Perreault−McCarthy: Basic

Marketing: A

Global−Managerial

Approach, 14/e

10. Product Management
    and New−Product
    Development

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

When You
Finish This Chapter,
You Should

1.Understand how
product life cycles
affect strategy
planning.

2.Know what is
involved in designing
new products and
what “new products”
really are.

3.Understand the
new-product devel-
opment process.

4.See why product
liability must be con-
sidered in screening
new products.

5.Understand the
need for product or
brand managers.

6.Understand the
important new terms
(shown in red).

Chapter Ten

Product

Management and

New-Product

Development

In today’s markets, a few years

can bring a lot of changes. When

Palm introduced its first personal

digital assistant (PDA) in the mid

1990s, it was a really new product

concept—even in the eyes of its

target market of gadget-loving,

on-the-go executives. It didn’t do

anything radical, but it did a few

important things really well. It could

store thousands of names and

addresses, track expenses, sched-

ule meetings and priorities, and

program calculations. And it was

easy to use, which helped Palm sell

a million units in just the first two

years. As sales growth accelerated,

Palm introduced new models

with more features—like its

connected organizer that

could “beam” data to another

Palm or a computer and even

connect to e-mail anywhere

anytime.

During those early years,

Palm had little direct competition.

place

price

promotion

produc