Product Strategy: Steps to a successful product (Part I)

I recently read a blog on Nielsen Wire, which discussed Nielsen’s recommendations from their research, which tracked 600 product launches and tested 20,000 concepts. According to Nielsen, products go through five distinct stages – salience, communication, attraction, point of purchase and endurance – and a product that’s successful in the long term will show success in most, if not all, of these spaces:

Salience:

• The product should be innovative and have a distinct value proposition. It should be something that people want.
• The product has to have the ability to catch the buyer’s attention. What’s the point of investing a ton in a product if people are not noticing?

Communication:

• The product should be able to market itself in a way that makes it stand out from its competitors; in other words, not get lost. It should have a distinct and targeted message and should be able to clearly convey what it does.
• Product messaging should be brief and clear. It shouldn’t include too much and should focus on the 2-3 things that matter, that portray the product’s personality.

Attraction:

• The product should serve a specific customer need and/or want. According to Nielsen and some of the market research projects I have been involved in, ease of use and convenience almost always come up as top needs.
• The product needs to say why it is better than its close counterparts. Make it apparent and inviting.

More on product strategy to come next week…