Marketing New Product

In this assignment, you are required: (1) to submit ideas for one potential new product with target market and positioning; and (2) to develop a

promotional plan for your new product. A guideline is included below:
1. New Product Concept Development
The purpose of this part is to develop the most promising idea into a product concept. Before doing so, you need to generate as many ideas as

possible. Ideas come from different sources; for instance, ideas can be drawn from observing how consumers are using products, asking consumers about

their problems with current products (remember that you are also a consumer), or using Internet for new ideas (e.g., reports about consumer trends,

discussions from online communities, social media). After the idea search:
– List three new-product ideas that reflect unmet (or hidden) needs of various customers.
– Pick one promising idea among the three and justify your choice (one way to finalize the promising idea is to do a small survey on your friends,

colleagues, or acquaintances who are potential users).
– Develop the selected idea into a product concept. Here, you need to provide in detail what features the product should have and the benefits those

features will provide for consumers.
Useful Readings:
? “Think Inside the Box,” by Drew Boyd and Jacob Goldenberg, Wall Street Journal, June 14, 2013 (Access via UNK library)
? “How Entrepreneurs Come Up With Great Ideas,” Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2013. (Access via UNK library)
? “When Entrepreneurs Don’t Take No for an Answer,” by Chuck Green, Wall Street Journal, April 29, 2013. (Access via UNK library)
2. Target Market
Though you may have in mind the users of your new product, this part asks you to give a clear description of your target market:
– What are the demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics of your target market? How large is your target market?
– If your target market consists of business users, what are their demographic characteristics (e.g., industry, company size, geographic location,

age) or operating characteristics (e.g., user or nonuser status, level of product usage)? How large is it?
Hint: There is no need to include all characteristics; instead, focus on relevant characteristics that help differentiate your target market from the

larger market.
3. Positioning
This part requires you to describe a desired position of your new product in the targeted consumers’ mind. The following questions should be

addressed:
– What are the differential benefits of your new product compared to other products in the same product category?
– What other product categories can provide the same benefits as your new product does?
– What are the potential competing brands of your product? List two or three of them.
– How will you position your product in relation to the competition? Hint: A perceptual map may be helpful in this situation; in particular, think

about two important elements that influence consumer purchases and place different competing brands in this two-dimension plane. A chosen position

for your product should reflect the reason why consumers select your product over others. See Figure 7.7 on page 204 of your textbook.
4. Promotional Plan
When developing your promotional plan, you should focus on the following items:
? Based on the description of your primary target market, what would be your target audience’s media usage? Examples include: local newspapers,

specific television channels, social networking sites, etc.
? What are your marketing communications intended to achieve? Hint: See pages 367 – 368 of your textbook.
? How big is your budget for communications?
? Which promotional tools (advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, personal selling, social media) will be used to achieve

your objectives?
o Be specific about your activities for the chosen promotional tools such as advertising on the Kearney Hub, sponsoring several marathons in major

cities in the Midwest, giving out samples at student unions located on select college campuses.
The Report
? Please provide a written report that is typed, double-spaced (using Times New Roman font and font size of 12) with no more than 4 pages in length

(NOT including the cover page).
? Written reports will be due on the date specified in the course schedule. Reports not turned in on time will not receive credit for this project.
? Outline of the report:
i. Cover page: (1) your new product’s name; and (2) your full name
ii. New product concept development
iii. Target market
iv. Positioning
v. Promotional plan