Launching a New Product on International Market - Research Paper Example

During the commercialization process, a number of activities designed to aid in the sale and promotion of a product in both local and international markets are undertaken. Some of these include the launching of the product and the subsequent heavy increase in the promotional and advertising activity of this given product in the market (Fortenberry, 2010, p. 284). It is also at this stage that the product’s distribution pipeline is seen to be filled with the product (Fortuin, 2007, p. 36).

With respect to the commercialization plan, although there are a large number of key issues to be considered, there are in essence some key implications that can be seen to greatly affect the launching of a new product into the international market. These include;

The Timing of the Product Launch
Companies can at times be forced to delay the actual launching of a given product in the market in the event that it anticipates that the product can be further improved before its launching, another key factor that can also cause product launch delays is in the launching of a new product, the company risks critically cannibalizing the sales of some of its other products (Loch & Kavadias, 200, p. 392). Perhaps one of the most crucial determinants of the product launch of a given product in the international market is the situation in the global economy. The global economy is seen to be particularly sensitive to the influence of a large number of factors and while some can have a positive influence on its economy, some others tend to impact it negatively and cause this economy to be on the low, in this instance, it thus becomes important for companies to delay the launch of new products into the international market (Jayachandran, 2004, p. 212).

Target Customers
The potential impact of a new product’s consumer group cannot be overemphasized and it is thus critical for the needs of this group to be identified early enough by the company via its engagement in test marketing and research (Rafinejad, 2007, p. 160). This initial primary group of consumers that should be sampled across different sections of the international market should be caused to consist of heavy users, early adopters, innovators and opinion leaders as this will be an important factor influencing the adoption of the product by other buyers.

Launch Location
The launching of a new product into the international market is seen to be impacted by a number of factors such as the company’s resources especially in terms of a company’s operational capacities, managerial confidence, and capital availability. While launching new products into the international market, most smaller companies opt to launch their products in the more attractive cities or regions while the larger companies normally enter national markets at once (Mühlbacher et al., 2006, p. 479). Most global rollouts are generally seen to be undertaken by multinational conglomerates while some will opt to use the lead-country strategy that sees them introduce the new product in one single region or country at a time.
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