A new product in an existing market. Bringing a new product to market

Types of new products
In world practice, there is the following classification of "new products".

1. Revolutionary new product
This is a product that did not have previously existing analogues. Examples of revolutionary new products: the first computer, the first fax machine, the first camcorder, the first CD player, and so on.

2. New product for the manufacturer (New for us product)
As a rule, such a product is the organization's response to the product of competitors. One of the companies launched a new product that became successful, and competitors began to produce the same product, but offer consumers their own distinctive advantages (lower price, more convenient packaging, etc.). Typically, this category is the least profitable of all "new product" categories. The follower company cannot reap the extra profits that the first company earns and must spend more on advertising to win a certain market share. A typical example of a New for us product is the Nevskoe osobotkoye beer, which began to be produced by a competing manufacturer after the success of Baltika No. 9.

3. Next generation product, improved product
The new product has a characteristic that distinguishes it favorably from its predecessor: faster acting, less caloric, more persistent odor, more reliable in operation, etc. Examples: Pentium II vs. Pentium processors; new diapers that not only absorb moisture, but also take care of the skin, etc.

4. Expansion of the product group (Line extension)
This strategy for introducing a new product to the market is the simplest and most common, but it is usually profitable.
Within one product group (beer, cigarettes, washing powders, etc.) appears:
product in reduced or large economical packaging. For example, "Losk-A" weighing 1350 g, priced at 62 rubles, with the slogan "10% cheaper" on the package. Or Nessafe Classic coffee in bags of 2 g,
an improved or simplified version of the product. For example, some car concerns offer, along with basic car models, more expensive and technically advanced cars, as well as cheap “simplified” cars with a limited set of features,
The product has a new package along with the old one. For example, a mayonnaise manufacturer begins to produce its product not only in glass, but also in plastic packaging.

5. Product repositioning, new packaging
· Repositioning leads to the perception by buyers of the old product as new: an already existing product is positioned in a new way. Firms resort to repositioning, the purpose of which is to reorient themselves to a new market segment and meet emerging new needs. For example, vodka produced by the Kristall factory, after changing the packaging, began to position itself as a high-quality product at a high price.
· A product that appears in new packaging may be presented as a new product. As a rule, with the help of new packaging, the manufacturer expects to arouse interest in the product and attract the attention of potential consumers. Most bright examples can be observed among food manufacturers. So, "Petmol" released milk in "spotted" packaging. In the new packaging, for example, Blend and Soyuz-Apollo cigarettes appeared, washing powder"Gloss".

Launching a new product "in Russian"
In Russia, the process of creating and bringing new products to the market has a number of features.

FIRST feature: short time
The development and implementation of a new product often takes place in a shorter time than in the West. This is partly due to the unstable, too rapidly changing economic situation, partly due to poor strategic planning of the organization. A common situation is when a manufacturer saves money and is in a hurry, so he "skips" some stages. Sometimes it takes 2 to 3 months to develop and launch a new product! In cases where decision about the rapid release of a new product meets the needs of the market and the new product appears in a timely manner, such efficiency allows you to get ahead of competitors. But in this case, the risk of unsuccessful withdrawal of the product is high.

SECOND feature: voluntarism
Russia is characterized by a "voluntaristic" style of decision-making on the creation of a new product, when the management of the organization orders: "We need to expand the range, and therefore the product" X "should be released to the market by such and such a date." After that, a significant part of the financial resources goes to the creation of the product and its advertising, as a result of which the product enters the market.

THIRD feature: priority of the product over the consumer
First, a product is created, it does not bring the expected results, after which they try to find the target groups of its consumers.

FOURTH feature: focus on Western designs
Most of the new products that have appeared on the Russian market over the past 5-7 years are products of Western origin. New goods of domestic producers were created according to Western models, based on Western technologies, using imported raw materials, packaging, and “their” product concept. For example: yoghurts, hair gels, conditioners, roll-on deodorants, “light oils”, etc.

FIFTH feature:"pseudon" products
In our opinion, the current market situation in Russia is characterized by the promotion of "pseudon" products to the market. Some manufacturers in crisis conditions produce a cheaper product by reducing the cost of production: reducing the number of ingredients or replacing them with cheaper analogues. The cost of imported raw materials has risen, and many have shifted to domestic raw materials. The meaning of this strategy lies in the fact that a new product is sold under an already known brand and at its price. But there is one problem - the consumer may notice the changes that have occurred and not accept them.

SIXTH feature: the emergence of new products, despite the crisis
In the period after the August crisis, new products continue to appear that were “launched” even before the crisis. Their implementation required significant investments, and therefore new products are brought to the market as if “by inertia”. For example, at the end of 1999, Petmol launched a new production of baby food, work on the project began 3 years ago (“Business Petersburg”, October 5, 1998). New products continue to enter the market partly because of the opportunities that have opened up for domestic producers as a result of the crisis. As a result of the exit from the market of a significant share of Western manufacturers, market niches. For certain product groups, competitors have either disappeared altogether or are represented in small numbers.
We started our article with a quote that about 90% of emerging new products disappear from the market within 2-3 years. Unfortunately, we do not have statistical data on the situation on the Russian market, but, in our opinion, this pattern is largely typical for Russia. Let's look at the main reasons for the unsuccessful introduction of new products.

Reasons why new products fail in the market

1. "Inadequate idea" of a new product from the management of the organization
Quite often, the leader has unlimited authority in his organization (this is especially true for entrepreneurial companies and companies that have become successful under this leader). In this case, a situation is possible when the manager believes that he is well versed in the market situation and does not pay attention to negative factors, and the organization's staff does not pay his attention to possible problems.

2. A new product solves a technological problem, but does not satisfy the needs of consumers.
Technologically advanced companies are characterized by a focus on continuous improvement of their technological capabilities and the introduction of new developments. Technicians working on the creation of new products are "fascinated" by the development process itself and concentrate all their efforts on improving new technologies when creating a product, and not on whose needs the future product will meet.

3. Entering the market without prior marketing research or exercise them at a low level
When a firm skimps on research and does not do it, or does it in an insufficiently professional manner, the result is inadequate market information and poor management decisions.

4. Detachment of senior management from the process of creating a new product
The unwillingness or inability of the manager to direct and control the process of all activities to create a product can lead to the fact that the goals and directions of work become vague, incomprehensible to employees. And the process of product development and its implementation is very much dependent on the ambitions of individual employees, which can be aimed at achieving personal goals and at odds with the goals of the organization.

5. Expecting an immediate effect from the introduction of a new product
Some companies, having created a new product, expect an immediate effect from bringing it to the market (big profits), and not getting a quick return, they abandon this product, believing that the product is "unsuccessful". Sometimes (especially for technical innovations), it takes a certain amount of time for a new product to "take root" in the market.

6. Lack of control over all stages of the process
production and promotion of a new product When several organizations are involved in the creation and implementation of a new product, the main manufacturer does not always have the ability to control all stages this process. This is especially true for small companies that use the services of contractors involved in various stages of product production.

7. Compromise product as a result of consensus
When the decision on measures to create and launch a new product is taken collectively, this often leads to the emergence of a compromise product that suits everyone. A “compromise” product is not intended for a well-defined market segment, but is a product “for everyone”. In this case, the new product often loses out to competitors' products that have a clear positioning and satisfy specific, specific needs of consumers.

8. Wrong pricing policy
Product prices are set too high or too low.

9. Poor quality control
An attractive product idea, but not enough opportunities to maintain a consistent product quality.

10. Late time to market
The product is released too early, when the market is not yet ready, or late, when the market no longer needs this product.

11. Weak distribution of a new product
Wholesalers are more willing to take already known, well-purchased goods. Quite often, the advertising efforts of firms and various promotions do not bring results due to poor organized system distribution of goods.

Information support for the preparation of the launch of a new product
The process of preparing to promote a new product to the market can be conditionally divided into five organizational stages, each of which has its own research tools.

First step: developing a marketing strategy for launching a new product
The purpose of this stage is to analyze the market situation and identify the most promising market sectors or target groups.
To solve such a problem, information is needed:
· about the structure of the market/market segments: advantages and disadvantages of competitive products, etc.;
about typical situations of buying consumption of goods;
about the perception of brands and the motives for consuming different brands;
about attitudes and stereotypes of buyers;
about the needs and motivation of buyers;
· on the socio-demographic characteristics of consumers and types of consumers.
All necessary information can be obtained using the following types research:
Motivation studies (focus groups, in-depth interviews, quantitative surveys);
· studies of consumption and attitudes towards the product (U + A studies, quantitative surveys, mostly face-to-face);
distribution studies (retail audit) provide information on sales volumes compared to competitors, on the representation of goods at points of sale, and allow identifying alternative distribution methods;
consumer panels provide information on the frequency of purchases, allow you to assess the degree of customer loyalty in relation to certain brands and identify changes in buying behavior and attitudes towards brands (diary panel, quantitative surveys conducted at regular intervals using the same methodology, with the same respondents).
As a result of a complex of studies, it becomes possible to determine the "problem areas" of the marketing strategy and identify the most promising niches in the market for the client's product. The logical conclusion of this stage is the development by the client of one or more marketing strategies to promote the product to the market.

Second phase: determination of the optimal concept of a new product
At this stage, ideas are generated at several levels: brainstorming with experts, creative group discussions and in-depth interviews with consumers.
The selection and testing of product concepts takes place both by the client company and employees of the research firm, and directly by the consumers of the product. All information received is analyzed according to the SWOT-analisys scheme (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats): strengths, weaknesses of the company / its product, market opportunities and “dangers” that lie in wait for the company at the promotion stage.

THIRD stage: Creating a Product Formula (Product Description)
At this stage, we are testing:
The product itself: taste, color, smell, texture, and so on;
The attitude of consumers to the product;
· “advantages” and weaknesses of the product, to which consumers react;
functions (purpose) and possible consumption of the product.
At this stage, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research is needed, each of which solves certain problems. research tasks. Qualitative methods (focus groups, in-depth interviews) and quantitative tests (in-hall, in-home) are used to obtain data.
Focus groups and in-depth interviews allow you to identify spontaneous reactions of consumers to a new product and get a general idea of ​​​​their attitude to the product and its parameters.
Quantitative tests are practiced to refute or confirm hypotheses arising from qualitative research or product hypotheses, regardless of the results of qualitative research. Typically, quantitative tests are underestimated by the client, who often bases his decisions on data from focus groups (which are relatively cheap). However, it quantification allows you to choose the most optimal product from several formulas.

FOURTH stage: Reinforcement of the finished product: brandname, packaging and other elements
When the product concept and the product itself (its formula) are defined, reinforcing elements are needed, the so-called Marketing Mix. At this stage, there is:
Testing the brand name (the memorability of names, a positive attitude towards names, their clarity, whether the brand evokes associations with the corresponding category of goods is checked);
testing of packaging (functional characteristics, color and graphic solution, informational content of packaging);
Determining the sensitivity of buyers to the price, their price expectations in relation to the new product.
At this stage, focus groups and in-depth interviews are used, during which they receive initial reactions, decide “what to fix”, and with the already limited number of Marketing Mix options, quantitative testing is carried out.

FIFTH stage: Comprehensive brand testing
The final test before launching the product on the market helps the client firm make the final decision on the need to introduce a new product to the market or refuse to launch it.
It should be noted that the refusal to launch a product on the market is not a waste of money and time. Launching an unsuccessful product, the cost of advertising such a product is many times greater than the cost of the entire research cycle.
At this stage, it is advisable to use quantitative tests:
Concept - Use Test, which allows you to measure the degree of compliance / non-compliance of the concept of the product with the product itself (its formula), helps to understand whether the product itself meets the expectations of consumers.
Simulated Test Market as close as possible to the real market situation, it allows you to predict the potential sales volume. There are several types of such a test. We briefly describe the features of the laboratory test.
Representatives of the target group of this product are invited to the premises of the research firm. They are shown an advertisement for the tested product (sometimes a competitive product) to increase participants' awareness of the product. After that, they are taken to a store-style room where the tested product is presented among competitors' products, all products have price tags. Respondents are asked to make a purchase with pre-issued coupons. Everyone is allowed to take the "purchased" goods home. After a period of using the test product at home, the participants are invited to participate in an interview where they are asked to buy the test product with their own money. In addition, they find out what advantages and disadvantages the tested product has in comparison with those products that they usually use.
The data obtained is analyzed using mathematical model, which allows you to determine the future market share that a new product will occupy after a certain time. To implement this mathematical model, the client must provide data on the planned distribution parameters and the planned level of brand awareness. However, here it is necessary to take into account the specifics of an unstable crisis situation, which significantly reduces the accuracy of the results of such a study.

Examples from Russian practice
To conclude this article, we would like to share some cases of new product launches to the market, which will allow us to get a better understanding of the problems that may arise.

1. A fake product goes to market
One of the largest Russian producers of dairy products has released yogurt with natural fillers. In the future, due to the rise in the price of ingredients, the manufacturer decided to reduce the cost of the product while maintaining its previous price. Thus, imported yoghurts, the price of which fluctuates with the exchange rate of the dollar, should have lost the competition. The ingredients of the product were replaced with cheaper ones and the product was brought to the market under the old brand name. As a result, the consumption of the "new" product dropped sharply, and the brand lost a significant market share. In the case of testing a new product, it would be possible to predict a similar effect and avoid large losses.

2. Unsuccessful launch of a “good” product
One of the major regional producers of dairy products has released a high-quality "live" yoghurt. However, despite the fact that this manufacturer held a leading position in the dairy market in its region, this product was not successful. In this market, imported long-term yoghurts were the first to appear, which differed in taste and texture from “live” yoghurt. The consumer got used to them and did not perceive the newly appeared product as yogurt (it turned out as a result of the study). On the one hand, the market was not ready for this product, on the other hand, such a situation could have been avoided by conducting preliminary research.

3. Refusal to bring the product to market
One of the Western juice producers decided to release a new juice, the formula of which turned out to be unusual for the Russian consumer: apple-carrot-banana juice. The manufacturer planned to promote the new juice as natural product, containing the daily rate of vitamins necessary for the human body. The company ordered a study, and it turned out that the concept of the new juice and its formula are not perceived by Russian consumers and do not meet their expectations - the juice is too unusual (unaccustomed) for them. In addition, the content of a large amount of vitamins in the juice was perceived by Russian consumers as evidence of unnaturalness and the presence of numerous artificial additives in it. The firm saved significant money by not bringing an "unsuccessful" product to market.

Literature
John A. Hall. “Bringing New products to the market.” New York, 1991.
E. Jerome McCarby, William D. Perreault. Applications in Basic Marketing. Clippings from the Popular Business Press. 1992-1993 Edition.
Robert R Rothberg. «Corporate strategy and product innovation». 1981.
Yves Marbeau. "NPD Research: The Stages of a Complex Process". ESOMAR Seminar on Best Practice in Market Research, 1998.

New product launch construction organization market is a complex, multifaceted and sequential process. At the same time, it is necessary to find the optimal solution that meets both the requirements of the market and the capabilities of the organization.

The launch of a new product on the market allows the company to establish itself in a particular segment, maintain competitiveness, and expand sales. To reduce the risk of failure in the market when a new product is released, it is necessary to model the decision-making process that ensures the choice of the best option for a new product, strategy and tactics for its marketing.

In every work, especially creative work, there is always the problem of maintaining a balance between theory and practical experience. When introducing a new product to the market, many companies try to follow advanced theoretical developments, while any entrepreneur has his own experience in the market - both successful and not very successful. To what extent, when launching a new product, should one rely on the methodology, and to what extent - on one's own experience, what tools should be used in this case?

We will try to find the answer to this question by considering several methods.

First, a little theory. In order to correctly navigate the market situation, an organization must correctly answer the following questions:

1) determine what product to produce;

2) choose a sales strategy;

3) determine the need for additional research to increase the reliability of the information available.

To address these issues, it is proposed to use the decision-making mechanism, the multi-factor system of which is shown in Fig. 2.3.

Initially, it is necessary to formulate the main goal that the company wants to achieve by releasing a new product.

Further, information is collected, on the basis of which decisions will be made. When collecting information, it is necessary to pay attention to the following nuances: it is necessary to consider all possible options for new products, the internal capabilities of the company and market conditions.

The multi-factor system contains the following main stages of acceptance management decisions. It includes the choice of the best option for a new product (service), taking into account the potential capabilities of the company and the risk of each option, depending on market conditions, takes into account the internal environment of the company, analyzes external environment, which consists in risk assessment based on information about the commodity market conditions. The criterion for choosing the optimal option is the expected profit. First of all, the optimal marketing strategy for the new product is selected. On the basis of information about the probability of the onset of a particular market state, the possibilities of adjusting the strategy when the external environment changes are considered, the reliability of the choice of a priori probabilities of the onset of market states when launching a new product on the market is checked, and the expected utility from refining these probabilities is calculated. For this, a decision tree is built.

To launch a new product on the market, consider the organizational scheme for selecting options for a new product, taking into account the capabilities of the company. IN this case system analysis is performed in the following sequence:

Creation of a structural model of the system;

Building a matrix of relative estimates;

calculation specific gravity each option and prioritization.

The creation of a multifactorial system involves the study of the constituent elements and their relationships, the grouping of these elements according to the same type of properties and their distribution by levels depending on their subordination to each other. Elements of the same level act as targets for the elements of the lower level and at the same time are subordinate to the elements of the higher level. It is advisable to carry out the distribution by levels until it is convenient to compare the selected elements. At the highest level, a global goal is formed that they want to achieve when introducing a new product to the market (Fig. 2.4.).

At the second level, the essential factors of the external environment are listed: the position of the organization in the market; providing the company with all the necessary resources; technical capabilities of the organization, etc.

At the third level, there are more detailed factors that are the supporting elements of the factors of the second level: the possibilities of product distribution channels; availability of a specific type of resource; level of technological automation, production processes etc. At the bottom level, selectable options for new construction products are presented.

Thus, an organizational scheme for selecting product options is formed based on the potential resource capabilities of a construction organization.

The matrix of relative estimates is based on the analysis of the internal environment of the company. In it, by comparison, the relative importance of elements at the same level is established in relation to elements of a higher level.

If all values ​​of relative importance have certain properties, then by calculating the specific weights, it is possible to determine the priorities of the options. For the system shown in Fig. 2.4., we have the following sequence of actions and calculations.

Comparison of elements of the second level with respect to the main goal.

1. Comparison of elements of the third level relative to the second level.

2. Comparison of new product options relative to the third level.

3. To determine the priority of new product options, it is necessary to calculate the share of each option relative to the main goal.

Among all the options, the one that has the maximum specific gravity is selected, that is, the maximum value of the specific gravity determines the most promising option in terms of the company's resource capabilities. Sorting the obtained values ​​of specific weights in descending order establishes the order of the remaining options for the development of new products.

Thus, an array of options priority has been formed. Consequently, the most promising version of the new product was chosen, which meets the real conditions of the organization.

In the process of introducing new products to the market, there are many unpredictable moments and factors independent of the will of the company's leaders that must be taken into account. These factors include risk, for which mitigation strategies are being developed at the same time. The task is to choose from a variety of possible options a management decision option with minimal risk. To do this, a table of probabilities of market conditions and utility is created, in which, for each selected option, the probability and utility are indicated for a particular market condition.

Under objective market condition is understood as market conditions related to a certain point in time, a situation characterized by the ratio of supply and demand, the dynamics of prices and inventories, the presence of competitors and their position, etc.

Under usefulness it is possible to understand what result the company will have after the sale of new products, and the result must be expressed quantitatively. After choosing the best feasible option for bringing new products to the market, the company's management needs to make a management decision and develop a marketing policy, market behavior tactics, a strategy for increasing market share and profit growth.

At the same time, it is important to obtain reliable information for making an objective decision. To reduce the uncertainty of the final result, one can consider and analyze the perspective of the company's activities using the theory of Markov chains and Bayesian decision theory.

To use quantitative methods of analysis, a utility matrix should be compiled, on the basis of which the optimal marketing strategy can be selected. It lists all possible and mutually exclusive, that is, independent, market states, as well as selectable strategies and possible utilities.

First, the expected utility of all strategies is calculated, and then the maximum one is selected from them.

In connection with the constant volatility of the market, the company faces the question: how to change its strategy so as not to fall into a crisis situation? In the process of quantitative forecasting of the market position, it is advisable to use the apparatus of Markov chains. The use of this apparatus allows you to make a decision in advance when the market condition changes. The forecasting process uses a transition probability from one state to another.

Any change in some market state will almost certainly lead to a change in utility, that is, to bring additional profit or loss. These utilities are written into the following matrix, which is called the transition utility matrix.

Based on the transition probability matrix and the transition utility matrix, a decision-making matrix is ​​built when market conditions change.

Using the information of this matrix, you can find out which strategy should be applied in such and such a period and in the selected market condition.

In marketing practical activities firms often have to compare the costs of obtaining partial (incomplete) information and the costs of finding additional new information to make a better management decision.

The manager must evaluate how much the benefit derived from additional information covers the cost of obtaining it. In this case, Bayesian decision theory can be applied.

When new information is received, the expected utilities of each strategy are calculated, and then the strategy with the maximum value of the expected utility is selected. With the help of new information, the decision maker can correct the prior probabilities , and this is very important when making decisions.

The results of marketing research cannot be absolutely reliable, namely, they cannot exactly coincide with the true state of demand for a given product. Therefore, the decision maker uses hypothetical different probabilities of matching the results of marketing research with the true state of market demand.

Of interest is the method of making managerial decisions on the launch of a new product (Fig. 2.5). Let us describe the model of the process of making managerial decisions to bring a new product to the market in stages.

Block 1. At this stage, the idea of ​​a new product is formalized.

A description of the product is drawn up, its distinctive features, nuances of technology are indicated, competitive advantages- everything that will allow him to find his niche in the market.

Such a description is usually does not contain precise specifications, such as weight, size, color, etc. Rather, when formalizing an idea, ranges are indicated for the specified characteristics and consumer qualities are formulated, e.g. taste, smell, usefulness, convenience, etc.

Here, as a first approximation, differences between a new product and its analogues or direct competitors.

After the product description is written, it is necessary to analyze it places in the current assortment of the company: which products the new product will replace, which ones it will complement. This analysis often leads to a timely abandonment of a new product: because, for example, it crowds out the most profitable or successful product available.

At this stage, a decision can be made to implement some idea in the form of a separate business.

It is very important to understand what place in the company's product range it will be assigned to before launching full-scale research of a product. It is at this stage that the first significant screening of ideas occurs: out of 10-20, 2-3 remain.

Formalization (description according to the scheme) - preliminary requirements (wishes) for sales, production;

Consumer properties of the product;

Planned differences from competitors, etc.;

Comparative sales modeling.

Block 2. Primary study

This block contains request for marketing research and technological development of a new product. In this case, the study can and should be small, low-budget, but giving answers to precisely asked questions: how will buyers react to a new product, how much are they willing to pay for it, what analogues do competitors offer?

At the same stage, it is necessary to determine the possible options for the technologies used, as well as to explore the limitations and possibilities of the existing production, the need to purchase new equipment, recruit new qualified personnel, etc.

The combined results of these two studies will give assessment of the prospects for working with a new product on the market. It often happens that the existing production cannot ensure the manufacture of a new product at acceptable market prices, and re-equipment is too expensive.

The analysis carried out will enable evaluate the real possibilities of the company - both internal and external - to withdraw this specific product and abandon it in a timely manner, saving a lot of money. In this case, it is better to spend tens of thousands of rubles on research than to lose millions of rubles on equipping a new production facility, relying on intuitive suggestions.

Rice. 2.5. – A model for making managerial decisions to bring a product to market

In addition, at this stage, a decision can be made to place a new product at one of the existing production facilities, to find and analyze the capabilities of a potential supplier, to conduct marketing of possible alternative channels, etc.

Used methods/tools:

Request for marketing research (terms of reference) - parameter, criteria, completeness and depth, resources, terms;

Marketing research - methods are selected depending on the specific request and product: open sources, selective surveys, etc.;

Diagnostics of production - modeling of opportunities.

If a decision is made to produce a product outside own production you need to get prototypes of the future product , manufactured already in accordance with the specifications, and not "model samples" of the manufacturer. At this stage appropriate send engineers or technologists to future production so that they can analyze not only the quality of the resulting product, but also the quality of the organization of its production.

At this stage, an analysis of the real possibilities of production takes place, the cost of a new product is modeled, and its economic feasibility for the company is determined.

Upon completion of this stage, a decision is also made on the advisability of launching a new product into mass production.

Used methods/tools:

Terms of Reference (TS) for the product - technical and technological characteristics, requirements for raw materials, materials and equipment, restrictions, etc.;

Examination of samples - expert assessments, "focus groups", "quality circles", etc.;

Cost calculation - in accordance with accepted norms and accounting rules; accounting for overheads, variable costs, etc.

Additionally: test sales. Sometimes, for completely new products on the market, it makes sense to prepare and conduct so-called “trial sales”.

This method is very often used trading companies- they have such a term "take for a sample."

When organizing "trial sales" it is necessary to draw up a precise sales program: what exactly do we want to test with this promotion? In no case should you set yourself the goal of selling a trial batch of a product with a planned profit - it is much more important to check the accuracy of the choice of packaging, price, promotion methods, distribution channels.

Used methods/tools:

The program of "trial sales" - tasks, conditions, methods, terms;

Organization of "trial sales" - logistics, instructing sellers, collecting information;

Analysis of the results - it is possible to use the SWOT analysis in a reduced scope.

Block 3. Refinement studies.

The objectives of this block of work: the development of an accurate terms of reference (and specifications- TS) for the parameters and external design of the product, indicating the necessary specifications(color, size, weight, etc.), determining the most effective distribution channels and promotion methods, clarifying the price range and obtaining other information necessary to draw up a business program (business plan) for launching and promoting a new product.

At this stage, the needs and preferences of the company's customers, as well as the competitive situation in the market, are regularly monitored. In addition, the study in this block may be less expensive if the previous steps in the methodology have been worked out carefully and successfully.

At this stage, the product name, the main positioning parameters, as well as the most significant aspects of the promotion strategy are determined. At the same time, it should be taken into account that the work of this block is closely related to the next stage of bringing the product to the market.

Used methods/tools:

Request for marketing research (terms of reference) - parameters, criteria, completeness and depth, resources, terms;

Marketing research program - development, implementation:

Marketing research - methods are selected depending on the specific request and product: open sources, selective surveys, etc.;

Analysis of results.

Block 4. Trial production.

A very important stage, after which it becomes clear how much the calculations coincide with reality. In production, this stage is also known as the “prototype”.

Samples of the product are made, their comprehensive technical and technological expertise. Checking packaging options.

Here it is specified profitnost (profitability) of the future product.

Upon completion of this stage, the production technology of the product, its weaknesses, and possible risks are specified.

Block 5. Product output (promotion) program.

The results of the third and fourth blocks of work (and sometimes “trial sales”) provide the basis for developing a business program (business plan) for launching and promoting a new product. The detail and elaboration of this program depends on the specific situation: the product, the market segment, the degree of its saturation, etc.

For example, a program might consist of the following sections:

Description of the product (including its strengths and weaknesses);

Product positioning;

Sales markets and target audience;

Sales policy (including a description of the "ideal" buyer);

Sales channels (existing, new);

Sales promotion (tools used);

Separate special marketing projects and their implementation (special projects aimed at promoting a new product, for example, participation in an exhibition, "promotions", etc.);

Trading conditions (relationships with buyers) and pricing policy;

Marketing budget.

When developing the program, all available information from the market and production is checked once again, the calculations are refined. Ideally, the program should pass the examination.

It is quite possible that specialists will find significant flaws in it that will either force them to return to previous levels, or even abandon the release of a new product.

The most loyal customers, independent market specialists, partners, specialists and consultants in management and marketing can be involved as experts at this stage.

Used methods/tools:

The structure of the promotion program - the required volume, the degree of detail;

Examination of the program - expert assessments, the results of "trial sales", customer surveys, etc.;

SWOT analysis - the presence and content of winning promotion strategies.

Block 6. Bringing the product to market.

Based on the program received in block 5, a detailed plan work with a new product for marketing and sales departments, as appropriate the production plan is adjusted.

According to experts, for a period of one to two years, a new product should be in the area of ​​close attention of all top managers. Constant monitoring of the situation will allow timely identification and correction of errors and inaccuracies. This minimizes the risk of failure with a new product. And there will always be mistakes and blunders, since even the largest and most expensive research does not give a 100% guarantee of success.

The method is considered effective allocation of a separate "product manager", assigned to the new product. The entire “chain” should be in the zone of his attention and control - from the purchase of raw materials to final sales. The task of the “product manager” is to inform management in a timely manner of any cases, when the actual development of the situation deviates from the planned plans and indicators. It would be logical to tie his salary to the results of serial sales of this product.

Used methods/tools:

The structure of the promotion program - the required volume, the degree of detail;

The production plan is dynamic, including an adjustment mechanism;

Cost adjustment program - based on the results of actual labor costs;

Algorithm and plan for launching the product into production;

The distribution of control functions - for the period of launch and output to the "design capacity" of a new product.

Consideration of the methods allows us to break the entire project for the launch of a new product into separate stages, after each of which a decision is made to move the project forward or exit from it.

Each stage has a certain cost and a specific result. Depending on the situation in the company and on the market, one or another stage of the product can be significantly reduced or skipped altogether.

The concept of bringing a new product to market as outlined here requires a certain amount of ingenuity in putting it into practice and making real improvements to the company's work on new products. Answers to vital important questions“how?”, “in what way?”, “in what ways?” not easy to generalize. A launch program that is successful in one case may be unusable, and often dangerous, in another. That is why we focused on the fundamental steps - the stages of the project to bring a new product to the market. The presented scheme is a general algorithm for working on a new product. It takes into account most of the "commandments" and allows you to remember them. For difficult situations innovative product, saturated market, etc.) the scheme can be detailed and supplemented with other necessary blocks.

Prostova, N., Renard, A. Launching a new product to the market // Journal of company management. - 2005. - No. 10 (53).

Before getting to the buyer, a new product goes through a series of stages from concept development to commercialization. In different sources, you can see many approaches to the structure of creating and launching a new product on the market. The analysis of sources made it possible to formulate a generalized representation (Fig. 3):

Figure 3. Scheme of launching a new product on the market

commodity market risk product

Depending on the type of product, existing information about the market and the situation within the company, stages may be combined or excluded in the process of bringing the product to the consumer market. Consider the content of each stage.

1. Creating an idea for a new product.

The creation of a new product most often begins with the search or generation of ideas. There are a number of principles, the observance of which allows you to avoid mistakes:

- the company must ensure a constant influx of new ideas and proposals, give this process an organized and systematic character;

l ideas must be constantly commensurate with the capabilities of the company and the situation on the market;

- proposals should be sufficient to ensure the freedom to choose the most promising;

- focus on the potential needs of consumers in the future, and not on the needs of "today";

The company should have a communication system between departments and employees so that each responsible person has an idea about the areas of development that are most interesting for the company.

Ideas at this stage can be generated within the company (on the initiative of employees or by creating a special department responsible for new ideas), buying ideas from third party organization or engaging an employee to develop the concept.

Possible sources of ideas can be:

consumer opinions and sales agents obtained by the survey method;

l market research;

representatives of development departments, Maintenance, company management or other departments that have contact with consumers (for example, the sales department);

l competitive analysis;

ь study of secondary sources of information (printed publications, mass media;

opinions of industry experts (professional communities and associations), exhibitions and expositions.

Involving third-party companies for development saves time, but increases the risk of information leakage to competing companies.

After a sufficient number of ideas have been generated that can be implemented within the organization, the stage of selecting the most attractive and profitable ones begins. Before a decision is made on a trial release of a product / service, the following aspects are considered:

ь expected profit from the product/service;

l the ability of the company to realize the idea and take it into production;

ь analysis of the financial position of the company, required investments for the project;

ь approximate assessment of the volume of the consumer market and the trend of its development;

ь a preliminary assessment of the price and the necessary distribution channels is given;

l evaluates the possibility of obtaining a patent for a product/service;

if the product is technically complex - an assessment of the existing resources for production and the cost of necessary equipment and materials.

2. Development of the concept of a new product, giving the idea of ​​real characteristics. Most often, this stage is a test of the idea on the target group of consumers, tracking the reaction to the product. The less a new product differs from an existing one, the less expensive and large-scale research is supposed to be. The result of this stage is the trial production of a product or the provision of a service, which allows you to evaluate the existing problems of production and use. According to the results of the opinions of consumers and experts, the requirements for product characteristics are adjusted. The reliability of this stage is determined by the degree of compliance of the tested product with the final one, which will go to the consumer.

If the product is technically complex, then in parallel with the study of consumer properties, at this stage, they study the features of the production process, and specialists proceed to apply for a patent. A quality control system for goods is being developed.

3. Development of a marketing strategy for a new product.

If management makes a positive decision to enter the market with a new offer, then actions are taken to develop a marketing strategy for a new product and assimilate company departments (marketing, sales, finance) to implement the strategy.

The main goal of the stage is to analyze the macro- and microenvironment of the market, the most promising and target consumer markets.

The development of a marketing strategy includes the following blocks:

l competitive analysis - identifying the strengths and weaknesses of competitors;

b study typical situations, in which the consumer makes a decision to purchase (goods / services);

study of the needs and values ​​of buyers;

ь analysis of economic indicators (market volumes, planning of sales volumes, planning of costs and profits, necessary investments and payback period, pricing);

ь formation of technical specifications / development of goods (issues of organization of production and management);

l trial marketing.

The choice of marketing strategy is largely determined by the characteristics of the product. Conventionally, the development of a marketing strategy can be divided into several blocks (Fig. 4):

Figure 4. - The main components of the marketing strategy of a new product

Most often, when developing a strategy, focus groups, in-depth interviews, quantitative surveys, retail audit, U + A studies, consumer panels are used.

The final stage of the stage is the launch of pilot production. Specialists finally formulate the so-called Marketing Mix of the product: the name of the product, the design of packaging and related materials (advertising materials, instructions, etc.), are developed terms of reference for departments involved in the implementation of the product.

The concept of a new product is launched into trial production (the number of offers is limited and directed exclusively to the target group of consumers). This stage allows you to conduct comprehensive consumer research, assess the level and structure of costs required for serial production, and set a price.

This plan is the basis for the decision to bring a new product to the market by the company.

4. Bringing goods to market. This stage affects all functions and departments of the company: marketing, sales, production, personnel, purchasing, finance, etc. Along with strategic marketing, operational marketing begins to function. The participation of tactical and project management is required.

In most cases, at this stage, companies incur losses or have insignificant profits, since the costs of promotion and development of distribution channels are very high. At the initial stages, it is advisable to release only the main variants of the product, since the market is not yet ready to accept product modifications.

The main attention of the manufacturer is directed to the target audience, as its requests and expectations from the product are the most studied and predictable.

A significant role at this stage should be given to the choice of channels for the sale and distribution of goods. A competent solution to this problem contributes to a less costly and faster gaining a place in the market. The choice of distribution system depends on the characteristics and features of the product, the image of the product and the company, the reputation of the company.

There are two marketing strategies available:

• direct distribution - from the manufacturer, the product goes directly to the consumer. This distribution system is most adequate when selling high-tech solutions (requiring warranty and service maintenance), or in large, expensive transactions;
• distribution through intermediary firms. Often, intermediary organizations have more resources to bring the product to the consumer and they do it with greater efficiency than the manufacturer himself. This is largely due to the fact that having a large number of supplier companies, intermediaries can provide the buyer with a choice of brands, which significantly saves their time.

Main elements marketing strategy can be (Fig. 5):

Figure 5. - Classification of distribution channels

Elena Nasobina, project manager at Tochka, a bank for entrepreneurs

Not so long ago, we launched a product for calculating taxes for individual entrepreneurs. Some customers enthusiastically accepted the new service. They understood that the probability of an error in the calculation of the "machine" is much lower. But among the customers there were also those who were wary of the new service. Some entrepreneurs have been trusting all calculations only to their accountants for many years and did not want to “trust” a soulless machine. The main snag was that it was very important for them to have their own person, who can be contacted at any time.

In many cases, skepticism was overcome thanks to the fact that we sat down with clients and described in detail all the calculations. Or they calculated together according to the formula from the tax authorities why such an amount of contributions was accrued.

There are also such clients who exactly liked the service - they didn’t really want to go into the details of the calculations, but they warned: “If something happens, you will be responsible!”.

It is difficult to say why this particular product caused skepticism on the part of customers. It is not necessary to say that people are simply not ready for innovations, because cloud accounting has long been on everyone's lips.

2. We were not ready for high demand

Ekaterina Makarova, co-founder of car sharing BelkaCar

When BelkaBlack premium carsharing was launched, we did not expect such a boom. On the day of the announcement, the number of applications exceeded ten thousand - no one was ready for such a development of events. We sat day and night and solved the problem only a week later, when the number of verifiers doubled.

When you launch a new product on the market, you should work out as many potential situations as possible: what to do if there is an emergency, where to take people, from which departments to attract employees, which relatives to call if the team cannot cope. You should have a ready solution for all these problems so that you do not waste time working through the situation later.

3. Clients did not understand the logic of pricing

Dmitry Zubkov, CEO at Dostavista

Our express delivery service now operates in 10 countries around the world. In 2016, we launched in India - before that there were delivery services, but our service was a new product: crowdsourcing door-to-door delivery in 60-90 minutes.

At first, there was a problem with addresses: in the cities of India, only districts and streets are indicated on the map. Buildings do not have numbers. This created difficulties for couriers and customers.

The first often could not find the right address or Google Maps showed them the wrong point on the map, and they just arrived in the wrong place. And customers did not understand how the tariff is formed. The same delivery could cost differently today and tomorrow.

“Helped” again: if you change at least one letter in the description of the address, they will consider it a different point. For example, today the client could write: "Mumbai, Link Road, the house is opposite the vegetable store", and tomorrow - "Mumbai, Link Road, the house is red, there will be a vegetable store across the road." The service, at the behest of Google Maps, calculated different costs.

We solved the problem by changing the algorithm for calculating tariffs: now the cost is calculated based on the distance between specific small areas, and not points that were previously determined incorrectly. It is still not easy for couriers to find a specific home, the ability to contact the client via chat or phone helps out.

4. We wanted to receive money immediately (but it didn’t work out)

Sergey Shalaev, founder and CEO of Relap.io

In 2014, the Surfingbird team and I started working on a new (then) Relap.io project. We had internal fears - if earlier we were engaged in a b2c project, now we decided to switch to b2b, since even then we felt an increase in demand for native . But no matter how big Surfingbird was, we understood that we were about to hit the ceiling in terms of inventory growth and were afraid that by doing everything at the same time, we would not succeed anywhere, but nevertheless we decided to discover new opportunities for ourselves. And, as it turned out, not in vain.

The main problem was that we wanted to get paid immediately for using recommender technology with the media. But it didn't work out that way, because it wasn't better times: media managers simply did not have extra money, and it was very difficult to convince editors and journalists that our algorithms would be able to suggest more interesting content to the reader than the editor.

As a result, we decided to provide our technology for free, which we do to this day.

And the problem with the installation of the widget and the conservatism of the market was solved by time - the journalists really saw that readers like our recommendations, they natively fit into the content of the site and do not cause rejection. Readers began to spend even more time on the site, which affected the amount of advertising inventory at the sites. Subsequently, we offered partners to mix recommendations with advertising and earn with us.

5. Launching a new product is a lottery

Yuri Galtykhin, product manager of Firm MMS JSC (PROLOGY brand)

Bringing a new product to market is always a lottery. You never know how customers will accept a new product until it's on the store shelf. But before a product is in the store, there is a long way to go - from the development of a product concept to the delivery of a finished batch. And each stage has its own challenges.

In electronics manufacturing, the biggest headache is the development of the electronic part itself. Let's say we decide to release a new model based on the existing one - but we need to reduce the dimensions of the case and add several functions. For car radios, in theory, this is not very difficult: they usually have a lot of free space inside. We breed a new main board, check: the sensitivity of the radio tuner has decreased. We understand, we found a place where the microcircuit is phoning. A metal screen was added, the board was laid out a little differently. We check, the radio is now in order, but the maximum current on the USB ports is not enough to charge the phone. We figure it out, found out the reason, again we parted the fee in a new way. We check if everything is fine with the radio and USB ports, but we found a new problem. And so it can be twenty more times. And that's not counting the problems with the software, there is also a lot of interesting things.

Separately, I want to say that the creation of a new product is always a compromise. Compromise between price and feature set, but not between price and quality.

Even when planning the release of a new product, we immediately assign it a place in the product line, set the maximum price and the desired set of functions or features. And then we try to make sure that the price remains within the limits, and that the quality does not suffer. For example, take the corpus. Plastic parts are molded into special molds, and each has a maximum surface angle above which it will be impossible to pull it out of the mold without damaging the part. If the design of the device involves the use of complex molds, then expensive composite molds are used: the cost of the mold itself will be higher, as well as the price of producing one part. If we are getting close to the budget limit, it will be more correct to redesign the case to use a one-piece mold.

The same goes for the choice of components. Automotive electronics are subject to the highest requirements for reliability and resistance to external influences. If a home TV does not require operation in conditions of very low temperatures or high vibrations, then for a car radio with a display, these are normal operating conditions. Sitting in a car in winter at -20ºC, you will not wait half an hour until the display warms up and starts showing something? Therefore, when we choose, say, the same display, we can sacrifice resolution (put a regular display instead of a high-definition display to reduce the price), but this display will still work in +60 and -20.

In conclusion, I will say that I cannot name any one product with which there were especially many problems during its creation. There are problems with every product when it is launched to the market - it has never happened without it. But any problems can be solved. The main thing is to clearly understand what the product should be, and at all stages of development and production to control the quality and compliance with the requirements, including the budget. After all, a low-quality or too expensive product will not be sold.

6. We are faced with the fact that the product must be "flexible"

Igor Eremin, founder of the Mobile Doctor telemedicine service

When launching the MVP of our telemedicine platform, we were faced with the fact that the product must be super flexible in terms of customization, since insurance companies, banks, and cellular operators and many others. And each has its own tasks and "wishlist" in terms of functionality.

The solution was to put in the architecture of the service a lot of “custom” things that were not activated until the first partner appeared from one area or another. For example, the functionality of uploading monthly statistics on consultations, activated policies, records, automatic calculation, and so on. This increased the cost of development initial stage but saved a lot of time and money in the long run.

7. The main difficulty was in the business model itself

Andrey Myakin, COO and co-founder of TNOMER

The biggest difficulty in entering the market was that there were no analogues of our business model and there are no analogues yet. Let me explain what is special: the classic service retail model is geared towards offering one service as a whole, for example, only the overhaul of an apartment. We have about 50 services that cover all repairs in the apartment, in the house and on the site. That is, we strive to accompany the client at all his life turns: after the repair of the apartment we will build a bathhouse, after the bath - a fence, a gazebo, lighting on the site. Then repairs in a new apartment and so on.

At the same time, we do not construction company, and a platform for three participants in the process: the client, the manufacturer of the materials and the team. These three lines should not intersect with each other, we are the guarantor and representative. The TV channel of the same name completes all this, which is integrated into the business model to create trust and generate customers, but must exist separately and independently in order to grow the audience, and for this to produce interesting content.

We built such a complex model in about six months, and we are still optimizing it.

Another difficulty is television filming at the facilities that we are repairing. To show viewers the repair as it is, we film the repair process, accompanying it with expert comments. And on small sites surrounded by 5 tons of various materials, shooting is quite problematic. Therefore, it was necessary to create an interaction algorithm that would allow them to be carried out in such a way that it would not affect the quality and timing of the repair itself: find out in advance about the readiness of the object, figure out where to put the cameras, how to connect the work of the film crew with the work of the construction team.

8. It was difficult to convince clinics to work with us

Ekaterina Yakubchik, DOC+ mobile clinic product manager

We have a partnership system with clinics: through the application, you can make an appointment with highly specialized specialists. There were a number of problems at launch, which will be discussed below.

Problem: finding good clinics

We care about our patients, so we carefully select doctors for the staff, train them and control the quality of each treatment. When we send clients to third-party clinics, we want to be sure that they will receive highly qualified medical care there.

Solution

First, we researched the medical services market, where we paid attention to the business reputation of clinics, looked at the reviews of clients and doctors. After that, we went to each medical institution as ordinary clients, and at meetings with the management of clinics we found out how they look for doctors and control their quality.

We checked each clinic ourselves. How ordinary clients came to the appointment and looked at how the organizations look from the inside: is it clean, is the receptionist communicating with you adequately, is the doctor good, does he sell unnecessary services, does he conduct a full examination, does he explain his appointments. Then the diagnoses and prescribed treatment were evaluated by our head physician.

After connecting the clinic, everything does not end there. We randomly check the quality medical care according to medical records and take feedback from each client about the quality of service.

Challenge: Integration of online timetable and medical data

We wanted to make the product as convenient as possible for the user: you enter the application, choose the specialty of the doctor, a convenient time and place, make an appointment, and after the appointment you receive all the data in the application. No calls to the clinic, no paperwork - all through the application. This simplification of the patient's life "complicates" our life: we need to integrate with the clinic's medical information system in order to have access to their online schedule and receive the results of a patient's appointment. Our IT resources allow us to do this quickly, but on the part of MISs (medical information systems) turned out to be more difficult.

MISs are of two types: large players that supply their systems to other clinics, and small clinics with self-written MISs. For large MISs we - third party company, which is not even their client, which means that by default we are at the very end of the priority list. In the case of self-made MISs, clinics are not IT companies, for them this is a completely non-core story, and resources for any improvements are very limited. Both the first and second can be understood, but integration has become a very serious obstacle for us.

Solution

As a result, the only strategy that worked was to be patient and constantly get in touch until we achieve a result. For example, it took us about a year to convince one of the largest players in the market, but in the end we got access to a large number of partners. So just patience and no magic.

Introduction

In today's marketplace, companies are provided with a range of marketing strategies to maximize profits. The offer of a new product is the prospect of high earnings, but at the same time, it is also a risky adventure. A successful marketing campaign is the most appropriate vehicle for developing and bringing a new product to market. Finding out what exactly the consumer wants to buy tomorrow is the main task of advanced firms. The development and launch of a new product (service) on the market is determined by the following factors:

- the need to protect the company from the consequences of the inevitable process of obsolescence of existing products;

- the need to expand production at a faster pace than is possible with a narrow range of manufactured goods;

– the need to ensure a faster and more gradual increase overall profitability companies;

- the need to maintain the status of the company.

Global trends are such that the space is compacted by the number of goods, the range of products offered is growing at a high rate. In Sweden, a country of 9 million people, the number of beers has increased from 50 to 350 in ten years, and former leader Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner stated that they create a new product - whether it's a movie, a comic book, a CD or something else - every five minutes.

The combination of these factors determines relevance selected topic.

object research is the company «MarsLLC».

Subject research is Mars LLC's practice of developing and bringing new products to market.

Target of this work - to analyze the features of the development and launch of a new product on the market using the example of MarsLLC

The set goal predetermined the decision of the following tasks :

– To study the essence and stages of development and launch of a new product on the market

– Determine the role of marketing research in the development of a new product

– Highlight the main mistakes and risks when developing a new product and bringing it to the market

– To study the process of creating a new product and its launch on the market using the example of MarsLLC

Degree of development This problem is determined by a significant number of studies by a number of Russian and foreign scientists, as well as analysts and marketers, such as F. Kotler, G.Ya. Goldstein, A.P. Egorshin, G. Armstrong, T. Ambler, H. Eriashvilli.

Practical contribution comes down to the fact that the study of this issue allows you to minimize risks and avoid major mistakes in the development and launch of a new product on the market, taking into account all sorts of nuances target market.

Theoretical contribution of this work lies in the fact that when considering three specific cases of entering the new MarsLLC market, problems in positioning were identified and the features of marketing campaigns conducted by the organization in Russia were analyzed. It has been established that the mental differences between Russians and Americans played an important role in bringing a new product to the market. This study will be useful in the field of positioning and advertising.

Work structure next: the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, six paragraphs, a conclusion and a bibliography.

1. The process of developing and bringing a new product to the market: essence, stages, risks

1.1 The essence and main stages of the development and launch of a new product on the market

The development of a new product is one of the most important areas marketing activities. To do this, you need to find out what is included in the concept of "new product".

At least 50 interpretations of the concept of "new product" are known. There are three main approaches to the definition of the concept of "new product":

1. Proceeds from the time criterion: any newly manufactured product is referred to as new. The criterion of novelty in this case is not the qualitative originality of the product, but the time of its development and production.

2. Based on the requirement to highlight the criterion for distinguishing a new product from its analogues and prototypes. As such a criterion, it is proposed to use the principle of generating and / or satisfying a previously unknown need with goods. A new product is also called any progressive change that distinguishes a product from previously known ones. These changes may affect raw materials, materials, designs, technologies, external design, and more.

3. It is based on the following premise: it is necessary to proceed not from a single criterion, but from a certain set of them, characterizing certain aspects of the novelty of the product. In this case, for example, four levels of product novelty can be distinguished:

- changing the external design while maintaining the existing consumer properties;

- partial change in the consumer properties of the goods due to the improvement of the main technological characteristics, but without fundamental changes in manufacturing technology;

- a fundamental change in consumer properties, making significant changes in the way the corresponding need is met;

- the appearance of a product that has no analogues.

Modern management is based on innovation. Not every discovery and not every development acquire material life. To translate a new idea into a concrete form, there is often not enough confidence in its successful implementation. The task of marketing is precisely to carry out such work that will not allow innovations to fail in the market.

The development and launch of a new product (service) on the market is due to the following factors:

- the need to protect the company from the consequences of the inevitable process of obsolescence of existing products, which is caused by competition or obsolescence. The decrease in the profitability of manufactured goods or services rendered can be compensated in the long term only through the introduction of a new product (service) that would be in demand by the consumer. The introduction of a new product or service into the assortment is necessary to protect the funds already invested in the company;

- the need to expand production at a faster pace than is possible with a narrow range of manufactured goods, to distribute commercial risk over a wider range of goods and services, to reduce the impact of competition on a separate area of ​​the company's activities;

– the need to ensure a faster and gradual increase in the overall profitability of the company, expressed as a ratio of profit to invested capital, by maintaining and increasing competitiveness, more rational use of production waste, more complete use of production capacity and staff capabilities and, as a result, a more even distribution of some overhead costs , reducing seasonal and cyclical fluctuations in the level of production and sales.

According to the concept of the product life cycle, each product goes through stages from the idea to the end of production. In connection with the globalization of the world economy, increased competition, the development of technology and technology and the accelerating change in consumer preferences, the life cycle of goods is increasingly compressed, which requires businesses to make faster decisions and reduce the time it takes to develop a product and bring it to market. Reducing the time means reducing the opportunities for high-quality project development and increasing risks, which significantly increases the requirements for the quality of management and support, including financial, at all stages of projects, for the timely identification of inefficient and risky projects, risk insurance, minimization of losses, achievement of target results .

The first step to starting work on a new product is to develop a project. Depending on how innovative the product is, the level of materiality of the project is determined. Allocate the following requirements for projects:

a) projects must be limited according to the following criteria:

– time

– resources

– risks

b) projects must be realistic;

c) criteria for success should be clearly defined, measurable and achievable.

The process of developing and bringing a new product to the market takes place in several stages:

c) test sales

4. Bringing goods to market.

Due to the fact that the first stage involves the direct generation of an idea or the search for an idea for a new product, we can give some options for its passage: buy information from external sources, invent a new type of product or service, improve an existing product, attract new partners to develop a product. Participation in the product development process of consumers will save time due to the timely correction of the idea, as well as get the first customers, but it creates the risk of information leakage to competitors. Based on this, there are three approaches to the development of a new product:

1. Type "A" - characterized by minimal technological and financial requirements, as it implies minor changes to an existing product;

2. Type "B" - stringent requirements for technology and technology, high financial costs in connection with the creation of a fundamentally new product;

3. Mixed type - closer to either type "A" or type "B".

Realization of an idea is a concept test of a new product, which involves testing on a group of target consumers to find out their reaction. The reliability of test results is higher when the tested product is as close as possible to the final product. Consumers react differently to new products, it depends on their preferences in a particular area. There are 5 types of consumers according to the speed of reaction to a new product:

1. Innovators - those who buy a product immediately, as soon as it appears or in advance (2.5% of them);

2. Followers - those who buy the product immediately, as soon as someone has already bought it (13.5% of them)

3. Early majority (34% of buyers)

4. Late majority (34% of buyers)

5. Conservatives - those who buy the product later than everyone else, or do not buy it (16% of buyers)

Based on this, it is very important to choose the right marketing strategy. One of the main strategies are pricing strategies. Among them are the strategy of "skimming the cream", the strategy of expanding the market, the strategy of average market prices, differentiated prices, non-rounded prices and "round" prices. The choice of strategy directly depends on the product being developed. However, no matter which strategy is chosen, the first part of her plan describes the scope, target market structure, consumer behavior, intended product positioning, as well as sales figures, market share, and planned profits for the next few years. The second part of the plan contains information about the planned price of the product, the principles of its distribution and the budget for marketing expenses during the first year of release. The third part of the marketing strategy plan provides long-term sales and profit figures and a long-term approach to marketing - a mix. This plan forms the basis for the business analysis that needs to be done before management makes a final decision on a new product.

Bringing a new product to the market by a manufacturing company is an important complex, multifunctional organizational task. It directly affects such functional areas of the enterprise as marketing, sales, purchasing, production, R&D, finance and other functions. In addition, the launch of goods on the market is the subject of both strategic and tactical, as well as project and operational management at the enterprise.

Any introduction of a new product to the market is a risky undertaking. It is noted that innovations achieve success in 65% of cases (according to surveys of 700 English companies), although only 10% of them were truly new, and 20% were only new versions of goods. Thus, introducing a new product to the market is a kind of statistical game. A large number of intermediate stages before launching a product to the market is designed to reduce risk, but all this takes time.

At the stage of commercialization of a new product, the company either incurs losses or its profit is very small due to insignificant sales and high costs of organizing distribution channels for the product and stimulating its sale. Promotion costs reach their highest level at this time, this is due to the need to concentrate efforts on promoting the new product. It is necessary to inform potential consumers about a new, unknown product, encourage them to try the product and ensure that this product is distributed through trade enterprises.

Manufacturers produce only the main variants of the product, since the market is not yet ready to accept its modification. Firms focus their sales efforts on consumers who are most prepared to make a purchase. Prices are usually higher at this stage.

An important role at the stage of bringing goods to the market is given to the choice of distribution channels. Distribution, as well as strategy, is selected depending on the characteristics of a particular product. When choosing distribution channels, the firm decides which customer segments will be reached through certain intermediate stages of distribution. For most products, there are many alternative distribution channels, but the choice of a particular channel, in addition to its profitability, is influenced by the image of the product and the company. There are two main types of marketing. In direct marketing, the product goes directly to the consumer. Direct marketing makes sense for large transactions, as well as for the sale of large high-tech products that need guarantees and technical support. Often in international trade the concept of direct marketing is used - marketing without the participation of intermediary firms of one's country. Most manufacturers should use the services of intermediaries and trade, since trade enterprises can carry out marketing functions with greater efficiency and lower costs than the manufacturer himself. Intermediaries play an essential role in providing a variety of goods on offer, which allows buyers to save time by purchasing several goods in one transaction. The manufacturer himself can harm the offer of a range of related products.

Based on the researched information, the process of developing and bringing a new product to the market consists of several successive stages, compliance with which allows the company to most effectively prepare for the release of a new product and its distribution, as well as to get an idea of ​​the reaction of consumers to it in advance, and to predict sales and profits.

1.2 Marketing research and its role in the development of a new product

The development of a new product cannot be carried out without marketing research, since it is marketing research that can minimize the risks of failure in the market. So, marketing research is a systematic and objective identification, collection, analysis, dissemination and use of information to improve efficiency, identify and solve marketing problems. They allow us to clarify the current situation in the external environment, to draw the structure of satisfaction of needs in a certain territory. Marketing research can be divided into 3 groups:

1. Market research (capacity, demand status, product structure, market development prospects, geographic location)

2. Consumer research (segmentation, ways to use the product, purchase motives, purchase methods, unmet needs)

3. Research of competitors (main competitors, dynamically developing competitors, brands of competitors, forms and methods of marketing, features of goods)

Market research is the most common direction in marketing research. It is carried out in order to obtain data on market conditions to determine the activities of the enterprise. Market research allows you to systematically collect, analyze and compare all the information necessary to make important decisions related to market selection, sales volume determination, market forecasting and planning.

The objects in this case are trends and market development processes, including analysis of changes in economic, scientific, technical, demographic, environmental, legislative and other factors. Its structure, geography and capacity, sales dynamics, the state of competition, the current market situation, opportunities and risks are also being studied.

When developing a new product, an important role is given to market capacity. Market capacity - this is the possible volume of sales of goods at a specific level and price ratio. It is measured in natural and monetary terms and is always determined for a given territory.

The main results of market research are forecasts of its development, assessment of market trends, identification key factors success. The most effective ways of conducting a competitive policy and the possibility of entering new markets are determined. Segmentation of markets and selection of target markets and market niches are carried out.

Consumer research allows you to identify and study the whole range of motivating factors that guide consumers when choosing goods (income, social status, gender and age structure, education). The objects are individual consumers, families, households, and organizations. The subject of the study is the motivation of consumer behavior in the market and the factors that determine it. The structure of consumption, provision with goods, trends in consumer demand are being studied. In addition, the processes and conditions for satisfying the basic rights of consumers are analyzed. The developments here are the typology of consumers, the modeling of their behavior in the market, and the forecast of expected demand. The purpose of such a study is consumer segmentation, selection of target market segments.

Competitor research is about obtaining the necessary data to provide an advantage in the market, as well as finding opportunities for cooperation and cooperation with possible competitors. To this end, their strengths and weaknesses are analyzed, their market share is studied, the reaction of consumers to their marketing means (product improvement, price changes, trademarks, the behavior of advertising companies, service development). Along with this, the material, financial, labor potential of competitors, the organization of business management are being studied. The results of such research are the choice of ways and opportunities to achieve the most advantageous position in the market (leadership, following the leader, avoiding competition), the identification of active and passive strategies for providing a price advantage or an advantage due to the quality of the goods offered.

In addition, the study of product promotion and sales stands out, which aims to determine the most effective ways, methods and means of quickly bringing the product to the consumer and its implementation. The main objects here are trading channels, intermediaries, sellers, forms and methods of sale, distribution costs (comparison trading expenses with profit margins). The studies also include an analysis of the functions and characteristics of the activities of various types of wholesale and retail, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, the nature of the existing relationship with manufacturers. Such information allows us to determine the possibility of increasing the turnover of the enterprise, optimize inventory, develop criteria for choosing effective channels for promoting goods, and develop methods for selling them to end consumers.

Conducted market research may be ineffective if you do not take into account the possible actions of competitors. If competitors are knowledge-driven, then research will help predict their moves, but vice versa. Therefore, it is better for the company to design actions that will be the opposite of the results of the study.

Thus, the role of marketing research in the development and launch of a new product on the market is extremely large, since it is research that makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of the idea implementation as accurately as possible.

1.3 Risks and errors in the development of new products and their introduction to the market

There is a group of factors that affect the introduction of a new product to the market negatively, it includes: the lack of a distinctive feature or unique advantage of the product, the fuzzy definition of the product or market before its development, the imbalance of the technical, production and research capabilities of the company, the inefficiency of technological operations, overestimation market attractiveness. The most common problem is that as a product is promoted, the company's management shifts attention from the needs of consumers to their own.

Common mistakes made when developing a new product include:

1. Managers tend to focus on "where" rather than "how" to compete. Thinking about how to produce and how to deliver goods and services can often be a better source than how to sell. However, more attention in the development of products and their introduction to the markets is received by questions of marketing "where": which markets to serve, which promotion channels to use, issues of product placement on the shelves.

2. There is insufficient emphasis on uniqueness and adaptability. If a company does not emphasize the uniqueness of new products, then it is unlikely that it will achieve it. Most of the proposals for the creation of new products are evaluated mainly on the basis of assumed financial results: what revenues, market share and profits are projected for a fixed period of time. But if similar products appear at this time, then the forecasts may turn out to be too high. It is important that the product be adaptable enough to survive and profit from unpredictable developments.

3. Little attention is paid to the question of when to start competing. Products driven by new technologies can quickly become obsolete as a result of the emergence of competing technologies. Even when the time to launch a product is absolutely correct, the company must evaluate whether it has the strength to enter it first, and if not, adjust its investment and development strategies so that it takes place at least second or third. player.

5. Companies use standard performance measures. As a rule, indicators of short-term profitability are used, instead of assessing the receipt of income in the long term.

The risks of not being in demand for new products may be due to the following reasons:

- the dynamics of changes in consumer preferences (what is the probability that by the time a given product meets the consumer, the totality of utilities contained in it will fully correspond to the consumer's value system?);

- inconsistency in the cost estimates of goods (services) by consumers (what is the probability that the company's ideas about quality, price and terms of sale will completely coincide with the consumer's ideas?);

– scientific and technological progress(what is the probability that investment in the development, production and sale of this product will give the expected return before a technologically new product appears on the market that will be able to displace it?);

- the action of competitive forces in the relevant market (what is the probability that our product (service) will be more preferable for consumers than analogues of competitors?);

- consumer uncertainty (what is the probability that we will be able to overcome consumer uncertainty (skepticism) about the product / service we offer?).

In addition, the most serious mistakes are errors in product positioning. Here an important role is played by such environmental factors as: geographical location, historical aspects, ethno - cultural characteristics, religion, socio-economic condition, politics, demography and ecology of the area where the target market is located. When choosing a specific segment, it is necessary to correctly build not only the image of the product, but pricing. The wrong pricing strategy can have a detrimental effect on product sales. For example, the market has already been mastered by other manufacturers, the organization begins to produce similar products with minor qualitative changes, and the price is unreasonably high - this will lead to the fact that they will not buy the product. It is important that the concept of a new product be as harmonious as possible, taking into account all the features of the target segment.

Thus, the most typical mistakes in the development and launch of a new product on the market are considered, the avoidance of which significantly increases the efficiency of implementing the idea of ​​a new product.

The work carried out made it possible to identify the main stages of the process of developing and bringing a new product to the market, to determine the degree of importance of marketing research in this issue, as well as to identify risks and errors in the implementation of a new product project.

2. Development and launch of a new product on the market on the example of the company " Mars LLC »

2.1 Study of the company's product range " Mars LL FROM"

1. DOVE® - silk chocolate; ice cream

2. MARS® - a bar of milk chocolate, nougat and caramel; ice cream

3. SNICKERS® - a bar of milk chocolate, nougat, caramel and peanuts; ice cream

4. TWIX® - 2 sticks of crispy biscuits with creamy caramel in milk chocolate; ice cream

5. Bounty® - coconut pulp in milk chocolate; ice cream

6. M&M'S® - glazed chocolates (with and without peanuts)

7. Celebrations – ® candy sets in original gift boxes

8. SKITTLES® - glazed fruit gummies

9. Rondo® - refreshing mints

10. STARBURST® fruit gummies and lozenges

11. Tunes® - throat lozenges for the first symptoms of a cold

12. Orbit® - chewing gum in sticks and sticks

13. Extra ® - chewing gum in pillows

14. Eclipce® - chewing gum in pillows

15. Wrigley's® - chewing gum in sticks

16. Flavia® - teas and instant coffees

17. CirkuHelth® Cocoa Drinks for a Healthy Diet

18. PEDIGREE® - healthy food for dogs

19. Chappi® - hearty dog ​​food

20. WHISKAS® food for happy cats

21. Kitekat® - food for energetic cats

22. Sheba® - Elite Cat Foods

23. RoyalCanin® - professional food for dogs and cats

24. Korkunov® - elite Russian chocolate

25. Gurmania® - ready-made soups

26. UncleBen's - instant rice, sauces

27. Dolmio - sauces.

This list shows that the company manufactures products in five main areas: sweets (12 brands), chewing gums (4 brands), drinks (2 brands), pet food (6), food (3).

Mars is one of the most professional companies in the FMCG market, entering a particular market, the concern builds large enterprises And Russian market is no exception. Mars activity in Russia was started in 1991 (CJSC "Masterfoods", since 1995 LLC "Mars"). At the end of 1993, the first regional representative office (Vladivostok) was organized, in 1994 a network of sales branches was deployed in other regions of the country.

The first production site is a plant in Stupino, which went into operation in 1995; in 1996, the head office of Mars LLC was removed from Moscow to Stupino. Subsequently, they opened production capacity in Lukhovitsy near Moscow and in Novosibirsk. In 2008, the construction of two factories in Ulyanovsk began, one for the production of chocolate bars, the other for the production of pet food, the location was well chosen from a logistical point of view. In addition, on April 28, 2008, Mars announced the purchase of Wrigley, the largest chewing gum manufacturer in the United States, for $ 23 billion. In the world market, according to experts, this transaction allowed Mars to gain leadership in the chewing gum segment, but in Russia, thanks to the Odintsovo confectionery factory, which produces products under the brand "A. Korkunov and 80% owned by Wrigley since 2007, the company significantly expanded its portfolio of chocolate brands and took second place in this market, almost catching up with the local leader, United Confectioners. Mars is strong in the segment of chocolate bars, and the manufacturer was not represented in the traditional Russian segment of packaged chocolates, so the acquisition of Wrigley greatly advanced the company. In general, in the market of packaged chocolate products in cities with a population of more than 100 thousand inhabitants in 2007, Mars occupied 6.3% by value, “A. Korkunov" - 13.9%. The combination of assets brought the company to second place after United Confectioners (23%) with a share exceeding 20%

The company considers the expansion of production to be promising, as the consumption of its products is growing: according to the Federal State Statistics Service, in 2006 Russia produced 1.05 million tons of confectionery products in total. According to Nielsen Russia expert estimates, the volume of the chocolate bar market in December 2005-November 2006 is 11.67 billion rubles. (growth dynamics - 14%) in monetary terms, or 55.68 million kg in kind (an increase of 8%). The volume of retail sales of food for cats and dogs in Russian cities with a population of more than 10,000 people for the whole of 2006 increased by 24% in value terms and amounted to 16.33 billion rubles. In physical terms, feed sales increased by 14% to 190,929 tons. Despite the recent financial crisis, sales volumes remain at a fairly high level - the increase in revenue in 2009 amounted to 11%. Problems arise only at the distribution level. Some regional retailers and distributors may delay payments. The company is ready for retailers going bankrupt on the Russian market. The Mars distribution network was developed during the 1998 crisis, it is based on the consignment principle (almost all the risks are assumed by the supplier.), which makes life easier for distributors. Mars is firmly committed to the principle of mutual benefit - if the retailer convinces the company that it is necessary to reconsider the basis of cooperation, otherwise it will not survive, then manufacturers, having considered the issue carefully, can go forward.

The company spends annually 10% of its turnover on marketing and promotion. Mars usually imports a new product to the target market first, analyzes sales volumes and, if successful, opens local production plants, but there are a number of products that are specifically designed only for specific areas, examples of such developments will be discussed in paragraph 2.2.

Thus, MarsLLC is currently one of the largest chocolate producers in the world, in addition, it produces food and pet food. The company's brand portfolio is very diverse, however, this does not interfere with the successful work of the organization.

2.2 Development and marketing of chocolate Dove

The history of Dove chocolate began in 1939, when Greek-American Leo Stefanos opened a candy store on the south side of Chicago, calling it Dove. The name was chosen for a simple reason - Stefanos believed that the family shop should symbolize peacefulness, like a dove. The recipe for chocolate itself was developed much later - in 1956. The fact is that Leo was very worried about his child buying ice cream in a mobile van, he considered it unsafe. Then the caring father began to cook popsicle on his own - an ingot of ice cream planted on a stick was dipped in chocolate to make it especially tasty, Leo experimented with chocolate recipes. Dove turned out to be very tender due to the finest grinding of cocoa beans.

Leo died in 1977 and the entire business was taken over by his son Mike. In 1984, Mike presented branded chocolate and ice cream at an exhibition in Washington, after which he began to receive a large number of orders for his products from all over the country.

In 1986, Mars bought Mike's business and that's how the Dove brand fell into its portfolio. Now chocolate and ice cream under this brand can be bought in more than 30 countries around the world, and annual sales amount to about 30 million bars. It is noteworthy that in the UK these products are sold under the Galaxy brand.

In Russia, Dove chocolate first appeared in the 90s, but it was almost immediately withdrawn from the market, as it was not sold due to too high a price. Since 2007, the production of this chocolate has been launched at the plant in Stupino. By introducing Dove to the market, Mars entered a new bar chocolate segment, making an accurate calculation - “400 rubles per 1 kilogram is not too high a price for the premium segment, so the company may well occupy about 15% of the premium chocolate market,” the chairman believes. Board of Directors of the company "Konfael" Irina Eldarkhanova. According to Anastasia Zaslavskaya, Corporate Affairs Manager at Kraft Foods, there is clear growth potential in the premium chocolate segment. And according to the Deputy Managing Director of the United Confectioners Evgeny Shilov, the manifestation of the interest of a large corporation in the premium segment is justified right now: “premium” has already been adapted by such companies as Lindt, Ritter Sport and A. Korkunov.

The company decided to conquer the Russian market with the help of beautiful advertising. Dove is positioned not only as a premium-class chocolate, its unique silkiness and delicate taste are emphasized.

Despite the fact that the advertisement is carefully designed and the product is clearly positioned, some Russians are still skeptical about this chocolate, refusing to buy it on principle. The thing is that Unilever has Dove soaps and shampoos in its brand portfolio. In this regard, many people simply think that chocolate is tasteless and smells like soap. There is nothing in common between these products. The fonts and the dove symbol used on product packaging are similar. This can be seen when comparing them.

Thus, the company for bringing Dove chocolate to the Russian market did not live up to expectations, although the peculiarities of the economic situation in the country, as well as the segmentation carried out, were taken into account. Despite the fact that the sale of premium-class chocolate bars in Russia is promising, the company can occupy no more than 15% of the market at best, but it firmly holds 2/3 of the chocolate bar market in its hands.

2.3 Bad company experience

As already noted earlier, MarsLLC is known in the world as one of the largest companies in chocolate, however, it has been quite successful in capturing other markets, for example, dog and cat food under various brands are sold in large volumes. At first, Russians were skeptical about Whiskas, Kiticat, Pedigree and Chappy, as it was not clear what the products were made of, and the price was quite high. However, sales began to rise, marketing campaigns for each brand allowed the goods to consolidate their positions.

In an attempt to more and more develop the Russian market, Mars launched the production of Derzhava loose sweets in 2000.

Mars had all the ingredients for success: almost a century of experience in the confectionery market, a turnover of $18 billion, its own confectionery factory in Stupino near Moscow, and well-known companies involved in the creation of Derzhava. Deciding to make a brand specifically for the Russian market, in 1998 Mars hired McKinsey consultants who recommended that the client master the widest segment of the chocolate market - to produce loose chocolates. They accounted for about half of the market at the time. According to Mars and McKinsey, in the late 90s, about 1,200 types of loose candies were produced in the country, but there were no real brands among them. Numerous "bears", "red caps", "squirrels" could be considered such only conditionally, because they were produced by different factories. Although most of them worked according to the same GOST standards, the taste of sweets varied greatly: for example, in some waffles were thicker, in others they were more crunchy. Because of this, all Russian consumers preferred local products, the taste of which they are accustomed to. Mars in November 1999 decided to launch the production of "Derzhava" for the New Year's season 2000. A team of 78 people was given 11 months to create and launch a new product.

Together with the design studio Ikon, which is part of the BBDO Russia group of companies, the Russian division of Mars studied all the design options for Russian candies and identified 15 thematic groups. For example, sweets such as Kara-Kum (camel), Swallow, Bears, Squirrel, Crustaceans could be classified as “animals”, there were also works of art and heroes of fairy tales - Alyonushka, Gulliver. Mars decided to create 10 of its own thematic series - "Countries of the World", "Heroes of Fairy Tales", "Russian Emperors", "World Masterpieces" and some others, on reverse side wrappers of these sweets printed stories about the country or the emperor. As conceived by the developers, informative texts on the wrappers were supposed to enliven traditional tea parties. This was reflected in the advertising slogan of "Derzhava" - "Treats for communication." Mars also decided not to experiment with the taste of sweets and used Soviet recipes from the 60s and 70s. last century.

The first candy "Derzhava" appeared on sale in November 2000, simultaneously with teasing advertising. “The streets will soon be empty”, “The husband will return from work on time”, “Thousands of women will savor the details” - such billboards intrigued the Russians on the streets, only to soon change to the image of sweets, which the whole country was supposed to talk about. The advertisement was very intriguing, but the clue did not appear for too long, so people began to lose interest in it.

In addition, big problems were created by the packaging of sweets. The thing is that the North American consumer protection law, which Mars was guided by in its work, requires that the product must be intact. This means that the packaging of the product must guarantee its integrity from the moment of production to the moment of consumption. Such a guarantee would have come in handy in Russia, but the trouble is that it was not applicable to Russian sweets, the wrappers of which can be easily unwrapped and wrapped back. Nevertheless, the American corporation demanded the integrity of its candies in Russia as well, so the project team spent a lot of time developing the technology for the "inviolability" of each individual candy. The company tried to seal the candies with small stickers, but they also did not guarantee the integrity of the package. It was not possible to find a technological solution, and the only thing left for the Russian division of Mars to do in order not to disrupt the release date of the product was to pack Derzhava in boxes. Since this was not planned in advance, the sweets had to be packed into half-kilogram promotional boxes prepared for New Year's gifts.

It was this misfortune that became fatal. Due to the new packaging, Derzhava ended up in the wrong market segment that it was aiming for. Boxed sweets in Russia are most often bought as a gift, so they are considered expensive products, and the trade margin for them in 2000 reached 100%. Bulk sweets are usually bought for themselves, and the markup on them is 15 - 40%. The corporation initially planned to sell the Derzhava by weight for 105–140 rubles. per 1 kg, but per box retailers they screwed up the usual markup, and the price of 0.5 kg of sweets rose to 105-120 rubles. Thus, the sweets ended up in the wrong environment at an unreasonably high price. Mars headquarters tried to fix the situation: the chairman of the board of directors of the corporation, John Mars, was so interested in Russian project, which allowed the release of "conditionally sealed" sweets sealed with special stickers. But additional costs for packaging equipment led to higher prices for sweets. Following its rules, Mars ensured the integrity of each Derzhava candy, but at that time such a packaging format was not justified from an economic point of view. Shops were not allowed to reduce the price either. When the loose-packed Derzhava nevertheless came to replace the packaged one, the sellers simply doubled the price of boxed sweets and began to sell candies by weight at 210-240 rubles per kg - twice as expensive as competitors' products. Such sweets were not in demand because of their high cost.

In just two years, the company spent $3 million on advertising.

But the Mars company did not manage with one sad experience of bringing a new product to the Russian market. The second failure happened when promoting ready-made meals under the Gurmania brand.

When launching Gourmania, Mars took into account all the mistakes - it did not compete with cheap dry soups and get involved with products whose packaging would be contrary to American standards, but decided to create a premium segment of ready-made liquid soups. Soups for Mars were also practically a new product: in addition to Russia, the company produces them only in Canada, but using a completely different technology. Work on the Gourmania project differed little from the launch of Derzhava. The production of liquid soups was launched in Lukhovitsy near Moscow in 2004. Mars invested $10 million in the construction of the plant alone. According to experts, millions of dollars were spent to promote the product in retail chains, expansion of distribution and its advertising.

Mars launched a brand that turned out to be expensive for most target audience such products and did not fit into the concept of ready-made fast food. "Gurmania" from the very beginning was not precisely positioned on the market and sold poorly. Thus, the largest distributor Mars sold one pallet (pallet for wholesale deliveries) of the product per month in Moscow. The thing is that the Russian population is not ready to accept this kind of food, such food often does not inspire confidence, many people do not even want to try it, and Russian housewives love and know how to cook themselves. In addition, when developing dishes, the taste preferences of Russians were not taken into account, most soups were recognized as tasteless, only red borscht and Gurmania pea soup were in demand.

In December 2009, Mars officially announced that it would be phasing out soups and began selling equipment from the factory. Gurmania is not the first soup to be taken off the Russian market. Unilever's similar Knorr-branded soups were discontinued back in 2007 for the same reason. Now Campbell's is trying to fill this niche, offering ready-made broths for making soups of the same name.

The category of liquid soups has shown a dramatic decline, as, indeed, the entire segment of "cooking". According to the Nielsen agency, retail sales of these products in physical terms in Russian cities with a population of over 10 thousand people from December 2008 to July 2009 decreased by 22% compared to the same period in 2007-2008. In comparison, sales of other products (including noodles, condiments, instant meals, instant food, etc.) decreased by 10% over the same period. In monetary terms, the market of liquid soups sank by 14% and for the period from December 2008 to July this year amounted to about 322 million rubles.

This leads to the conclusion that even giant companies make mistakes when developing and bringing new products to the market. The unsuccessful experience of MarsLLC is a confirmation of the fact that innovative activity is risky. The colossal costs of research and advertising are not always justified. When developing and launching a new product, it is very important to take into account the characteristics of the target market down to every smallest nuance. Perhaps if Mars had released Gourmania 10-15 years later, given the trends of modern Russia, it would have taken root and sold successfully. As for the Derzhava sweets, they should not have been advertised on such a large scale. As a rule, there is no advertising on the Russian market of loose sweets, instead of it, the so-called “word of mouth” works - if the sweets are tasty, then consumers will advertise them themselves.

The work carried out made it possible to analyze the entry of Mars into the Russian market. In general, sales volumes are very high and the organization is a major player on a global scale, but nevertheless, not every project becomes a recognized brand. Studies have shown that the main mistake of the company in the development and launch of new products on the Russian market is inaccuracies in positioning, as well as ignoring the peculiarities of the mentality, culture and economic situation Russians.

Conclusion

The work carried out made it possible to analyze the problem of developing and bringing a new product to the market, to identify the main risk factors using a practical example.

In the first chapter, the need to develop new products was substantiated by establishing the following facts:

1. gaining competitive advantages by organizations;

2. Expansion of production at a high rate;

3. protection against obsolescence of the product range;

4. increase the profitability of the enterprise.

The main stages of the process of developing and bringing a new product to the market were considered, namely:

1. Create a new product idea

2. Development of the concept of a new product (reification of the idea)

3. Development of a marketing strategy, including:

a) analysis of production and marketing opportunities, potential sales volume, cost and profit forecasting, price planning;

b) product development (production technologies and positioning);

c) test sales

4. Bringing goods to market.

Following the order of the steps in the process allows the organization to most effectively prepare for the release of a new product and its distribution, as well as to get an idea of ​​​​the reaction of consumers to it in advance, and to predict sales and profits.

It has been established that the role of marketing research in the development and launch of a new product on the market is extremely large, since it is the research that makes it possible to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the idea as accurately as possible.

Possible most typical mistakes in the development and launch of a new product on the market are considered, among which are:

1. incorrect segmentation;

2. fuzzy positioning;

3. non-compliance of the product with the target market;

4. counteraction of competitors;

5. Wrong choice of pricing strategy.

The following conclusion is made: awareness of these errors will allow to take into account the likelihood of their occurrence, as well as help to avoid the most typical problems in the development and launch of a new product on the market.

The second chapter is a practical part, which, using the example of the world famous company MarsLLC, discusses the features of bringing a product to the market, as well as problems in product development and positioning. Diversification of production, combined with private ownership, allows the company to maintain a leading position in its target markets.

The attempts by this company to bring three new products to the Russian market, two of which were specially developed only for Russia, which did not bring positive results, were studied. It has been proven that the mental differences between Russians and Americans played an important role in bringing a new product to the market.

Vedomosti

Vedomosti

Vedomosti