity system, hypotheses are drawn up about the components i-th level (starting from the first). The model implies that the needs included in the commodity system are important to the consumer in different ways; their importance varies among different consumer segments. Naturally, their implementation in competing products is not the same. As a result, the weight of the component (need) and the assessment of the component for any segment are determined.

In the figure below, the letters indicate the following:

TS - commodity system

A, B, C, D - components (needs) of the first level.

A i, B i, C i, D i - needs of the nth level.

From the point of view of economic efficiency of introducing a product to the market, it makes sense to consider the following quantitative goals:

sales volume,

covering fixed and variable costs,

profit and cost savings,

enterprise growth,

market share.

Qualitative goals such as image and degree of fame can be controlled based on consumer judgments.

When performing an assessment economic efficiency product launch, an indicator of the structure of sales volume is used.

Sales volume and structure are among the most important parameters activities of the company. Sales planning analysis should show the absolute and relative shares of products in terms of the company's total sales, on the basis of which the company's marketing policy can be adjusted. A convenient way to assess the sales structure is ABC analysis, with the help of which all the company’s products are divided according to certain criteria (sales volume, profit, etc.) into three categories. ABC analysis provides important information about the balance between products with different profitability and the breadth of assortment. ABC analysis is a variation of Paret's law.

Naturally, when introducing a new product, not only its economic characteristics. Of unconditional importance in both quality and quantitative indicators The economic efficiency of a product is determined by its design, color, shape, packaging, etc. The brand of the product deserves a separate discussion.

Most goods are consumed away from their place of production. Sales structures are called upon to solve the problems that arise.

The first thing that must be decided is the choice of the type of sales organization: direct sales or sales with the involvement of intermediaries. In the second case, many tasks are transferred to wholesalers, who develop their own marketing concepts, which do not always coincide with the concepts of the manufacturer.

Typically, a manufacturer uses wholesale or retail trade to deliver goods, which entails solving the problem of the number and type of enterprises that need to be involved in cooperation. Decisions about the selection of trading partners are closely related to the organization of sales.

When selecting distribution channels, a firm decides which customer segments will be reached through certain intermediate distribution stages. For most products, there are many alternative distribution routes, but the choice of a particular channel, in addition to its profitability, is influenced by the image of the product and the company.

Planning distribution channels for a new product is a strategic task and cannot be restructured in a short time.

There are two main types of sales. At direct sales the product goes directly to the consumer. Direct sales make sense for large transactions, as well as for the sale of large high-tech products that require guarantees, technical support etc. Often in international trade The concept of direct sales is used - sales without the participation of intermediary firms in one’s own country.

But for most goods, especially for goods mass demand still the most preferable is indirect sales.

Most manufacturing firms should use the services of intermediaries and trade, since trade enterprises can carry out sales functions with greater efficiency and lower costs than the manufacturer himself.

Usage wholesale trade allows you to reduce the number of contacts. Using centralized trading provides greater efficiency because it reduces the number of steps required to match supply and demand.

A wholesaler is able to spread its costs across multiple manufacturers by grouping their offerings together, resulting in reductions in distribution costs.

With the help of wholesalers, the volume of products produced is coordinated with the number and volume of small orders, which leads to increased costs. The introduction of an additional link in the chain allows you to adapt to the orders of individual customers.

Intermediaries play an important role in ensuring the variety of goods offered, which allows buyers, saving time, to purchase several goods in one transaction. The manufacturer himself can provide a range of related products.

Despite all the undeniable advantages of introducing intermediaries into the sales channel, manufacturers want to influence sales for many reasons. Among the main ones is the manufacturer’s image policy, which intermediaries are not always ready to support. In order to influence intermediaries, manufacturers take the path of concluding licensing agreements and franchising, which are also beneficial to the intermediaries themselves, since the manufacturer takes upon itself the organization of nationwide advertising, provision of the necessary information and, in some cases, financial assistance.

Introduction

In today's market, companies are provided with a number of marketing strategies to maximize profits. Offering a new product is the prospect of high earnings, but at the same time, it is also a risky gamble. Successful marketing campaign is the most suitable means for developing and introducing a new product to the market. Finding out what exactly the consumer will want to buy tomorrow is the main task of leading companies. The development and launch of a new product (service) on the market is determined by the following factors:

– the need to protect the company from the consequences of the inevitable process of obsolescence of existing products;

– the need to expand production at a faster pace than is possible with a narrow range of manufactured goods;

– the need to ensure a faster and gradual increase in the overall profitability of the company;

– the need to maintain the status of the company.

Global trends are such that space is becoming denser with more goods, and the range of products offered is growing at a rapid pace. In Sweden, a country of 9 million people, the number of beers has increased from 50 to 350 in ten years, and former Walt Disney executive Michael Eisner said they were creating a new product - be it a movie, comic book, CD or whatever. then again - every five minutes.

The combination of these factors determines relevance selected topic.

Object research is the company "MarsLLC".

Subject research is the practice of Mars LLC to develop and introduce a new product to the market.

Target of this work – to analyze the features of the development and launch of a new product on the market using the example of the company “MarsLLC”

The set goal predetermined the decision of the following tasks :

– Study the essence and stages of development and launch of a new product on the market

– Determine the role of marketing research in the development of a new product

– Highlight the main mistakes and risks when developing a new product and introducing it to the market

– Study the process of creating a new product and bringing it to market using the example of the company “MarsLLC”

Degree of development This problem is determined by a significant amount of research by a number of Russian and foreign scientists, as well as analysts and marketers, such as F. Kotler, G.Ya. Goldstein, A.P. Egorshin, G. Armstrong, T. Ambler, H. Eriashvilli.

Practical contribution boils down to the fact that studying this issue allows you to minimize risks and avoid major mistakes when developing and introducing a new product to the market, taking into account all sorts of nuances of the target market.

Theoretical contribution This work is that when considering three specific cases of MarsLLC entering a new market, problems in positioning were identified and the features of marketing campaigns conducted by the organization in Russia were analyzed. It was found that the mental differences between Russians and Americans played an important role when introducing a new product to the market. This study will be useful in the field of positioning and advertising studies.

Work structure as follows: the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, six paragraphs, a conclusion and a bibliography.

1. The process of developing and launching a new product on the market: essence, stages, risks

1.1 Essence and main stages of development and launch of a new product on the market

New product development is one of the most important areas marketing activities. To do this, you need to find out what is included in the concept of “new product”.

At least 50 interpretations of the concept “new product” are known. There are three main approaches to defining the concept of “new product”:

1. Based on the temporary criterion: any newly produced product is considered new. The criterion of novelty in this case is not the qualitative originality of the product, but the time of its development and production.

2. Based on the requirement to identify a criterion for distinguishing a new product from its analogues and prototypes. As such a criterion, it is proposed to use the principle of generating and/or satisfying a previously unknown need with goods. A new product is also called any progressive change that distinguishes a product from previously known ones. These changes may affect raw materials, materials, designs, technologies, external design and more.

3. Based on the following premise: we must proceed not from a single criterion, but from a certain set of them, characterizing certain aspects of the novelty of a product. In this case, we can distinguish, for example, four levels of product novelty:

– change in external design while maintaining existing consumer properties;

– partial change in the consumer properties of a product due to the improvement of basic technological characteristics, but without fundamental changes in manufacturing technology;

– a fundamental change in consumer properties, introducing significant changes in the way of satisfying the corresponding need;

– the emergence of a product that has no analogues.

Modern management is based on innovation. Not every discovery and not every development acquires material life. To bring a new idea to life specific form there is often a lack of confidence in its successful implementation. The task of marketing is precisely to carry out such work that will not allow innovations to fail in the market.

The development and introduction to the market of a new product (service) is determined by the following factors:

– the need to protect the company from the consequences of the inevitable process of obsolescence of existing products, which is caused by competition or obsolescence. A decrease in the profitability of manufactured goods or services provided can be compensated in the long term only by introducing a new product (service) that would be in demand among consumers. The introduction of a new product or service into the range is necessary to protect funds already invested in the company;

– the need to expand production at a faster pace than is possible with a narrow range of manufactured goods, distribute commercial risk over a wider range of goods and services, and reduce the impact of competition on a particular area of ​​the company’s activities;

– the need to ensure a more rapid and gradual increase in the overall profitability of the company, expressed as the ratio of profit to invested capital, by maintaining and increasing competitiveness, more rational use production waste, more complete use of production capacity and personnel capabilities and, as a result, a more even distribution of some overhead costs, reducing seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in the level of production and sales.

According to the concept of the product life cycle, each product goes through stages from idea to discontinuation. Due to the globalization of the world economy, increased competition, the development of technology and technology and the accelerating change consumer preferences, the life cycle of goods is increasingly compressed, this requires businesses to make faster decisions and reduce the time it takes to develop a product and bring it to market. Reducing deadlines means reducing opportunities for high-quality development of projects and increasing risks, which significantly increases the requirements for the quality of management and support, including financial support, at all stages of projects, for the timely identification of ineffective and risky projects, risk insurance, minimizing losses, and achieving target results. .

The first step to starting work on a new product is developing a project. Depending on how innovative the product is, the level of significance of the project is determined. The following requirements for projects are identified:

a) projects must be limited by the following criteria:

– time

– resources

– risks

b) projects must be realistic;

c) success criteria must be clearly formulated, measurable and achievable.

The process of developing and introducing a new product to the market takes place in several stages:

c) trial sales

4. Bringing the product to market.

Due to the fact that the first stage involves the direct generation of an idea or the search for a concept for a new product, some options for its completion can be given: buy information from external sources, invent the new kind product or service, improve an existing product, attract new partners for product development. Participation in the product development process of consumers will save time due to timely correction of the idea, as well as get the first customers, but it creates the risk of information leakage to competitors. Based on this, three approaches to developing a new product can be distinguished:

1. Type “A” – characterized by minimal technological and financial requirements, as it implies minor changes to the existing product;

2. Type “B” – strict requirements for technology and equipment, high financial costs in connection with the creation of a fundamentally new product;

3. Mixed type - closer to either type “A” or type “B”.

Idea implementation is a test of the concept of a new product, which involves testing on a group of target consumers to determine their reaction. The reliability of test results is higher when the tested product is as close as possible to the final product. Consumers react differently to new products, depending on their preferences in a particular area. There are 5 types of consumers based on the speed of reaction to a new product:

1. Innovators - those who buy a product as soon as it appears or in advance (2.5% of them);

2. Followers - those who buy a product immediately as soon as someone has already bought it (13.5% of them)

3. Early majority (34% of buyers)

4. Late majority (34% of buyers)

5. Conservatives - those who buy the product later than everyone else, or do not buy it (16% of buyers)

Based on this, it is very important to choose the right marketing strategy. One of the main strategies is pricing strategies. Among them are the “cream skimming” strategy, the market expansion strategy, the strategy of average market prices, differentiated prices, unrounded prices and “round” prices. The choice of strategy directly depends on the product being developed. However, regardless of which strategy is chosen, the first part of its plan describes the volume, structure of the target market, consumer behavior, intended positioning of the product, as well as sales volume indicators, market share and planned profits for the next few years. The second part of the plan sets out information about the planned price of the product, the principles of its distribution and the budget for marketing expenses during the first year of production. The third part of the marketing strategy plan provides long-term sales and profit figures and a long-term approach to marketing - the mix. This plan forms the basis for the business analysis that must be carried out before management makes a final decision about a new product.

The launch of a new product to the market by a manufacturing company is an important complex, multifunctional organizational task. It directly affects such functional areas of the enterprise as marketing, sales, purchasing, production, R&D, finance and other functions. In addition, bringing a product to the market is the subject of both strategic and tactical, as well as project and operational management at the enterprise.

Any introduction of a new product to the market is a risky undertaking. It is noted that innovations achieve success in 65% of cases (according to surveys of 700 English companies), although only 10% of them were truly new, and 20% were only new versions of products. Thus, the introduction of a new product to the market is a kind of statistical game. The large number of intermediate steps before bringing a product to market is designed to reduce risk, but all this takes time.

At the stage of commercialization of a new product, the company either incurs losses or its profits are very small due to insignificant sales and high costs of organizing distribution channels for the product and stimulating its sales. Promotion costs reach their highest level at this time, due to the need to concentrate efforts on promoting the new product. It is necessary to inform potential consumers about a new product unknown to them, to encourage them to try the product and to ensure the distribution of this product through trade enterprises.

Manufacturers produce only basic versions of the product, since the market is not yet ready to accept its modification. Firms focus their sales efforts on consumers who are most prepared to make a purchase. Prices at this stage are usually increased.

An important role at the stage of introducing a product to the market is played by the choice of distribution channels. Distribution, as well as strategy, is chosen depending on the characteristics of a particular product. When selecting distribution channels, a firm decides which customer segments will be reached through certain intermediate distribution stages. For most products, there are many alternative distribution routes, but the choice of a particular channel, in addition to its profitability, is influenced by the image of the product and the company. There are two main types of sales. In direct marketing, the product goes directly to the consumer. Direct selling makes sense for large transactions, as well as for the sale of large high-tech products that require warranties and technical support. Often in international trade the concept of direct sales is used - sales without the participation of intermediary companies in one’s own country. Most manufacturing firms should use the services of intermediaries and trade, since trade enterprises can carry out sales functions with greater efficiency and lower costs than the manufacturer himself. Intermediaries play a significant role in ensuring the variety of goods offered, which allows buyers, saving time, to purchase several goods in one transaction. The manufacturer himself can provide a range of related products.

Based on the information studied, the process of developing and launching a new product on the market consists of several successive stages, the observance of which allows the company to most effectively prepare the company for the release of a new product and its distribution, as well as get an idea in advance about the reaction of consumers to it, and predict sales volumes and arrived.

1.2 Marketing research and its role in the development of a new product

The development of a new product cannot be carried out without marketing research, since it is marketing research that allows us to minimize the risks of failure in the market. So, marketing research is the systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information to improve efficiency, identify and solve marketing problems. They make it possible to clarify the current situation in the external environment and to draw the structure of meeting needs in a certain territory. Marketing research can be divided into 3 groups:

1. Market research (capacity, state of demand, product structure, market development prospects, geographical location)

2. Consumer research (segmentation, ways to use the product, purchasing motives, purchasing methods, unmet needs)

3. Research of competitors (main competitors, dynamically developing competitors, competitor brands, forms and methods of sales, product features)

Market research is the most common direction in marketing research. It is carried out to obtain data on market conditions to determine the activities of the enterprise. Market research allows you to systematically collect, analyze and compare all the information necessary to make important decisions related to market selection, determining sales volume, forecasting and planning market activities.

The objects in this case are trends and processes of market development, including analysis of changes in economic, scientific, technical, demographic, environmental, legislative and other factors. Its structure, geography and capacity, sales dynamics, the state of competition, the current environment, opportunities and risks are also examined.

When developing a new product, market capacity plays an important role. Market capacity is the possible volume of sales of a product at a specific level and price ratio. It is measured in natural and monetary terms and is always determined for a certain given territory.

The main results of market research are forecasts of its development, assessment of market trends, and identification of key success factors. Are determined by the most effective ways maintaining a competitive policy and the ability to enter new markets. Market segmentation and selection of target markets and market niches are carried out.

Consumer research allows us to identify and study the entire complex of motivating factors that guide consumers when choosing goods (income, social status, gender and age structure, education). The objects are individual consumers, families, households, and organizations. The subject of the study is the motivation of consumer behavior in the market and its determining factors. The structure of consumption, the supply of goods, and trends in consumer demand are studied. In addition, the processes and conditions for satisfying fundamental consumer rights are analyzed. The developments here include a typology of consumers, modeling of their behavior in the market, and a forecast of expected demand. The purpose of such research is consumer segmentation and selection of target market segments.

Competitor research is to obtain the necessary data to provide an advantage in the market, as well as to find opportunities for cooperation and collaboration with possible competitors. For this purpose, their strengths and weaknesses are analyzed, the market share they occupy, the reaction of consumers to their marketing means (product improvement, price changes, trademarks, behavior of advertising companies, service development). Along with this, material, financial, labor potential competitors, organization of activity management. The results of such research are the selection of ways and opportunities to achieve the most advantageous position in the market (leadership, following the leader, avoiding competition), the determination of active and passive strategies for ensuring a price advantage or an advantage due to the quality of the goods offered.

In addition, research on product promotion and sales is highlighted, which aims to determine the most effective ways, means and means of quickly bringing the product to the consumer and its sale. The main objects here are trade channels, intermediaries, sellers, forms and methods of sale, distribution costs (comparison of trade costs with the amount of profit received). The research also includes an analysis of the functions and features of the activities of various types of wholesale and retail, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, the nature of existing relationships with manufacturers. Such information makes it possible to determine opportunities to increase the turnover of an enterprise, optimize inventory, develop criteria for choosing effective channels for promoting goods, and develop methods for selling them to end consumers.

Conducted market research may be ineffective if possible actions of competitors are not taken into account. If competitors are knowledge-oriented, then research will help predict their moves, but also vice versa. Therefore, it is better for the company to develop actions that will be opposite to the results arising from the research.

Thus, the role of marketing research in the development and launch of a new product on the market is extremely large, since it is research that makes it possible to most accurately determine the effectiveness of the idea’s implementation.

1.3 Risks and errors when developing new products and introducing them to the market

There is a group of factors that negatively influence the introduction of a new product to the market, it includes: lack of a distinctive property or unique advantage of the product, unclear definition of the product or market before its development, imbalance of the technical, production and research capabilities of the company, inefficiency of technological operations, overestimation degree of market attractiveness. The most common problem is that as the product is promoted, company management shifts attention from the needs of consumers to their own.

Traditional mistakes when developing a new product include:

1. Managers tend to focus on the question of “where” rather than “how” to compete. Thinking about how to produce and deliver goods and services can often be a better resource than asking how to sell. However, when developing products and introducing them to markets, questions of marketing “where” receive more attention: which markets to serve, which promotion channels to use, issues of placing products on shelves.

2. There is insufficient emphasis on uniqueness and adaptability. If a company does not emphasize the uniqueness of new products, then it is unlikely to achieve it. Most proposals for new products are evaluated primarily on the basis of expected financial results: what revenues, market share and profits are projected over a fixed period of time. But if similar products appear at this time, the forecasts may turn out to be too high. It is important that the product is adaptable enough to survive and profit from unpredictable developments.

3. Little attention is paid to the question of when competition should begin. Products driven by new technologies can quickly become obsolete as a result of the emergence of competing technologies. Even when the time to launch a product is estimated exactly right, the company must evaluate whether it has enough strength to enter it first, and if not, adjust its investment and development strategies in such a way as to occupy a place of at least second or third player.

5. Companies use standard performance measures. Typically, short-term profitability measures are used rather than assessing long-term revenue generation.

The risks of lack of demand for new products may be due to the following reasons:

– the dynamics of changes in consumer preferences (what is the likelihood that by the time this product meets the consumer, the totality of utilities contained in it will fully correspond to the consumer’s value system?);

– discrepancy between the cost estimates of goods (services) by consumers (what is the likelihood that the company’s ideas about quality, price and terms of sale will completely coincide with the consumer’s ideas?);

– scientific and technological progress(what is the likelihood that investment in the development, production and sale of this product will give the expected return before a technologically new product appears on the market that will be able to displace it?);

– the action of competitive forces in the relevant market (what is the likelihood that our product (service) will be more preferable to consumers than competitors’ analogues?);

– consumer uncertainty (what is the likelihood that we will be able to overcome the consumer’s uncertainty (skepticism) about the product/service we offer?).

In addition, the most serious mistakes are errors in product positioning. The following factors play an important role here: external environment such as: geographical location, historical aspects, ethno-cultural characteristics, religion, socio-economic status, politics, demography and ecology of the area where the target market is located. When choosing a specific segment, it is necessary to correctly build not only the image of the product, but pricing. Incorrectly selected pricing strategy may have a detrimental effect on product sales. For example, the market has already been mastered by other manufacturers, the organization begins to produce similar products with minor qualitative changes, and unreasonably increases the price - this will lead to the fact that people will not buy the product. It is important that the concept of a new product is as harmonious as possible, taking into account all the features of the target segment.

Thus, the possible most typical mistakes in the development and launch of a new product on the market are considered, the avoidance of which significantly increases the efficiency of the implementation of the idea of ​​a new product.

The work carried out made it possible to identify the main stages of the process of developing and launching a new product on the market, to determine the degree of importance of marketing research in this area, as well as to identify risks and errors when implementing a new product project.

2. Development and launch of a new product on the market using the example of the company “ Mars LLC »

2.1 Study of the company’s product line “ Mars LL WITH"

1. DOVE® – silk chocolate; ice cream

2. MARS® – a bar made of milk chocolate, nougat and caramel; ice cream

3. SNICKERS® – a bar made of milk chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts; ice cream

4. TWIX® – 2 sticks of crispy cookies with creamy caramel in milk chocolate; ice cream

5. Bounty® – coconut pulp in milk chocolate; ice cream

6. M&M’S® – chocolate candies in glaze (with and without peanuts)

7. Celebrations – ® sets of chocolates in original gift packaging

8. SKITTLES® – fruit chewing candies in glaze

9. Rondo® – refreshing mints

10. STARBURST® – Fruit Gummies and Lollipops

11. Tunes® – throat lozenges for the first symptoms of a cold

12. Orbit® – chewing gum in strips and pads

13. Extra ® – chewing gum in pads

14. Eclipce® – chewing gum in pads

15. Wrigley’s® – chewing gum strips

16. Flavia® – teas and instant coffee

17. CircuHelth® – cocoa-based drinks for a healthy diet

18. PEDIGREE® – healthy food for dogs

19. Chappi® – hearty dog ​​food

20. WHISKAS® – food for happy cats

21. Kitekat® – food for energetic cats

22. Sheba® – elite cat food

23. RoyalCanin® – professional food for dogs and cats

24. Korkunov® – elite Russian chocolate

25. Gurmania® – ready-made soups

26. UncleBen’s – instant rice, sauces

27. Dolmio – sauces.

From this list it can be seen that the company produces products in five main areas: sweets (12 brands), chewing gum (4 brands), drinks (2 brands), pet food (6), food products (3).

Mars is one of the most professional companies in the FMCG market; when entering a particular market, the concern builds large enterprises and the Russian market is no exception. Mars activities in Russia began in 1991 (JSC Masterfoods, since 1995 Mars LLC). At the end of 1993, the first regional representative office was organized (Vladivostok), and in 1994, a network of sales branches was deployed in other regions of the country.

The first production site is the plant in Stupino, which went into operation in 1995; in 1996, the head office of Mars LLC was moved from Moscow to Stupino. Subsequently they opened production capacity in Lukhovitsy near Moscow and Novosibirsk. In 2008, construction began on two factories in Ulyanovsk, one for the production of chocolate bars, the other for the production of pet food, the location was well chosen from a logistics point of view. In addition, on April 28, 2008, Mars announced the purchase of the largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the United States, Wrigley, for $23 billion. In the global market, according to experts, this deal allowed Mars to gain leadership in the chewing gum segment, and in Russia, thanks to the Odintsovo confectionery factory, which produces products under the brand “A. Korkunov" and since 2007 80% owned by Wrigley, the company has significantly expanded its portfolio of chocolate brands and reached second place in this market, almost catching up with the local leader - the United Confectioners company. Mars is strong in the chocolate bar segment, but the manufacturer was not represented in the traditional Russian segment of packaged chocolate candies, so the acquisition of Wrigley greatly advanced the company. In general, in the market of packaged chocolate products in cities with a population of more than 100 thousand inhabitants in 2007, Mars occupied 6.3% by value, “A. Korkunov" - 13.9%. The combination of assets brought the company to second place after United Confectioners (23%) with a share exceeding 20%

The company considers the expansion of production promising, since the consumption of its goods is growing: according to Rosstat, in total in 2006, 1.05 million tons of confectionery products were produced in Russia. According to expert estimates from Nielsen Russia, the volume of the chocolate bar market for December 2005 – November 2006 is 11.67 billion rubles. (growth dynamics - 14%) in monetary terms, or 55.68 million kg in volume (growth 8%). The volume of retail sales of cat and dog food in Russian cities with a population of over 10,000 people for the entire 2006 increased by 24% in value terms and amounted to 16.33 billion rubles. In physical terms, feed sales increased by 14% to 190,929 tons. Despite the financial crisis, sales volumes remain at a fairly high level - the increase in revenue in 2009 was 11%. Problems arise only at the distribution level. Some regional retailers and distributors may delay payments. The company is ready for retail bankruptcies to occur on the Russian market. The Mars distribution network was developed during the 1998 crisis, it is based on the consignment principle (almost all risks are borne by the supplier.), which simplifies life for distributors. Mars is firmly committed to the principle of mutual benefit - if a retailer convinces the company that it is necessary to reconsider the basis of cooperation, otherwise it will not survive, then the manufacturers, having carefully considered the issue, can agree to meet them halfway.

The company spends 10% of turnover annually on marketing and promotion. Typically, Mars first imports a new product to the target market, analyzes sales volumes and, if successful, opens local manufacturing plants, but there are a number of products specifically designed only for specific areas; examples of such developments will be discussed in paragraph 2.2.

Thus, MarsLLC is currently one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world, in addition, it produces food and pet food. The company's brand portfolio is very diverse, however, this does not hinder successful work organizations.

2.2 Development and launch of chocolate Dove

The history of Dove chocolate began in 1939, when Greek-American Leo Stefanos opened a candy store on the South Side of Chicago, calling it Dove. The name was chosen for a simple reason - Stefanos believed that a family store should symbolize peace, like a dove. The recipe for the chocolate itself was developed much later - in 1956. The fact is that Leo was very worried about his child buying ice cream from a mobile van, he considered it unsafe. Then the caring father began to prepare popsicles on his own - an ice cream bar placed on a stick, dipped in chocolate to make it especially tasty, Leo experimented with chocolate recipes. Dove turned out to be very gentle due to the finest grinding of cocoa beans.

In 1977, Leo died and the entire business passed into the hands of his son Mike. In 1984, Mike presented his branded chocolate and ice cream at an exhibition in Washington, after which he began to receive a large number of orders for his products from all over the country.

In 1986, Mars bought Mike's business and so the Dove brand entered its portfolio. Now chocolate and ice cream under this brand can be bought in more than 30 countries around the world, and annual sales amount to about 30 million bars. It is noteworthy that in the UK these products are sold under the Galaxy brand.

Dove chocolate first appeared in Russia in the 90s, but it was almost immediately withdrawn from the market because it was not sold due to its too high price. Since 2007, the production of this chocolate has been established at the plant in Stupino. By introducing Dove to the market, Mars entered a new segment of chocolate bars, making an accurate calculation - “400 rubles per 1 kilogram is not too high a price for the premium segment, so the company may well occupy about 15% of the premium chocolate market,” the chairman believes Board of Directors of the company "Konfael" Irina Eldarkhanova. As Anastasia Zaslavskaya, corporate affairs manager at Kraft Foods, notes, the growth potential in the premium chocolate segment is obvious. And according to the deputy managing director of the United Confectioners holding, Evgeny Shilov, the interest of a large corporation in the premium segment is justified right now: “premium” has already been adapted by such companies as Lindt, Ritter Sport and A. Korkunov.

The company decided to conquer the Russian market with the help of beautiful advertising. Dove is positioned not only as premium chocolate, but also emphasizes its unique silkiness and delicate taste.

Despite the fact that the advertising is carefully developed and the product is clearly positioned, some Russians are still skeptical about this chocolate, refusing to buy it on principle. The thing is that Unilever has Dove soaps and shampoos in its portfolio of brands. In this regard, many people simply think that chocolate is tasteless and smells like soap. There is nothing in common between these products. The fonts and dove symbol used on product packaging are similar. This can be seen when comparing them.

Thus, the company’s introduction of Dove chocolate to the Russian market did not live up to expectations, although the peculiarities of the economic situation in the country were taken into account, as well as the segmentation carried out. Despite the fact that the sale of premium chocolate bars in Russia is promising, the company can occupy, at best, no more than 15% of the market, but it firmly holds 2/3 of the chocolate bar market.

2.3 Bad experience of the company

As already noted earlier, Mars LLC is known in the world as one of the largest chocolate producing companies, however, it has been quite successful in capturing other markets, for example, dog and cat food under various brands are sold in large volumes. Residents of Russia were initially skeptical about Whiskas, Kiticat, Pedigree and Chappy, since it was unclear what the products were made of and the price was quite high. However, sales began to increase marketing companies for each brand allowed the products to consolidate their positions.

In an attempt to increasingly develop the Russian market, Mars launched the production of loose candies “Derzhava” in 2000.

Mars had all the ingredients for success: almost a century of experience in the confectionery market, a turnover of $18 billion, its own confectionery factory in Stupino, Moscow Region, and well-known companies involved in the creation of “Derzhava”. Having decided to create a brand specifically for the Russian market, in 1998 Mars hired McKinsey consultants, who recommended that the client explore the widest segment of the chocolate market - producing loose chocolates. At that time they accounted for about half of the market. According to estimates by Mars and McKinsey, in the late 90s, about 1,200 types of loose candies were produced in the country, but there were no real brands among them. Numerous “bears”, “little red riding hoods”, “squirrels” could be considered such only conditionally, because they were produced by different factories. Although most of them worked according to the same GOST standards, the taste of the candies varied greatly: for example, in some the waffles were thicker, in others they were crunchier. Because of this, all Russian consumers preferred local products, to the taste of which they were accustomed. In November 1999, Mars decided to start producing “Power” for the New Year season of 2000. A team of 78 people was given 11 months to create and launch a new product.

Together with the Ikon design studio, part of the BBDO Russia group of companies, the Russian division of Mars studied all design options for Russian candies and identified 15 thematic groups. For example, the “animals” could include the candies “Kara-Kum” (camel), “Swallow”, “Bears”, “Squirrel”, “Crawfish”; there were also works of art and fairy tale characters - Alyonushka, “Gulliver”. Mars decided to create 10 of its own thematic series - “Countries of the World”, “Heroes of Fairy Tales”, “Russian Emperors”, “World Masterpieces” and some others; stories about the country or emperor were printed on the back of the candy wrappers. According to the developers, educational texts on the wrappers were supposed to enliven traditional tea drinking. This was reflected in the advertising slogan of “Powers” ​​- “A treat for communication.” Mars also decided not to experiment with the taste of candy and used Soviet recipes from the 60s and 70s. last century.

The first Derzhava candies went on sale in November 2000, simultaneously with teaser advertising. “The streets will soon be empty”, “The husband will return from work on time”, “Thousands of women will savor the details” - such billboards intrigued Russians on the streets, only to soon be replaced by images of sweets, which the whole country was supposed to be talking about. The advertisement was very intriguing, but the solution did not appear for too long, so people began to lose interest in it.

In addition, big problems were created by the packaging of the candies. The thing is that North American consumer protection legislation, which Mars relied on in its work, requires that the product must be intact. This means that the packaging of the product must guarantee its integrity from the moment of production to the moment of consumption. Such a guarantee would be useful in Russia, but the trouble is that it was not applicable to Russian candies, the candy wrappers of which can be easily unwrapped and wrapped back. Nevertheless American corporation required the integrity of its candies in Russia, so the project team spent a lot of time developing technology for the “inviolability” of each individual candy. The company tried to seal the candies with small stickers, but they also did not guarantee the integrity of the packaging. It was not possible to find a technological solution, and the only thing that the Russian division of Mars could do in order not to miss the deadline for releasing the product was to pack the “Power” into boxes. Since this was not planned in advance, the candies had to be placed in half-kilogram promotional boxes prepared for New Year's gifts.

It was this misfortune that became fatal. Due to the new packaging, Derzhava found itself in the wrong market segment that it was aimed at. Boxed chocolates in Russia are most often bought as gifts, so they are considered expensive products, and trade margin on them reached 100% in 2000. Loose sweets are usually bought for yourself, and the markup on them is 15–40%. The corporation initially intended to sell loose “Derzhava” for 105–140 rubles. for 1 kg, but retailers increased the usual markup on the box, and the price of 0.5 kg of sweets increased to 105–120 rubles. Thus, the candies ended up in the wrong environment at an unreasonably high price. Mars headquarters tried to rectify the situation: the chairman of the board of directors of the corporation, John Mars, was so interested in Russian project, which allowed the release of “conditionally sealed” candies sealed with special stickers. But additional costs for packaging equipment led to an increase in the price of sweets. Following its rules, Mars ensured that each Derzhava candy was intact, but at that time this packaging format was not justified from an economic point of view. The stores did not allow the price to be reduced either. When the loose “Derzhava” finally replaced the packaged one, sellers simply multiplied the price of boxed chocolates by two and began selling the candies by weight at 210–240 rubles/kg – twice as expensive as competitors’ products. Such sweets were not in demand due to their high cost.

In just two years, the company spent $3 million on advertising.

But the Mars company did not have one sad experience of introducing a new product to the Russian market. The second failure occurred when promoting ready-made meals under the Gurmaniya brand.

When launching Gourmania, Mars took into account all the mistakes - it did not compete with cheap dry soups and get involved with products whose packaging would contradict American standards, but decided to create a premium segment of ready-made liquid soups. Soups for Mars were also practically a new product: besides Russia, the company produces them only in Canada, but using a completely different technology. Working on the Gourmania project was not much different from the launch of Derzhava. The production of liquid soups was launched in Lukhovitsy near Moscow in 2004. Mars invested $10 million in the construction of the plant alone. According to experts, millions of dollars were spent on promoting the product in retail networks, expansion of distribution and its advertising.

Mars launched a brand that turned out to be expensive for most of the target audience of such products and did not fit into the concept of ready-made fast food. From the very beginning, Gurmaniya was not precisely positioned on the market and sold poorly. Thus, the largest distributor of Mars sold one pallet (pallet for wholesale supplies) of the product in Moscow per month. The thing is that the Russian population is not ready to accept this kind of product, such food often does not inspire confidence, many people do not even want to try it, but Russian housewives love and know how to cook it themselves. In addition, when developing dishes, the taste preferences of Russians were not taken into account; most soups were considered tasteless; only red borscht and Gurmania pea soup were in demand.

In December 2009, Mars officially announced the discontinuation of soups and began selling equipment from the factory. “Gurmaniya” is not the first soup to be withdrawn from the Russian market. Similar soups from Unilever under the Knorr brand were withdrawn from the range back in 2007 for the same reason. Now Campbell’s is trying to fill this niche, offering ready-made broths of the same name for making soups.

The liquid soup category showed a dramatic decline, as did the entire culinary segment. According to Nielsen, retail sales of these products in physical terms in Russian cities with a population of over 10 thousand people from December 2008 to July 2009 decreased by 22% compared to the same period in 2007–2008. For comparison, sales of other products (including noodles, seasonings, instant meals, instant meals, etc.) decreased by 10% over the same period. In monetary terms, the market for liquid soups dropped by 14% and for the period from December 2008 to July of this year amounted to about 322 million rubles.

It follows from this that even giant companies make mistakes when developing and introducing new products to the market. The unsuccessful experience of MarsLLC confirms the fact that innovative activities are risky. The enormous costs of research and advertising are not always justified. When developing and launching a new product, it is very important to take into account the characteristics of the target market down to every smallest nuance. Perhaps if Mars had released “Gourmania” 10–15 years later, taking into account the trends of modern Russia, it would have caught on and been sold successfully. As for the Derzhava candies, they should not have been advertised so extensively. As a rule, there is no advertising on the Russian market of loose candies; instead, the so-called “word of mouth” works - if the candies are tasty, then consumers themselves will advertise them.

The work carried out allowed us to analyze the yield Mars company to the Russian market. In general, sales volumes are very high and the organization is a major global player, but nevertheless, not every of its projects becomes a recognized brand. Research has shown that the company’s main mistake when developing and introducing new products to the Russian market is inaccuracy in positioning, as well as ignoring the peculiarities of mentality, culture and economic situation Russians.

Conclusion

The work carried out made it possible to analyze the problem of developing and introducing a new product to the market and to identify the main risk factors using a practical example.

In the first chapter, the need to develop new products was substantiated by establishing the following facts:

1. organizations gain competitive advantages;

2. expansion of production at a high rate;

3. protection against obsolescence of the product range;

4. increasing the profitability of the enterprise.

The main stages of the process of developing and introducing a new product to the market were considered, namely:

1. Creating an idea for a new product

2. Development of the concept of a new product (materialization of the idea)

3. Development marketing strategy, including:

a) analysis of production and sales capabilities, potentially sales volume, cost and profit forecasting, price planning;

b) product development (production technologies and positioning);

c) trial sales

4. Bringing the product to market.

Following the order of the stages of the process allows the organization to most effectively prepare for the release of a new product and its distribution, as well as get an idea in advance about the reaction of consumers to it, and predict sales volumes and profits.

It has been established that the role of marketing research in the development and launch of a new product on the market is extremely large, since it is research that makes it possible to most accurately determine the effectiveness of the implementation of an idea.

Possible most typical mistakes in the development and launch of a new product on the market are considered, among which are:

1. incorrect segmentation;

2. unclear positioning;

3. inconsistency of the product with the target market;

4. opposition from competitors;

5. Wrong choice of pricing strategy.

The following conclusion is made: awareness of these errors will allow you to take into account the likelihood of their occurrence, and will also help you avoid the most typical problems when developing and introducing a new product to the market.

The second chapter is a practical part, in which, using the example of the world-famous company MarsLLC, the features of introducing a product to the market, as well as problems in developing a product and its positioning, are examined. Diversification of production combined with private form properties allow the company to maintain a leading position in its target markets.

The attempts of this company to introduce three new products to the Russian market, two of which were specially developed only for Russia, which did not bring positive results, were investigated. It has been proven that the mental differences between Russians and Americans played an important role when introducing a new product to the market.

Vedomosti

Vedomosti

Vedomosti

Most businessmen dream of creating a new product. They are passionate about the idea of ​​selling a product or service that competitors do not have. Moreover, it should be a product for which buyers will line up. The idea is good, but not many people manage to find it, much less implement it. How to introduce a new product to a new market that will leave no chance for competitors in the future?

Difficulty of the task

Introducing a new product to the market is not easy and quite expensive. In this regard, many entrepreneurs give up their positions at the very beginning of their journey. The upcoming difficulties scare away beginners. However, introducing a new product to a new market is a completely feasible task. When developing the right marketing strategy already in as soon as possible you can ensure that a product or service takes a leading position. An entrepreneur just needs to be prepared for the fact that it is unlikely that the new product will begin to make a profit in the initial stages.

Choosing the right strategy

Based on current practice, we can conclude that introducing a new product to a new market is associated with significant risks. This leads to the fact that the implementation of an idea is not always successful.

To minimize risks, you will need to apply proper marketing and use the necessary techniques to attract the attention of consumers to a little-known product that has just appeared on the market. Only this will make it buyable and in demand. How to achieve the desired result? To do this, it is important for each manufacturer to use marketing tools that will allow them to produce the product the consumer needs, selling it when needed, where needed and at a price that would satisfy the buyer.

Currently, many different techniques have been developed that help introduce a new product to a new market. In this regard, entrepreneurs and businessmen will need, first of all, to study the existing arsenal of marketing tools and learn how to use them correctly to realize their idea. Of course, each manufacturer must introduce its own nuances, which will be dictated by specific conditions, into any already tested strategies and techniques for promoting a product or service. After all, classic techniques work most effectively only if they are adapted to a specific business.

Be that as it may, the launch of a new product on the market must go through certain stages before it reaches the buyer. They start with concept development and end with commercialization. The strategy for introducing new products to the market can be different. That is why we will consider a generalized idea of ​​​​the steps to promote goods and services.

Idea development

Where does the creation of a new product begin? From generating or searching for ideas. They may come from company employees and scientists, customers and competitors, dealers, and senior management.

He considers the most logical starting point of this stage to be identification of the needs and desires of consumers. After all, buyers who most professionally use the products already produced by the company are the first to notice everything that needs to be improved in them. The company can learn about the needs and wants of customers by organizing surveys, group discussions, projective tests, and also considering consumer complaints and suggestions. In the history of world business, there are many examples where good ideas are born to engineers and designers after surveys were conducted of consumers talking about their problems while using a product.

To create a new product, many companies use suggestions received from their employees. Moreover, the desire to create new ideas by employees is, as a rule, encouraged. Thus, Toyota employees propose about 2 million new ideas every year. Moreover, the company implements 85% of them. And the Kodak company rewards employees who present the best ideas with gifts and cash bonuses. This practice is adopted by many other companies.

Good ideas sometimes come from studying competitors' products, through contact with dealers and sales representatives manufacturing company. There are other sources that allow a company to begin creating a new product. Sometimes they are inventors, commercial and university laboratories, industry publications, etc.

Selection of ideas

Any company collects proposals received. They are subsequently reviewed by the ideas manager. He divides proposals into three groups - promising, dubious, and unpromising. Those ideas that fall into the first category are further tested on a large scale. When selecting received proposals, it is important not to make a mistake. After all, sometimes companies reject good idea, starting work on an unpromising direction. One example of introducing a new product is installment trading. At one time, Marshall Field foresaw the unique possibilities of such tactics. But Endicott Johnson did not like this proposal. He called installment trading a most vile system that can only create trouble.

Product release decision

After selecting the most promising ideas, the company needs to consider the following aspects:

• expected profit from sales;
• the company's ability to take the idea into production;
• the likelihood of investing in a new project;
• approximate assessment of the volume of consumer demand;
• formation of price levels;
• sales channels;
• likelihood of obtaining a patent;
• assessment of available resources and the level of costs for purchasing equipment (in the case of production of a technically complex product).

Concept development

What is the future plan for bringing the new product to market? The most compelling ideas should then be turned into product concepts that can be tested. What is it? A product concept is understood as an already developed version of a promising idea, which is expressed in a form that is meaningful to the consumer.

Let's consider this important of all stages of introducing a new product to the market using the example of a company operating in the food industry.

Suppose its management decides to launch a powder that, when added to milk, can improve its taste and nutritional value. This is just an idea for a product for now. Next, it needs to be turned into a concept, which may not be alone. For example:

1. Who will be the user of the product? In this case, these could be infants, children, adolescents or adults.
2. What are the advantages of the product? Energy boost, refreshment, nutritional value or taste?
3. When will consumers consume such a drink? During breakfast, lunch, dinner, dinner or late at night?

Only by answering all these questions can you begin to formulate a product concept. So, the drink proposed for production can be:

• Soluble. It will be intended for adults only. It is planned to be consumed as a quick nutritious breakfast.
• For children. The product will have a pleasant taste and can be consumed throughout the day.
• Strengthening health. This drink will be necessary for older people to drink in the evening.

At the next stage of introducing a new product to the market in marketing, a categorical one is selected from all these concepts. It will determine the area of ​​competition for the product. For example, an instant drink will be an alternative to eggs and bacon, cereals, coffee, baked goods, as well as other products included in the breakfast menu.

Creation of a brand

What is the future plan for bringing the new product to market? The product concept at the next stage should turn into a brand concept. A new drink must have significant differences from those already existing on the market. This applies to its average calorie content and price. A company should not position a new product with existing brands, because otherwise it will be quite difficult to win its place in the sun.

Proof of concept

What further should the marketing strategy include to introduce a new product to the market? The next step is for the company to test the chosen concept. This can be done by testing the product with a specific audience of target consumers. This will allow you to find out their reaction.

The plan for introducing a new product to the market may involve presenting the product concept in a specific form. It can be either symbolic or material. At this important stage of introducing a new product to the company’s market, a graphic or verbal description of the product is sufficient. However, it is worth keeping in mind that the test performance will be most reliable when there is a high degree of similarity that can be seen between the concept being tested and the finished product.

An example of bringing a new product to market at this stage is designing it on a computer with the production of a plastic dummy of each option. In this way, toys or small-sized Appliances. Such dummies will allow buyers to get an idea of appearance new product.

One of the steps in bringing a new product to market is the creation virtual reality. This is a computer simulation of the surrounding reality using sensory devices such as glasses or gloves. A similar program is often used to familiarize the consumer with the new interior of his kitchen, the furniture of which will be purchased from this company.

Marketing strategy development

How will a new product be brought to market in the future? In marketing, the next stage of implementing a promising idea involves the development of a preliminary strategy plan. It represents certain steps that a company must go through to sell its product or service. In the future, some corrections and clarifications may be made to the strategy for introducing a new product to the market, depending on the current situation.

The plan being developed should consist of three parts. The first of them contains information about the size and structure of the target market, as well as the behavior of consumers in it. It also provides a description of the product positioning, expected sales volumes, planned profits and market share. All this data is calculated several years in advance.

The second part in the drawn up marketing strategy plan contains data on the pre-formed price of the product, its further distribution, as well as the level of sales costs during the first year of sales.

The third part of the marketing plan includes indicators for product sales and profit generation in the future.

Production and sales capabilities

At the next stage of product promotion, it is important to consider the business attractiveness of the offer. This can be done by analyzing the calculation of expected sales and costs, as well as profits.

All of them must correspond to the company's goals. If the results of such a test are positive, you can begin to develop the product itself.

Process of creation

At the initial stage, it is necessary to prepare production for the release of a new product. To do this, they develop technology, manufacture the necessary equipment and purchase additional tools and equipment. Next, prototypes or a batch of newly created products are manufactured. This completes the creation of a new product.

At this stage, test sales should be prepared and carried out. They represent the implementation of a small number of experimental products. Such a move will allow for additional testing of the market, clarifying the population’s need for the created product. When introducing prototypes of a product to the market, you should not hope to receive the planned profit. At this stage, it is important to check how customers feel about the product and, if necessary, adjust the methods for its further promotion.

Access to the market

At this stage of the launch of a new product, all departments are involved in the work and all functions of the company are affected. These are production and sales, purchasing and finance, personnel, etc. At the same time, operational marketing is connected to strategic marketing, which will require the participation of a tactical as well as a project manager.

As a rule, at this stage the company’s work is unprofitable, and if it makes a profit, it is insignificant. It's all about promotion costs and further development sales channels, which are quite high. That is why, at the initial stages of a product entering the market, consumers should be offered only those options that are basic, because customers are not yet ready to consider modifications to the new product.

In addition, when introducing a product to the market, manufacturers should focus on the target audience. In it, expectations from the product and requests are most studied and predicted.

At this stage, an important role belongs to sales channels and further distribution of products or services. You should pay attention to them Special attention. With a competent solution to this problem, a place in the market will be won in the shortest possible time and at minimal cost.

What will be the choice of implementation system? It depends on the characteristics and image of the company and product, as well as on the reputation of the company.

During development, two options can be considered:

• Direct distribution. In this case, the product from the manufacturer goes directly to the consumer. This scheme is most suitable for the sale of high-tech goods, as well as for expensive and major transactions.
• Distribution with the participation of intermediary companies. Often, trading organizations have a large amount of resources necessary to bring the product to the end consumer. In addition, they provide the buyer with a wide variety of choices brands, which allows the client to significantly save time.

When forming a sales strategy, a marketing plan product promotion. It is worth keeping in mind that there is no universal tool that would allow introducing a new product to the market. For example, large companies in this case invest significant amounts of money in advertising on radio, television and the Internet. They place outdoor advertising and also promote the product in places where it is sold.

Less large companies are deprived of such an opportunity due to lack of funds. They tend to use word of mouth contextual advertising, social media etc. In addition, marketers recommend doing everything possible to ensure that the new product placed on store shelves compares favorably with the offers of other companies, is attractive and bright.

If all the efforts invested in promoting the product did not bring the expected result, then experts recommend making changes to the strategy for its promotion. In this case, you will need to use other types of advertising and promotions.

At this stage of introducing a new product to the market, sizing is of particular importance. advertising budget, drawing up a promotion program, as well as searching for the means of communication with which such work will be carried out.

The presentation of a new product to consumers should be vivid and memorable. To do this, advertising should focus on the features of the product and its differences from existing analogues. In the first stages of introducing a new product to the market, a more rational option would be to sell it via the Internet through participation in specialized exhibitions, etc.

As you can see, many factors influence a new product’s successful entry into the market. That is why at each stage of the project implementation the company must approach the matter comprehensively. This will allow new products gain a foothold in the market, winning the hearts of consumers and bringing stable profits to the company.

Before reaching the buyer, a new product goes through a number of stages from concept development to commercialization. IN different sources you can see many approaches to the structure of creating and launching a new product on the market. Analysis of sources allowed us to formulate a generalized view (Fig. 3):

Figure 3. - Scheme of introducing a new product to the market

product market risk product

Depending on the type of product, existing market information and the situation within the company, steps may be combined or eliminated in the process of introducing the product to the consumer market. Let's consider the content of each stage.

1. Creating an idea for a new product.

The creation of a new product most often begins with the search or generation of ideas. There are a number of principles that can be followed to avoid mistakes:

b the company must ensure a constant influx of new ideas and proposals, give this process an organized and systematic character;

b ideas must be constantly compared with the company’s capabilities and the market situation;

b proposals should be sufficient to ensure freedom of choice of the most promising ones;

b focus on the potential needs of consumers in the future, and not on the needs of “today”;

b The company must have a communication system between departments and employees so that each responsible person has an idea of ​​the most interesting areas of development for the company.

Ideas at this stage can be generated internally (at the initiative of employees or by creating a special department responsible for new ideas), purchasing an idea from a third party, or hiring an employee to develop the concept.

Possible sources of ideas could be:

b opinions of consumers and sales agents obtained through surveys;

ь market research;

b representatives of development departments, Maintenance, company management or other departments that have contact with consumers (for example, the sales department);

b competitive analysis;

ь study of secondary sources of information (printed publications, media;

l opinions of industry experts (professional communities and associations), exhibitions and expositions.

Involving third-party companies for development saves time, but increases the risk of information leakage to competing companies.

After a sufficient number of ideas have been generated that can be implemented within the organization, the stage of selecting the most attractive and profitable begins. Before a decision is made on a trial release of a product/service, the following aspects are considered:

b expected profit from the product/service;

b the company’s ability to implement an idea and put it into production;

b analysis of the company’s financial situation, required investments for the project;

b an approximate assessment of the volume of the consumer market and the trend of its development;

ь a preliminary assessment of the price and necessary distribution channels is given;

b the possibility of obtaining a patent for a product/service is assessed;

b if the product is technically complex, an assessment is made of the existing resources for production and the costs of the necessary equipment and materials.

2. Development of the concept of a new product, giving the idea tangible characteristics. Most often, this stage involves testing an idea on a target group of consumers and monitoring reactions to the product. The less the new product differs from the existing one, the less costly and large-scale the research is expected to be. The result of this stage is the trial production of a product or the provision of a service, which makes it possible to assess the existing problems of production and use. Based on the opinions of consumers and experts, the requirements for product characteristics are adjusted. The reliability of this stage is determined by the degree of compliance of the tested product with the final one that will be delivered to the consumer.

If the product is technically complex, then in parallel with the study of consumer properties, at this stage the features of the production process are studied, and specialists begin to file a patent application. A product quality control system is being developed.

3. Development of a marketing strategy for a new product.

If management makes a positive decision regarding entering the market with a new offer, then actions are taken to develop a marketing strategy for the new product and assimilate the company's departments (marketing, sales, finance) to implement the strategy.

The main goal of the stage is to analyze the macro- and microenvironment of the market, the most promising and target consumer markets.

Development of a marketing strategy includes the following blocks:

b competitive analysis - identifying the strengths and weaknesses of competitors;

b study typical situations, in which the consumer makes a decision to purchase (product/service);

l study the needs and values ​​of customers;

b analysis of economic indicators (market volumes, planning sales volumes, planning costs and profits, required investments and payback period, pricing);

b formation of technical specifications/product development (issues of production organization and management);

ь trial marketing.

The choice of marketing strategy is largely determined by the characteristics of the product. Conventionally, the development of a marketing strategy can be divided into several blocks (Fig. 4):

Figure 4. - Main components of the marketing strategy of a new product

Most often, when developing a strategy, focus groups, in-depth interviews, quantitative surveys, retail audits, U+A studies, and consumer panels are used.

The final stage of the stage is the launch of pilot production. Specialists finally formulate the so-called Marketing Mix of the product: the name of the product, the design of packaging and related materials (advertising materials, instructions, etc.), and develop technical specifications for the departments involved in the sale of the product.

The concept of a new product is launched into trial production (the number of offers is limited and aimed exclusively at target group consumers). This stage allows you to conduct comprehensive consumer research, assess the level and structure of costs required for serial production, and set a price.

This plan is the basis for the company's decision to introduce a new product to the market.

4. Bringing the product to market. This stage affects all functions and divisions of the company: marketing, sales, production, personnel, purchasing, finance, etc. Along with strategic marketing, operational marketing begins to function. Requires the participation of tactical and project management.

In most cases, at this stage, companies incur losses or have insignificant profits, since the costs of promotion and development of sales channels are very high. At the initial stages, it is advisable to release only basic product variants, since the market is not yet ready to accept product modifications.

The manufacturer's main attention is directed to the target audience, since its needs and expectations from the product are the most studied and predictable.

A significant role at this stage should be given to the choice of sales channels and distribution of goods. A competent solution to this problem helps to gain a place in the market less expensively and quickly. The choice of distribution system depends on the characteristics and features of the product, the image of the product and the company, and the company’s reputation.

There are two possible sales strategy options:

• · direct distribution - from the manufacturing company the product goes directly to the consumer. This distribution system is most adequate for the sale of high-tech solutions (requiring warranty and service), or for large, expensive transactions;
• · distribution through intermediary companies. Often intermediary organizations have more resources to bring goods to consumers and they do this with greater efficiency than the manufacturer himself. This is largely due to the fact that having a large number of supplying companies, intermediaries can provide the buyer with a choice of brands, which significantly saves their time.

The main elements of a sales strategy can be (Fig. 5):

Figure 5. - Classification of sales channels