Learn how to get your products and services to market on time to enhance your range of services. Peter Eales gives practical examples and case studies for a range of businesses across all sectors, showing how to use product management for business growth. This session is a presentation for people in marketing and business owners. It shows how to work with customers and suppliers to test ideas, products and services using prototypes, MVPs (Minimum Viable Products which are like prototypes), and methods to save wasted time and cost. Peter shows the importance of good project management and how to adjust plans and tactics up to and after launch. It was originally a presentation given to 2014 to marketers and business owners.
Peter Eales is MD of o i solutions ltd and Marketing Manager at Hixsons Ltd. He is a CIM chartered marketer, CIM and IDM Fellow and ex regional chair, and Dorset CIM Vice Chair. A Dorset Community Foundation Board Member and Dorset Business Angels GM and Director. Previously a plc director and experienced product manager across the UK and Europe.
2. Objectives from Today
● Show you how to manage all or any part of the product management
process.
● Explain the stages of product and service development, with examples, so
you can use tools to create, test and launch products and services.
● Show how to generate, screen and manage ideas for products and services.
● How to produce a simple, product/services marketing plan – the
opportunities and risks – what key tasks to do, how and when.
● Demonstrate the importance of teamwork, communication, testing and
feedback together with sound basic project management practices.
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3. Take Aways from Today
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● Mind Maps
● Lean Tools
● Templates
● Online sites: free and low
cost
By Appointment
- e-book for social media
- strategy plans
4. Our One Page Lean Answer
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● People
● Work at Speed
● Be Truly Accountable
● A Strategy
5. The Journey - Ideas to Delivery
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11. Any takers for you idea?
Identify Market Needs
● You love your idea, will people pay for it or use it? Ask yourself:
● What is the target market for the product I am proposing? Who wants this
stuff? Sectors, segments, SIC, etc.
● Be clear about a typical customer. Are these yours? What evidence do you
have?
● Be very clear about product/service benefits over your existing range
● How does this compare to competition? Price/Features Better, Different,
Cheaper?
● What are the market's frustrations of existing products of its type?
● How will the product fit into the current market?
● What sets this product apart from its ?
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12. Market Research
● Questions such as:
● Demand
● Sales
● Who buys?
● Price?
● Look, feel, taste, etc.?
● Location for my business?
● Competition?
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● Primary research (or field
research)
● Surveys
● Direct observations
● Interviews and focus groups
● Secondary research (or internet)
● Existing market research results
● Existing data from your CRM
● Information from agencies.
14. Minimum Viable Product
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● Steve Blank
● Eric Ries
● Forget the 100 features
● Japanese Lean
Management
● Forget Detailed Waterfall
Planning
● Key Features to get to
market
● http://youtu.be/4Ylm3THHNpM
18. MVP Not Needed
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Three reasons not to build a Minimum Viable
Product
If you don’t need validated learning however,
you should not build MVPs.
1. You are building a sustaining innovation
product.
2. You don’t care if you’re wasteful.
When Apple was figuring out what its retail
experience was to be they prototyped it.
3. You achieve product-market fit.
Product-market (P-M) fit is not a proposal.
As the market pulls the product out of you, you
build it! Fully!
19. Product Design
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● Idea protection
IP
Patents
Trademarks
Designs
Copyright
26. Implementation – Marketing Schedule
Your Company SEPT OCT OCT OCT OCT OCT NOV DEC JAN
MONTH AND W/E for immediate period 26 3 10 17 24 31 month month month
ACTIVITY WHO NOTES
DESCRIPTION
SEGMENT OR PRODUCT OFFERS
Product or Service 1 you and colleague testing testing testing testing testing testing testing Review targets Draft plan Launch?
Product or Service 2 you and colleague preparing for roll-out review and research review and research review and research review and research Draft plan Draft plan Launch?
Product or Service 3 you and colleague preparing for roll-out review and research spec write
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Prep for newsletter
launch
Product or Service 4 you and colleague preparing for roll-out review opportunities write spec for Ancom
Product or Service 5 you and colleague Rule of Thumb quick decisions aid for businesses review opportunities spec
Product or Service 6 you and colleague Simple, practical, honed tools for small businesses testing testing testing testing testing testing Review targets Draft plan Launch?
COMMS PLANS
Direct Marketing
Newsletter you and colleague Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme Wkly theme
Newsletter you and colleague Send Send Send
Telemarketing
Use refreshed list you List refresh?
PR
xyz colleague
xyz
Speaker opportunities xyz Also Chambers locally and Prof Bodies
Advertising you occasional opportunities? Linked to PR
Social Media
Media Tool Peter
Daily posts Peter
Add Pinterest&Storify Peter
Twitter Peter Grow followers. 1500+ Carolyn input some target names.
Events
Conference 2014 you
Seminars? you targets medium long term. LinkedIn and PR .
Surveys
web survey you
Networking you
Service Manuals
Product Brochures
New Packaging
You
Colleague
Partner
28. Branding, Advertising & Packaging
● Objectives and goals
● Brand values
● Clear targeting and positioning
● Budget
● Advertising strategy
● Schedule
● Assumptions/metrics
● Packaging and design
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29. o i solutions limited
Pricing
The Pricing Conundrum
A McKinsey survey of 2483 companies showed a successful 1% increase in price increased profit
by 11.1% (more than 1% improvement in volume, fixed or variable costs)
BUT a later McKinsey survey showed near 90% of poor pricing decisions featured under-pricing
30. Three approaches
to price-setting
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Cost based
“What margin should we
make?”
Value Based
“What the customer perceives”
Competitor-based
“What do competitors
charge?”
31. Pricing new products
– best practice
● Reference price (after 6 months) - shows how the maker truly
values the product
too low handicaps long term profit
too low invites competitors to price war
too low may create forecasting difficulties
too low may result in cannibalisation
● Recommend life cycle strategy
high release price - reductions over the lifecycle
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32. Lifecycle Pricing
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Premium pricing
Skimming pricing
Penetration pricing
LOW PRICE
33. Finance, Budgets and Forecasts
● What are your Assumptions
● Build a model that shows what happens when
results deviate from assumptions
● What is the marginal increase in sales
● Marginal unit increase
● Marginal GP increase
● More sophisticated plans show cash, P&L,
balance sheet
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34. Conferences and Events Management
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● Don’t see the Launch itself as THE
project objective. But it must like
any milestone be delivered with
total quality.
● However these events are about
good project management
● Attention to detail
● Supplier and partner management
● Outsource tools and sites eg
Eventbrite
35. Direct Marketing
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● direct mail campaign
● use telemarketing effectively
and responsibly
● use email marketing
effectively
● responsible SMS marketing
● leaflet marketing and tips for
● Businesses using direct
selling and network
marketing to make sales
36. o i solutions limited
Social Media
● A key element of the
comms plan
● Needs to be integrated
into other marketing
strategy and messages:
Keywords
Themes & Content
Strategy
Agree key platforms
Regular interesting
content for target market
37. Public Relations (PR) media pack
1. Letter of introduction: Sometimes referred to as the pitch letter
2. Information on the company: This includes your company's history, a company profile, and
profiles of senior management.
3. Product and service information, including a product, service or performance review.
4. Recent press publications and articles.
5. Press releases: Many times, these are what instigated and caused the printing of the articles
described above.
6. Audio and video files of radio or TV interviews, speeches, performances and any other media-covered
event.
7. A sample news story.
8. Since many media kits are put together for investors, any news related to the industry and
financial statements.
9. List of frequently asked questions
10. Other items to include: Photos (if appropriate), Giveaway information and an order form
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38. Distribution, Partners and Support
Issues for Review
● Establish how and where to market and sell products. These may be already established.
● Consider how competitors distribute to decide if there are opportunities to be considered.
● Record volumes and value of business by channels ie direct sales, distributors, online etc. costs
and relative profitability.
Launch Tasks
● Sales team – the sooner the better. Brief them early and give them the information they need to
prime the pump in their territories. Some companies use video and conference launches.
● Channel partners – include them early so they can educate their customers
● Executives – they can be your biggest evangelists
● Involving customer support – often on the front lines. Take advantage of it.
● Industry Analysts – brief them, get their feedback and keep them up-to-date on developments:
see PR.
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39. Portfolio Management
● A product portfolio is the range of items sold by a business
● It can be analysed using the Boston Matrix
● with a new launch the financial effect on the range
● with a new launch any change to the overall branding particularly if the new
products are impactful
● for an unsuccessful launch need for remedial action
End of Life
● Costly to keep products and services in the range, can be best to remove
● Recycled or sustainable products
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