New Products and a Second Life

By Ken Westray, PE, NPDP

As I see it, the product development coin has two sides - one is creating new-to-the world (or new to our company) products and the other is finding new uses for existing products. This column deals with the latter challenge.

Examples 
 
Fast Company  magazine's December 2007 issue summarized what two companies did to revitalize and differentiate some of their standard products. Flooring manufacturer Tarkett introduced a range of tile colors and redesigned how the tiles connect.  What happened? With basic tile prices starting at less than $2/ square foot, Tarkett was able to get a $6 - $7/ sq. ft. price.

Consider OXO (pronounced Ox-oh), which supplies thumbtacks among other products. They redesigned their thumbtack so that it had both a pinpoint and a magnet. By using the magnet piece to hold photos instead of putting holes in them, OXO made an innovative response. The new product sold for around $0.87 each vs. $.04-$.08 each for their standard pushpin.

Payoff 
 
The idea of creating improved pricing or product margins with products we already know something about is intuitively attractive.  How to achieve this outcome may be less intuitive so let's take a look at ways to do it. I call them "Keys to Product Makeovers" for two related but different situations:

Existing products, existing markets:

1. Reexamine the product offering in light of current market dynamics. Is competition about the same or fiercer now compared to when the product was first introduced?  Accept the fact that market success invites competition. 
2. Consider tweaking the ingredients.  Example: smaller travel size.
3. Evaluate the feasibility of redesigning the packaging.
4. What steps can you take to make it easier for your customers to use your product?
5. Are there cheaper ways for you to produce or distribute your product?
6. Review existing market research you've done to establish what your customers tell you they want. Do their recommendations match your market judgment?
7. If your research is dated or nonexistent and budget funds are not available for new research, examine your product complaint files. What patterns do you see about the product itself?
8. Consider your trade association's meetings or exhibits as an opportunity to meet current or prospective customers in one place at one time. You can hear what's challenging them in general or specifically about their use of your product or those of your competitors. 

Existing products, new markets:

1. Be clear about what you have. Recognize that you've already invented the product.  Rather than reinvent, innovate its usage or features.
2. Change your perspective. If you're used to working in the same market (vertically), think horizontally - across industries. What other industries have parallel needs for the product you supply?
3. While changing your perspective, remain focused since you likely don't have unlimited resources. Where are the nearest "fits" to your existing solutions or products? What minor tweaks can you make to your product's content(s) or its packaging to meet the new market's needs?
4. Consider investing in some targeted market research to help you reshape your focus. Ironically, the side affects of using those drugs for their intended purpose led to suggesting new, unexpected market opportunities where they succeeded.

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