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Whenever a company expands into a new facet of a business, experience can make a difference in their success. Being an importer and processor of cacao beans for many years, Chocoberry has that experience with companies that produce chocolate for consumer purchase. Moving into this space could be done with multiple products. The whole basis for this expansion comes from the idea of straight to consumer products and the trend of chocolate as a health food.
Because of that, the idea generation should start there.There are quite a few methods that Chocoberry could use to determine possible new products for them. They could go straight to the experts in business-to-consumer chocolate production (Crawford). This could mean speaking with other companies or simply having research and development personnel research the companies.
They would need to find out the types of products that those companies produce and which are the most successful. If they go with the health angle of chocolate, they would have to see what companies are doing that produce “healthy chocolate. ”The next method they could use would be hire consultants or retired experts in the chocolate industry (Crawford). These people would be able to tell Chocoberry what those successful business-to-consumer chocolate companies are producing.
Using the competition’s successful products as a starting point would allow Chocoberry to start with a solid base product and build on it as they see fit. They could also research the competition with published sources (either print or internet). This would tie in with going to the experts if they could not research or interact directly with the business-to-consumer companies.Using published information about the consumer chocolate products they are looking at creating would help in determining what products they could produce and sell successfully. Finally, they could go right to the customer.
By means of focus groups or interviewing, Chocoberry could determine what consumers want from chocolate. Since they are considering the healthy side of chocolate, they could focus their efforts on discovering the average consumer’s feelings on chocolate as a food with “health” benefits.To make these sessions beneficial, having experts be a part of them would help lead the conversations and answers in the right direction. After all of the industry and product information is gathered. Chocoberry can then work on enhancements to the competition’s products. This can be done by asking the following questions of the product: 1.
Can the dimensions be changed? 2. Can the quantity be changed? 3. Can the order be changed? 4. Can the time element be changed? 5. Can the cause or effect be changed? 6. Can there be a change in character? . Can the form be changed? 8.
Can the state or condition be changed? 9. Can the use be adapted to a new market? (Crawford) By asking these questions, Chocoberry can gain a new product idea that is based on a successful product but has enhancements that will be specific to Chocoberry. For example, the effect of chocolate can be different with Chocoberry’s product because they could make a healthier chocolate. They could also change the dimensions by creating a smaller product. There are many options for Chocoberry to make new products.
To accomplish this idea generation, Chocoberry should create a team that includes current Chocoberry employees. This could be employees in the research and development department as well as management. Also on this team should be industry experts and/or consultants. Having people that know what works within the company and others that know what works within the industry will help to make sure all aspects of product development will be addressed. Since they are new in the business-to-consumer market, I do not know if going straight to consumers for ideas would be the best idea out the gate.Having experts define where to start would help to ensure a successful product/division launch.
Once this team determines some specific ideas for product opportunities that Chocoberry could take to the consumer market, they should then rank them to determine the best ideas (Crawford). They should then develop concepts based on those ranked ideas. Whichever ends up being the most probable relating to success and consumer acceptance should be moved upon. After specific product ideas are decided upon, those are ranked and further research is conducted.
Product definition, a budget, and a development plan will all be required in order for the product to move to the next phase (Crawford). I would imagine that the final product ideas would then go to management for review. Management would need to be represented from the manufacturing side of the company, the marketing side of the company and the financial side of the company.
This way they could evaluate things like whether or not the facilities could handle the additional production that would be needed for creating the end user product.Most likely updates to the facilities would need to be made as well as the purchase of new supplies and equipment. They could also evaluate the sales and marketing efforts and changes that would need to happen for the new product.
Business-to-consumer sales are much different than the business-to-business sales that Chocoberry is used to (Mansfield). Finally, they could determine the financial output that would be needed for the creation of the new product. This would help the management determine which idea would be the best investment.This team of management would need to determine the profitability based on the effects in those individual portions of the business as well as the business as a whole. They would use things like concept tests and scoring models to help in their evaluation.
Then when they have their products narrowed down, the development stage starts. At that point, they would create prototypes and a comprehensive business analysis. Evaluation would continue throughout this phase of the process (Crawford). Overall, there are a few basic principles of new product development that Chocoberry should include when beginning a new product line.First, they must complete extensive market research by means of industry experts and information from successful companies in the business-to-consumer market. Knowing what the customer wants and needs is essential. Next, they have to involve management from across the organization.
They can help narrow down the product opportunities and ideas quickly based on their individual viewpoints within the company. Finally, continually evaluating the product throughout the entire process is essential.From the first thought all the way through the launch, the company should always be evaluating the success (or lack thereof) of the product (Jusko). ? Works Cited Crawford, Merle C. & Benedetto, Anthony Di. (2008). New products management.
New York, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Jusko, J. (2010). Good Ideas Aren’t Enough.
Industry Week/IW, 259(12), 40-42. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Mansfield Sales Partners. (2011, March 7).
B2B vs B2C sales, similarities and differences. Retrieved from http://www. mansfieldsp. com/mansfield-sales-blog/bid/50959/B2B-vs-B2C-Sales-Similarities-and-Differences
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