Product Development and Product Life Cycle Strategies - Essay Example

?Background Need drives human to struggle and to tread the path of the invention in order to find ways for the satisfaction of the particular need. As the awareness regarding the global issues started getting amplified and people started getting more conscious about the energy crisis in several countries, then the need for such electronic devices arises which are not really power hunger. So in this way, invention of the LED “Lantern” took place. It was an attempt to galvanize the society rather more specifically the environment from the power shortages which at large be setting the people living in it, and ultimately the society suffers from it. It is a concept which is replete with innovation and creativity. It is a stupendous effort with the never ending benefits for the people. It is a product which is pre-eminent in its kind. One can present it as superior to all others by presenting it as sumptuous. But what if it is useless and people are unable to solve their un-served needs. Pre-eminence in marketing can only be achieved with the delivery of additional value to the customer and making them delighted. One is delighted when the need is satisfied, and he/she gets more value out of the preferred product. Exactly in the same manner LED “Lantern” concept is there only to solve the problem of consumers by phasing out the power hunger bulbs and lightning the field with more efficiency and in an effective manner. Product concept The product concept of LED “Lantern” is, in actual, to encourage people to lighten the fields in some more effective ways with less hazardous material used in the manufacturing and less power consumption. According to one of the estimates, it takes around 1/5 less of energy than the normal light bulb. It is also free from the hazardous element such as mercury thus requires less voltage. Its life is 20 times more than an incandescent bulb which makes it the perfect choice for consumers, with its multi functionality LED “lantern” has the competitive advantage over the others. It can be utilised as a torch lantern by solving the problems of most of the people victim of darkness and want to light their fields and areas while spending less dollars, then LED “Lantern” is a right choice for them. Its utilization for camping purposes can be very fruitful as well. Stressing upon its features, Cree white LED has been installed in it. It has also been allotted a rotate side knob for multi functioning. Its long list of phenomenal attributes do not end up here .it has got top class magnifying glass which is very pre-eminent. It provides the focused long beam which enhances the visibility and serves the consumer with better focus. It has got 2-mode electronic switch for the convenience of the consumer “HIGH & FLASHING”. Green “LED” indicator makes it visible in the darkness, and at the time of any emergent situation, it can be very helpful to get hold of it in the darkness. It is water resistant; its ability to light the fields never gets affected with any external intrusion such as water or any other liquid. Technical Assessments Before the transformation of the product concept into the realized product, its technical aspect must be assessed properly. The product LED “Lantern”, as the name suggests, is based upon the technology that is (Light emitting diodes). The absence of the filament in LED technology based LANTERN makes it cost effective as it helps to curb the consumption of electricity required in order to run the product. Illumination of LEDs occurs as the flow of electrons taken place through the material which behaves as the semiconductor, all this process to be undertaken as a result of charge provided by the electric circuit in the form of electricity (Knisley, 2002). LED is a diode which emits the light. It behaves as the conductor. There is no reversal process taken place for the flow of electricity. It is considered to be the one way process. These diodes are comprised of the main components that are whisker which creates the connectivity with the anode and the other component which is anvil. It tries to build the connective bridge with the cathode. Availability of the LEDs in various colours makes it a true choice for the manufacturers. Famous colours are red, green, yellow, etc (Singh Dhanjal, 2010). Market Assessments Understanding the market in which the product enters to be sold or to be exposed to consumers for the experience is one of the initial steps, which is of higher importance to the marketer. Before knowing your market and the consumers for the purpose of targeting them then it ends up in a fiasco. The boundaries should be properly defined for targeting the consumers and that can be done by defining the market first. Market Segmentation Segmenting the market is one of the important steps. One cannot sell the product without the identification of the market (Mittal, 2010). Marketers need to divide consumers with the variability in their needs and wants that must be defined as a single unit for the effective targeting. Market segmentation is done on several grounds such as demographics, psychographics, geographic and cultural aspects. Demographic Segmentation Sex Male Female Age 18+ Income Group 300 $ plus Occupation Farmers Security guards Travellers Adventurers (for camping out purposes) etc Psychographic Segmentation Social class Lower to upper middle Lifestyle It hails the change and their degree of accepting new products are high (innovators). This product would also be highly recommended by the health and money conscious people. The product is presented as environmental friendly with the absence of hazardous element and it also consumes lesser energy (cost effective at the same time). Personality characteristics Traditional looking people with conventional thoughts of saving money but want to follow the heart and soul of the tradition in a safer way. Target Market Primary Lower to upper middle end consumers Sec C to Sec B Travellers, security guards, farmers (land farmers, poultry farmers) Secondary Housewives (who may use “Lantern” for fashion purposes and, for the need as well in the case of power failure) Shopkeepers Student (he may use it as a lamp) Positioning of Competition In order to imprint the image of product with high frequency of recall and the increased level of the top of the mind awareness, one requires a clear positioning statement. The positioning statement for LED “Lantern” would be: “New and safer way for lightening the world which is plunged into darkness”. The absence of flame replaced with the Diodes is a laborious and stupendous effort for lightning purposes, with the presence of LEDs; it simply mitigates the chances of hurting people which was very high in the conventional lantern. The incandescent bulb in comparison with LED “Lantern” is a power hunger object requires a lot more voltage in order to make the surroundings brighten with the light. Market Research Marketing research plays the role of stepping stone in approaching the consumer with better offerings. Market research plays a pivotal role in understanding the consumer insights which ultimately results defining the expectations of the consumers about the product. Same is in the case of LED “Lantern”. One can gather the information through two ways one getting studying past researches but its end results some way or the other helps in defining the market of the LED “Lantern”. Secondly, marketers can also go for the option to carry out the primary research for LED “Lantern”. Secondary data can be gathered by going through the various researches such as any research done on the consumption of electricity in houses in terms of electricity units, amount of money which is spent by each household in getting the electronic products for lightning purposes. The researches made on such topics can be very helpful in gathering the secondary data. Primary data can be gathered by conducting research with the prime objective of understanding the market for LED “Lantern”. For such purposes, one could carry out the market survey; make questionnaires; get them filled in accordance with the target market defined earlier. Acquire some basic data regarding the consumers with the help of observational methods (Wisegeek, n.d). One on one interview, information gathering through telephones, mail etc can be very helpful in understanding the market and consumers. Many questions can be asked such as: Would you accept the Lantern without the Flame? (If yes, then what would be the degree of acceptability?) What if the Incandescent bulb is replaced by such object which consumes less energy? Would you prefer an object free of hazardous element such as mercury but still brighten your lives with lights? Such questions and even more like that can be asked by the people in order to get useful information (Marketing Teacher, n.d). Development The product LED “lantern” is into the market with the purpose to serve the people for lightning their houses, field and areas. It would change the trend of utilizing the Incandescent bulb with the replacement of the LED “Lantern”. This product would be highly preferable for those bread-earners who are conscious about their money, and want their money to be saved instead of spending it on something which consumes more power and end up in the making the reduction in their money saving. As it is mentioned earlier that it consumes 1/5 times less energy than the incandescent bulb which simply steers one attention toward the undeniable veracity that it would be very helpful in saving the power and fighting with the increasing power shortages which exists in many of the countries. Its utilization as a lamp would be very effective in saving the energy which would diminish the load on both the environment and the bread earner of the family. Those farmers facing the problem in the fields regarding the darkness at night for them LED “Lantern” can behave as torch Lantern which would be very beneficial for them because getting hold of such a cost effective product with multi functionality by spending very little amount of the money seems like a dream for most of the consumers. Making the consumer educated regarding the product can sometimes cost one but ittt is done for the effective penetration. Consumer may find it old fashioned, and mix it up with the old Lantern with the flame which used to be replete with the complexities and in this regard, they can end up in rejecting the product, but all such negative feelings about the product can be transformed into positive ones through the effective communication with the consumers. Market Testing/ Validation After the Number of stages a product goes through, the stage comes when the product needs to be tested, Before going for the all out introduction of the product and incurring gargantuan costs attached with introduction and marketing one needs to go for market testing and product testing. It is not necessary that the market testing ensures success all the time, but it may help in understanding the market to a greater extent, and also the level of acceptance the product has in the market. Standard Test Markets In this approach, the company tries to look for the selective number of representatives in the particular region. Within the boundaries of the selected region, marketing activities are carried out by utilizing the store audits, consumer surveys and distributor surveys. LED “Lantern” would follow the same market testing approach. By following this approach, the results would be very helpful in forecasting the sales and determining the pattern of acceptance for the product. Stimulated Test Markets Testing the product in the shopping environment which is stimulated is another approach on can adopt. The research firm shows the advertisements to the sample of the consumers of many products and give them some amount of money and observe that whether they adapt the change by preferring the new product or they buy the renowned brand. The same approach can be followed for the LED “Lantern”. Controlled Test Markets As the name suggests, this particular approach has the control panel of the selected consumers. The behaviour of consumers is observed. The shelf placement and pricing of the product is decided by the firm. Consumer goes through many scan processes and in this regard, their purchases are observed by the panel. LED “lantern” can also follow this approach for its product testing (Heidi, 2011). Marketing Plan The success of any marketing plan of every product launch is dependent on several aspects. Let us analyze a few. Potential market Marketing plan of any launch is designed considering potential market. In proposed case, it is dependent on various factors as: Profile by adopter category People want to standout in a crowd they usually do things in a way in which others notice them and like them the way they standout themselves. Electricity is a human-need, but nowadays, people want it in a more reliable way. The lantern concept is not new and no one likes to use this old concept again because of the complexity of this product, but if someone tells the person about the latest lantern with less of the complexities attached with it. People really love to own such products; something which makes them excited. The LED lantern is much safer and a long life product, the product is made for those who take a risk and standout themselves in a more superior way. People such as travellers, guards and those who couldn’t carry the electricity wires with them for the purpose of the light can use this product. It can also be used as a household product, for example children can use this product for their study purposes, and also due to the global energy problems we can save energy by utilizing the LED lantern. Target Market The product itself is very reliable in a way that it has a long life plus it has the ability to operate in a safer way. People such as travellers, security guards, are the main target audience because they want portable light which helps them in their work so the LED lantern could be a better choice for them because this product is not only safer but also it has a long life. Pre- Launch Pre-launch holds important value in the promotion of any product worldwide. People should be educated about the proposed product and its advantages before a product is launched. Promotion of Event First, we can create some hype that light is never be so safe by making teasers; it helps us to build curiosity among our target market. We can do this by making advertisement and communicate our ads through billboards, newspapers and the local radio fm network. Then we should launch an event in which we allow our target market to experience the product which we are promoting (LED lantern). Launch What will the event be? The event is to provide appropriate knowledge to our target audience about the product and also give them the live experience of how to use the product. Where will it take place? As our target market is lower and upper middle so we decided to make kiosks in different locations and theses locations truly represent our target market. The event gives them the complete knowledge about the product and also we decided to delight our consumer by doing flash mob in different kiosks locations. When will it take place? It takes place immediately after launching the product. The event also helps us to increase our sale by selling the product on every kiosk. Who will be invited; see it; be targeted? The event is for everyone. We have our defined target market but these kiosks which we installed on different locations their actual aim is to encourage awareness about the product that for whom it made and for what purposes. We know that our product is proposed to be used as a household product which can be further helpful in different purposes from studying to the electricity shortage problems so every responsible family member of a family is our target audience. What do you expect to achieve? Our main aim is to create awareness of the product. We can definitely achieve this by engaging our target market in a more delightful manner. We expect to achieve the high acceptability rate of our product in the eyes of our target market. Follow up Launch After the successful launch of the product, we can promote our product by running different promotions such as buy one get one free and we should also reduce the product price in order to increase sales. The best way to communicate with our target audience is advertisements and for our target market the placement of billboards on selected areas is the main source of communication. Pricing Strategy The best suitable option in order to price the LED “Lantern” is “market penetration pricing”. In the initial stages, it would be appropriate to charge the consumer with low prices based upon its cost to manufacture the product 2% margin would be kept as it is new in the market and with knowing the fact that its target market starts from lower to upper middle class adapting this strategy would be a right decision to make. In order to phase out the incandescent bulb, some additional benefits should be offered by charging little more to the cost incurred in manufacturing initially to lure more consumers and to penetrate into the market. Afterwards when the consumer accepts the product (after a year or two) and shows no resistance in adapting the new product then premium pricing should be charged for the product for being unique and differentiated. Some fears are also attached with the product of being perceived as low quality product by looking at its low prices but LED “Lantern” multi functions and its long list of phenomenal attributes would take over the negative perception and transform this negativity into the rays of positivity by creating strong attachment with the product because of its quintessential attributes. Distribution Strategy Effective distribution strategy should be designed in order to penetrate into the market by leaving strong and long lasting impression on the mindset of the consumer. In the absence of effective distribution strategy, it may be possible that a consumer gets dissatisfied. If the consumer doesn’t get the product because of the non –availability of the product, the end result would be the dissatisfaction which may, ultimately, beset the company’s operation of optimizing the profit. The LED “Lantern” must follow the following distribution channel: Throughout the end of the first year, it will follow the same Distribution strategy. Initially, the parts required to make the LED “Lantern” are sent to the assemble department where all the assembling process will take place and after the processing ends and converts into the finished product, then the product is sent to the distributor which is followed by the wholesalers then retailers and then to the end consumers. This is the trading plan/distribution channel LED “Lantern” should follow (Marketing Mo, n.d). Integrated Strategy The first thing which needs to be part of one conscious awareness is that all the elements, stages and processes of the marketing plan should be integrated in order to develop the effective marketing strategy. Be it the activities and the strategies (events, promotion of events, defining the potential market, decision in relation with the selection of the place for the event, standards setting of the performances, pricing strategies, distribution strategies) or the post launch activities (Monitoring of the performance, follow up to launches), all must complement each others (Gold-Bernstein, 2003). In short, all the strategies should be integrated, because one misunderstanding results in the complete failure of the entire project (Wikipedia, 2009). The strategy is about making such integrated plans which reflect in the marketing mix. It simply emphasizes over the fact that one message should be communicated and delivered throughout the marketing activities and the message must be persistent. It is because of the effective integrated strategy that it eradicates the chances of duplication in the tasks (Parenti, n.d). Conclusion Upon summarizing the whole plan for the LED “Lantern”, it can be said that it’s a viable product for the consumers with good market feasibility. Its multi functionality enhances the chances to become a highly preferable option for consumers in solving the UN served need by consuming the mentioned product. References Gold-Bernstein, B., 2003. Creating An Integration Strategy. [Online] Available at: http://www.ebizq.net/topics/soa_management/features/2928.html [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Heidi, S., 2011. Chapter 9: New Product Development-and-Product Life Cycle Strategies. In Principles of Marketing. 13th ed. Study Blue. Knisley, J.R., 2002. Understanding LED Technology. [Online] Available at: http://ecmweb.com/basics/understanding-led-technology [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Marketing Mo, n.d. Find new marketing channels of distribution for your product. [Online] Available at: http://www.marketingmo.com/strategic-planning/how-to-develop-your-distribution-channels/ [Accessed 8 June 2012]. Marketing Teacher, n.d. Introduction to Marketing Research. [Online] Available at: http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-marketing-research.html# [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Mittal, V., 2010. Market Segmentation and its Advantages. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessihub.com/market-segmentation-and-its-advantages/ [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Parenti, R, n.d. Integration Marketing Strategy – Small Integration Marketing Change Huge Results. [Online] Available at: http://buildonlinewealth.com/integration-marketing-strategy-small-integration-marketing-change-huge-results/ [Accessed 8 June 2012]. Singh Dhanjal, K.D., 2010. How does LED Work? [Online] Available at: http://myschool.in.com/student-corner/other-how-does-led-work-3822.html [Accessed 7 June 2012]. Wikipedia, 2009. Integrated Marketing Communications. [Online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_marketing_communications [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Wisegeek, n.d. What is Market Research? [Online] Available at: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-market-research.htm [Accessed 9 June 2012]. Read More