Answer to Question #177206 in Management for BHAWNA

Question

As a newly appointed Product Manager by Balaji wafers, you are asked to develop New Product Planning for new flavor of potato wafer. How would you develop new product planning process?

Answer 1

The product planning process starts with either recognizing a customer's need or identifying and articulating market requirements. It acts as the basic foundation for decisions about pricing, marketing strategies, distribution, position, and advertisement. The managers start by first coming together to generate new ideas about customer needs and identify existing problems in the market. They then evaluate competitors to find out their weaknesses and shares in the market, and identify areas of opportunity that they can exploit. The next stage involves both qualitative and quantitative market research. Quantitative market research can be done through phone surveys to predict the performance of the product in the market, and define consumer segmentations in relation to a brand dimensions that differentiate brands to decide on product packaging, development, positioning, advertising, and brand image. Qualitative market research can be done through interviews to identify consumer behaviors, the needs that govern these behaviors, and their relationship to the product. This is followed by introduction of the virtual product. Another important step in the planning process is managing the product life cycle through the introduction, growth, maturity, and decline stage. This product life-cycle helps to analyze the market and see if the product will be successful. If the planning process is successful, the company moves on to the next stage and starts working on the idea, developing the prototype; testing it, refining and modifying it until a success is achieved then the company launches the product into the market to see how it will perform.