Thinking about launching a new product or getting into a new market segment? Have you done your homework to make sure it makes sense? To get you started, we've outlined 7 assignments to help you prepare to develop your Go To Market plan!

1. By Jeanette Mifsud
Sr. Product Marketing Director,
Mixtur Interactive Inc.
go to market homework
7 essential assignments to do before product launch
Not everyone likes doing homework. I did. My sixth grade son does not. It takes
a mixture of threats, bribes, cajoling and nagging to get him to do his homework
when he gets home. He’d rather reach for the X-men action figures–which, let’s face
it, are much more fun.
As marketing people, we’re often tempted to dive into a new product launch or
market segment before we’ve done the homework to make sure it really makes
sense for our business. To help you resist that temptation, I’ve drawn up some
homework assignments! When you’ve completed these, and determined that a
product launch really does make sense, then and only then do you get to the fun
business of putting together a Go To Market plan.
Assignment 1 – Show and tell
“Bring” your product to the next team meeting and be prepared to answer the
following questions about it:
a. What value does it bring to your target audience?
b. Can you really differentiate yourself enough from the competition
to break in?
c. What is your differentiation strategy–functionality, price, service,
convenience, etc.?
Be sure to capture in writing what you said…and what you learned from the team
about your product.
Assignment 2 – Size up the opportunity
You need to complete this exercise whether you’re looking at pursuing one possible
market or trying to prioritize when and if you should go after several markets.
NOTE: Extra credit will be given to those students who answer all the parts of the
question and present their findings in the form of a matrix!
a. Addressable market size: There are some great government
information sources that can give you detailed information by
vertical–all for free. Analyst reports and articles are also a good
source for market size data.
b. Degree of market penetration: This is trickier to determine, but
even if you can’t find hard data do your best to come up with an
educated guess.
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2. go to market homework
c. Elasticity of demand: Is your product a “must have” or a “nice to
have” for your target audience? Understanding that will help you
put together realistic pricing and sales projections, especially in
the case of a recessionary economy.
d. Strength of existing incumbents: As is most often the case, your
target market is also served by the competition. Try to get a feel
for how strongly the incumbents are dug in, and how hard it
would be to displace them.
e. Awareness of your type of product: Will you need to spend
cycles educating the market on the value of this type of product
or is it more a matter of differentiating your offering?
f. Barriers to entry: How easy is it for someone else to enter this
market?
g. Pricing patterns: Is there downward pressure on pricing, or has
market consolidation and scarcity driven up price points?
Assignment 3 – Describe your target customers
This is a critical part of the homework for your Go To Market course. Extra credit will
be given to students that create personas for their target audiences. Make sure you
cover the following points:
B2B Students:
a. Pertinent industry verticals
b. Company size
c. Job titles
d. Job level
e. Geography
B2C Students:
a. Age
b. Sex
c. Marital status
d. Profession
e. Geography
f. Education
g. Household income
Mixtur Interactive. Inc. | 900 Winslow Way East Suite 100 | Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

3. go to market homework
Assignment 4 – Know your competition
This assignment requires you to find out all you can about your top 5 competitors.
Extra credit will be given to those students who collect the most information. Be
sure to include the following points in your paper:
a. SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
b. Examples of messaging and collateral
c. Channels and partnerships
Assignment 5 – Map out your ecosystem
In this assignment you’ll draw a map of the ecosystem in which your product will
play. Clue: your target audience should be at the center of your map.
Be sure to include the following in your map:
a. Influencers
b. Sources of information
c. Purchase channels
d. Competitive products
Oh yes, extra credit will be given for the best use of PowerPoint Smart Art Graphics.
Assignment 6 – Make your sales projections
This assignment builds on the knowledge you’ve been collecting so far. Make sure
you include the following:
a. Average revenue / sale
b. Margin – what you’re left with after cost of sales
c. Average cost to acquire new customers
d. Market share expectations for the first 2-3 years
Extra credit will be given to students that make realistic projections...and get their
Excel spreadsheet to print out nicely with gridlines.
Final assignment – Recommendations
You’ve come a long way and learned a lot from the assignments in this course. Write
a final paper that explains your recommendation to go ahead, or not go ahead
Mixtur Interactive. Inc. | 900 Winslow Way East Suite 100 | Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

4. go to market homework
with your new product or pursuit of a new market segment. You will present your
findings to the management team. Extra credit will be given to students who leave
the meeting with a promotion, pay raise or both.
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