Why Products Fail Online and Off (part 4)

by James Fowler
www.mywebsource1.com

Ineffective Market Research

Realize, as a marketer, you are viewed by management as an expense. Sure, you provide the money makers (sales) the opportunity to bring in money, but you cost the company money by insisting on form in relation to R&D's function. You reign in the art department's creativity by insisting that the story behind their product designs. Most importantly, you slow down the whole mechanism by not backing down when it comes to market research. This is what we do. Research. If the company doesn't have the information to back up a new product launch, then it shouldn't be launched. Right?



I will share a pearl of wisdom from my own backlog. I was working with a company who was prepared to launch a retail product. The product was to be mass-produced and packaged in China, then shipped in containers to the US. So, it was a big deal, with about 250,000+ pieces being produced in the first run.



So, in true marketing fashion, my team prepared reams of SWOT analyses. We had surveys, spread sheets designed to quantify the user by age, sex, and activity levels. We broke it down further by their economic, social, racial and political backgrounds. To quote Arlo Guthrie, we had "8x10 black and white glossy photographs with circles and arrows pointing to the scene of the crime." I would know everything that would be needed to launch this product successfully.



Then…nothing.



We interviewed 24 people. TWENTY-FOUR people when the company decided that the market research was a waste of time. What is even worse, the outcome was divided. Half of those people liked the product. Of the remaining half, six thought the product was too hard. The other six thought it was too soft. All right, so 50% liked it. 50% didn't like it. Of the 50% that did like the product, some thought it was too expensive. Now we are down to 30% who liked the product. The company sponsoring this felt enough research was done.



Now, if you are a student just beginning marketing, THE ABOVE EXAMPLE IS BAD. OK, if you are anybody interested in marketing, same thing. There wasn't enough people to make it even vaguely valid.



What makes it even more interesting is that the product we showed the people later was changed –twice. The end result did not resemble the product that was shown. Our whole team was in shock. How could you launch a product to the retail market without having solid research?



Then there was the packaging. No one looked at it other than a select few people. Instead of spending the money on the packaging, they skimped and had it designed by the lowest bidder. The result was inadequate package design that the artists and package designers were not happy with. They had argued for research and better design. Their pleas went unheard in an effort to push this product through into the retail market.



So, after the product was rushed through, the art and packaging was pushed through and quickly signed on, the big launch day was approaching. Trying to save money, the prototypes were woefully inadequate. Luckily, the product was unique. But getting sales was rough.



1. The packaging was bulky and didn't fit into retail stores easily.

2. You could tell that they skimped on the packaging with handmade stickers for size and bar codes.

3. Penetration into various markets didn't work because the pricing, colors used and presentation were wrong.

4. Without research, initial sales stayed on shelves and were eventually returned when they didn't sell.



This is a warning to those who feel research is a drain on the pocketbook. Yes, it will cost you money, but is it better to spend that money up front and sell product, or would you prefer to spend money on the product and hope for understanding as it sits on your shelf collecting dust?



This is reminiscent to my first part in this series. Focus. With this product we found that people didn't like something in the middle. They wanted the product either harder or softer. My analogy for this is:



"Some people like hot tea. Some people like cold tea. No one likes lukewarm tea." Don't allow your client to bully you into making lukewarm tea.