Ignition, Lift Off. Accelerating New Product Development
In this webinar, we will discuss the role of qualitative research, projective techniques, ideation, and concept evaluation have on new product development.
The new product process begins with human decisions. You have to choose the product category, the target market (or market segment), the need/problem you want to solve, or the wish or aspiration you hope to fulfill. These are purely judgmental decisions. These basic decisions give you focal points and guidelines for ideation.
Qualitative Research. There are many different kinds of qualitative research, from in-person focus groups and in-person depth interviews to online forums, bulletin boards, online chats, or mobile ethnography. The gold standard for new product development, in our experience, is the in-person depth interview. This is a one-on-one interview that lasts about an hour or more. These depth interviews are video-taped and transcribed.
Projective Techniques. We already know how the average person responds to this inkblot. When the “feel about toothpicks” is added to the equation, how do consumers’ perceptions and emotions change? What’s the delta? What’s the difference? Do consumers see a goat, a tooth, a horned devil, or an arrowhead? Inkblots and other images can help reveal deeper emotions.
Ideation. After the qualitative research, we are ready to start generating ideas that solve or address the problems and opportunities we identified during the qualitative research and analysis. The goal of ideation is to focus human creativity on the issues and wishes that really matter—that will lead to relevant and successful new products.
Concept Evaluation. Now we come to the “throw the bad ideas away” part. How we move ahead at this point depends on the number of new product concepts still in the running. If we have a large number (10 or more), then the next step will be concept screening. The goal is to identify the better concepts (the top three or four). We usually test these concepts online, with a sample of 300 to 500 consumers, and have them rate the concepts on purchase interest, perceived competition, expected purchase frequency, and pricing acceptance. Based on these measures, we can rank the concepts on raw market potential.
Presenters
Jerry W. Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Jerry founded Decision Analyst in September 1978. The firm has grown over the years and is now one of the largest privately held, employee-owned research agencies in North America. The firm prides itself on mastery of advanced analytics, predictive modeling to maximize learning from research studies, and the development of leading-edge analytic software.
Jerry is deeply involved in the firm’s development of new research methods and techniques and in the design of new software systems. He plays a key role in the development of Decision Analyst’s proprietary research services and related mathematical models.
Jerry describes himself as a student of marketing strategy, new product development, mathematical modeling, business survival, and economic growth. In his spare time, he likes to work on his farm in East Texas where he grows grapes, apples, pears, pecans, plums, and peaches; a forest of native trees, grasses, and insects; and wild plants of many types.
He graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington, earned his MBA at the University of Texas at Austin, and studied graduate economics at SMU.
Clay Dethloff
Senior VP, Insights and Innovation
Clay is an experienced marketing research professional with more than 25 years of experience in both leading and delivering qualitative research in the industry. As the head of qualitative research efforts at Decision Analyst, Clay is responsible for maintaining and improving the quality of qualitative research, identifying new/innovative qualitative research tools, and overall management of the qualitative team.