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Saturday, 3 June 2017

Marketing planning: Innovation in Marketing

Innovation
A product that customers perceive to be new and different from existing products

Types of Innovation
•       Continuous innovations: A modification to an existing product
Ø  Sets a brand apart from the competition
Ø  Consumers don’t need to learn anything new; change is minimal
•       Dynamically continuous innovation: A pronounced modification to an existing product
Ø  Requires a modest amount of learning or behavior change
•       Discontinuous innovations: A totally new product
Ø  Creates major changes in the way we live
Ø  Consumers must engage in a great deal of new learning

Phases in New Product Development (NPD)

•       Phase 2: Product-concept development and screening
Ø  Product ideas are tested for technical and commercial success
Phase 3: Marketing strategy development
Ø  Developing a strategy to introduce the product to the marketplace
•       Phase 4: Business analysis
Ø  The product’s commercial viability is assessed
Phase 5: Technical development
Ø  Firm engineers refine and perfect the new product
Ø  Test versions of the proposed product are developed (in R&D department)
Ø  The firm may need to apply for a patent
•       Phase 6: Test marketing
Ø  The complete marketing plan is tested in a small geographic area similar to the larger market 
Phase 7: Commercialization
Ø  The new product is launched into the market
Ø  Full-scale production, distribution, advertising, and sales promotion are begun


Adoption and Diffusion
of New Products
•       Product adoption:
Ø  Process by which a consumer or business customer begins to buy and use a new good, service, or idea
Ø  Diffusion:
Ø  Process by which the use of a product spreads throughout a population

Adoption Pyramid

Categories of Adopters
Product Factors That Affect the Rate of Adoption
•       Each characteristic affects the speed of innovation diffusion:
Ø  Relative advantage
Ø  Compatibility
Ø  Complexity
Ø  Trialability
Ø  Observability

“Service”
•       Services: Are acts, efforts, or performances exchanged from producer to user without ownership rights
•       Services accounted for 75% of US employment in 2010
•       Services may target consumers and/or businesses

Characteristics of Services
Providing Quality Service
•       Quality service ensures that customers are satisfied with what they have paid for
•       Satisfaction is based on customer expectations
•       Not all customers expect the same level of service
•       Not all customers can be satisfied

Measuring Service Quality
•       Several methods of measuring service quality exist:
Ø  Mystery shoppers
Ø  Lost customers
Ø  SERVQUAL scale
Ø  Gap analysis
Ø  Critical incident technique

•       SERVQUAL scale (questionnaire) measures customer perceptions of five key dimensions
Ø  Tangibles: the physical facilities and equipment and the professional appearance of the personnel
Ø  Reliability: the ability to provide dependably and accurately what was promised
Ø  Responsiveness: the willingness to help customer sand provide prompt service
Ø  Assurance: the knowledge and courtesy of employees and the ability to convey trust and confidence
Ø  Empathy: the degree of caring and individual attention customer receive

•       Additional methods of measuring service quality:
Ø  Critical incident technique uses customers’ complaints to identify problems that lead to dissatisfaction

The Gap Model of Service Delivery


 Strategic Issues in Delivering Service Quality
•       Maximizing the likelihood that a customer will use a service and become a loyal user requires:
Ø  Development of effective marketing strategies
Ø  Fast and appropriate responses to service failures








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