This morning as I was putting away the file from my recent Marketing Executive Peer Group on “the Role of Marketing in Product Development” I found myself browsing some rough notes and remembering how interesting the discussion was . A range of topics was discussed. Below I have highlighted some things that resonated with me:

Core questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. Does the end user want it? Are we solving a need?
2. Can we make/provide?
3. Can we make money from it?
4. Will the distribution channel drive it?

Where do we get good ideas for products?

• Marketing should be the conduit for ideas coming from the inside or outside. Marketing can play a key role in setting up a structure and framework for idea generation.
• You can get ideas from customers and prospects, partners, sales staff, analyst/research community, futurists. The real challenge is to come up with a way to prioritize and rank. The hidden gems are actually your employees – tap into them at all levels.
• Some of the great ideas we have seen, the solution has been there all along, but noone thought about the problem. For example, brake lights on cars are more visible when placed higher up. The solution was there all along yet this problem was not solved until many years into automobile production.
• You have to develop a culture that is not silo’d. You have to get employees out of their cubicles and interacting with customers (at Google employees are required to spend some time focusing on stuff not work related).

Why do new products fail? Here are some of the things our group of executives touched on:

• Sales channels do not exist
• The timing of the launch is off
• It is not a prioritized and focused initiative
• A problem is not solved
• The business model is not practical
• Not all the right questions are asked (for example: would you buy this product again, would you refer it to someone else, would you give up what you are using now for this product?)
• You don’t have the refining process built into the development – qualitative, judgment, reading between the lines
• The pricing structure is not right.

Favorite quotes

“You have to start by asking – will the idea solve a problem? If it does, is someone willing to pay for it?”
“Don’t send your developers out alone. You may end up with a lot of cool features that do not meet a business need.”
“You can depict product development in a lot of different ways: arrows, circles, funnels and so forth. Ultimately they all do the same thing.”
“You may have the right product but that won’t do you much good if you don’t have the right channels to get there.”
“This particular product would not have seen the light of day if marketing had been in charge.”

Favorite story

You have to be careful when you bring products to international markets. For example, Nutrasweet didn’t pay attention to the fact that in iAsian markets sugar is believed to be good for you. Interestingly, Nutrasweet ended up successfully going into the Asian market anyway, not as envisioned, but as an ingredient in a soft drink.