History is littered with mistakes made by brands launching products without conducting the necessary research. Who can forget the launch of the “New Coke” in the 1980s (which lasted all of two weeks) or the flop that was Google Glass? The latter example proves that even the most innovative of companies can badly miss the mark with their consumers.
The good news is that, by investing in product concept testing, companies can develop their product ideas in a safe, controlled environment with the input of their target audience.
Whether you are launching a new product to market or thinking about redesigning or rebranding an existing product, below are three reasons you’ll want to put your ideas through product concept testing.
But first, what is product concept testing?
Product concept testing is the process of uncovering what your target consumers think about your new product concept. By investing in this consumer research method, you can identify which ideas will become runaway successes and which ones should be best shelved.
Concept testing methods include online questionnaires, face-to-face surveys, focus study groups, and one-on-one interviews. Irrespective of the specific research method, concept testing identifies the specific features and benefits that will make your ideas a hit or miss.
Once in-depth testing has been carried out, you will know whether your idea will be a major hit or an opportunity for a narrower market segment that might not warrant the time and resource investment.
With product concept testing covered, let’s go into why you need to invest in this vital research process.
While one day of blue-sky thinking with your team could yield dozens of potential product concepts, you need a way to narrow down your potential list of ideas and find out which ones are worth throwing your weight behind.
With product concept testing, there’s no more guesswork. You’ll hear straight from the horse’s mouth which ideas are going to cut it and which should be thrown in the bin. By employing a broad spectrum of consumer testing tools, you can identify winning product concepts and unearth opportunities to further refine them.
You’ll then have the confidence to move onto the next stage of development knowing you are pursuing the right strategy.
Even if an initial round of surveys suggests your product is likely to be a home run, you still need to think about the aspects that will ensure success. How you position your product, what it looks like, colour schemes, packaging, and price are just a few of the elements you’ll need to receive input from consumers to make sure you focus on the right aspects.
With a blend of qualitative and quantitative consumer research methods, you can find out what matters most to your intended audience and get to work on catering to those specific needs. Working in this manner significantly reduces your chances of failure since you’ll already know what the customer is looking for. You simply have to execute it.
One of the reasons so many products fail is that they miss the mark so badly that fixing the problems would cost more than the venture is worth. However, you can buy yourself the flexibility to develop a product that consumers truly want and need by extensively testing before launch.
By continually iterating and tweaking based on consumer feedback, you can avoid the costly launch mistakes made by the companies mentioned above. Yes, this will require significant investment before even reaching mass production. However, these costs would be dwarfed by the investment required to try and fix a botched product launch.
Here at Wirral Sensory Services, we have helped international and domestic brands of all sizes to develop market-leading products through a range of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
From online surveys and questionnaires to dedicated focus group studies, we can conduct all manner of testing to ensure that you nail down a successful product idea before you bring it to market.
If you would like to learn more about our product concept testing services, simply get in touch with a member of our team on +44 (0)151 346 2999 today.