322 The Marketing Book
based market simulation models, which use
basic models of consumer buying as inputs.
Information on consumer awareness, trial and
repeat purchases, collected via limited surveys
or store data, is used to predict adoption of the
new product.
That said, there is a discernible trend
towards market research tools over the whole
process which emphasize in-depth understand-
ing of customer needs rather than quantitative
prediction and forecasting. Moreover, this more
qualitative understanding is pursued through
research methods which privilege continuous,
longitudinal dialogue with fewer customers as
opposed to snapshot, one-off feedback surveys
(Griffin, 1997; Tzokas, 2000).
Commercialization or launch
This is the final stage of the initial development
process and is very costly. Decisions such as
when to launch the product, where to launch it,
how to launch it and to whom will be based on
information collected throughout the develop-
ment process. Table 12.1 summarizes the deci-
sions required to complete the launch of a new
product.
Location will, for some companies, entail
the number of countries into which the product
will be launched, whether national launches will
be simultaneous, or roll out from one country to
another (Chryssochoidis and Wong, 1998).
Launch strategy also includes any advert-
ising and trade promotions necessary. Space
must be booked, copy and visual material
prepared, both for the launch proper and the
pre-sales into the distribution pipeline. The
sales force may require extra training in order
to sell the new product effectively.
The final target segments should not, at
this stage, be a major decision for companies
who have developed a product with the market
in mind and who have executed the various
testing stages. This should have been identified
through the various concept and product test-
ing phases of the development. Attention
should be more focused on identifying the
likely early adopters of the product and focus-
ing communications on them. In industrial
markets, early adopters tend to be innovators
in their own markets. The major concern of the
launch should be the development of a strong,
unified message to promote to the market,
which reinforces the nature of the new product,
its benefits over competitive products and its
availability to customers. Recent research by
Hultinket al. (2000) has shown the importance
of having the tactics of the launch consistent
with the level of innovation in the new product.
In other words, the commercialization of the
new product cannot successfully make claims
for it that are dubious. The most successful
launches they studied were innovations aimed
at carefully selected niche markets, supported
by exclusive distribution and pricing.
This explanation of the new product devel-
opment process has used the model forwarded
by Booz Allen Hamilton as an example; there
are numerous other models, which are similar
in their representation of a series of activities
necessary to bring new products to market. The
next section of the chapter considers the useful-
ness of these models.Usefulness of models
The usefulness of the process models, such as
that by BAH, lies in the way in which they
provide an indication of the ‘total’ number of
tasks that might be required in order to develop
and launch a new product. The whole proce-
dure has been described as one of information
processing (de Meyer, 1985; Allen, 1985), so it is
of value if those executing the task of develop-
ing new products are given guidance regarding
what information is required, where it might
reside and to what use it might be put. A recent
article by Ottum and Moore (1997) showed
that, in particular, the processing of market
information (defined as market size and cus-
tomer needs and wants) is associated with
superior new product performance. Table 12.2