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Five Top Reasons Why New Products Fail and Remedies toAlleviate Failure

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Okay raise your hands: How many of you have been involved with a really big new product flop? What

seemed to be a good idea but no one wanted to buy.

As a result, perhaps you decided to manage risk by focusing on “sure” bets. But nothing new and bold

gets launched. Just an endless flow of “me-too” products and you are losing relevancy in your market.

Worse, perhaps you really did have a game changing idea but it was decided that it wasn’t a good fit for

the company. “It’s a distraction and not worth the resources.” Only to discover several months later a

competitor had a similar idea but acted on it – and now you are struggling to catch up.

There are five basic reasons product fail in the market. These failures are avoidable if we can understand

the underlying root causes. Here they are:

1) The product simply was not needed: We either failed to launch a significant new improvement to

what customers already buy (undifferentiated me-too products) or we completely missed the boat and

had no idea who and why customers would want the product (a solution looking for a problem).

Remedy 1: Use “jobs-to-be-done” marketing lens and the voice-of-customer throughout the

development process to understand what customers really want and value.

Remedy 2: Be different and create products that are unique and address non-customers and/or

underserved customers. Two excellent frameworks you can use are Clay Christensen’s Disruptive

Innovation (jobs-to-be-done come from this body of knowledge) and Blue Ocean Strategy

(strategy canvas).

2) The market did not understand or hear the value proposition: We either failed to define a

compelling customer value proposition (the solution looking for a problem) or lacked the marketing

skills and resources to communicate the value proposition.

Remedy 1: Clearly define and refine the customer value proposition. Use “jobs-to-be-done”

marketing lens to identify the preliminary customer value proposition and test it early, often and

cheaply. It will evolve as your understanding of the jobs your target customers are trying to get

done and their desired outcomes.

Remedy 2: As you formulate the customer value proposition, also define how the target

customers typically purchase products (the consumption chain) and formulate a “go-to-market

strategy” that matches their buying habits. A good tool to use to architect and communicate your

sales and marketing strategy is the “business model canvas” and “multi-channel strategy maps.”

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3) The product did not work and/or failed to deliver the “desired outcomes” that were promised:

The product either sort of works or flat out doesn’t work, either way the customers are disappointed.

Depending on the dynamics and circumstances of your market, you may never get another chance

with the customer now that you have disappointed them.

Remedy 1: Don’t over promise and set customer expectation levels you can either meet or exceed.

And don’t forget it’s not just the product that counts, it’s the whole customer experience

customers will judge you on, from the initial marketing contact through delivery and support.

Think like a designer (design thinking) and create a total experience your customers will love and

value.

Remedy 2: Good engineering is the pillar to building great products. A sure formula for failure is

an out of control development, manufacturing and quality systems. There are fantastic tools and

development techniques from “lean” to “design-for-six-sigma” (DFSS) that will get your

development processes under control.

4) Business Model didn’t support/justify the effort: The problem being solved simple wasn’t big

enough to justify the development effort. Or perhaps too low of a price point and/or too high of a

product cost resulting in narrow margins and an unsustainable business model.

Remedy: Think big but start small. Prove the business model first before scaling by focusing on a

niche you can achieve profitably quickly. Tools you can use to frame your strategy include

Design Thinking and Value Based Pricing.

5) Too many “me-too” projects and not enough game changing big ideas. There are too few of the

right kind of project - the bolder innovations - and too much effort on line extensions. The truly

deserving projects don’t receive the resources they should and either limp along or die on the vine.

Remedy 1: Implement a new product portfolio management system that allocates a defined

percentage of resources to new and bold ideas. A product portfolio management system is similar

to an investment portfolio where we manage risk and reward. A good balance between lower risk

product extensions generates cash flow to invest in game changing new product innovations.

Remedy 2: Implement a robust and flexible “idea-to-launch” framework that is aligned to the

overall portfolio management system (driven by vision, mission and business goals). The idea-to-

launch framework needs to incorporate the voice of customer providing real market feedback and

insights throughout the development cycle so we don’t end up with product duds.

Innovate right!

Kevin B. McGourty

President & CEO

iNPD Center, Inc.

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About the Author:

Kevin McGourty is President of iNPD Center, Inc., whose mission is to work with high tech and b2b

companies to develop products customers want and eliminate the frustration and cost of launching

product duds.

Kevin has led the transformation of development teams from producing “me-too” products to launching

“game-changing” products both as a senior executive in charge of new product development and as

business consultant working with both established firms and early stage companies.

See Mr. McGourty’s full profile at Linked-in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kbmcgourty

Schedule a complimentary no-obligation Innovation Strategy Session to discover how you compare to

the “best in class” successful innovators, what’s working and not working with your current NPD

systems, and new ideas on how to breakout of the product doldrums and launch breakthrough new

products. You will leave the conversation clear about the issues you are facing in creating customer

attracting new products and excited about what’s possible.