Description
Presenter: Judith A. Heylmun, Sensory Spectrum, Inc.
Creating successful new products requires implementing a well-thoughtout approach or process to uncover and meet consumers’ needs and wants.The traditional approach has marketing and market research developing and testing concepts. When a concept is deemed ready, product development starts working their magic to create a new product to supposedly fit the concept. Sensory evaluation provides guidance to product development by testing the product until either time runs out or someone eventually says this is the best we can do.As a final step, an extended home-use test, a product-concept test or a test market may be conducted prior to launch. Everyone has a defined role in the process and the sequence of events is usually fairly predictable and straightforward. However, too few successful products are launched. Failure occurs because the consumer gets involved in the process too late in the design phase and the resultant products do not meet a consumer need or fail to offer a unique proposition. The oftenused iterative approach to product development fixes mediocre products and occurs too late in the process, spending too much time putting out fires instead of creating success.
