Test Marketing

Test Marketing

The penultimate stage of the NPD process is test marketing. Actual performance is observed as a new product/service is placed in one or more selected market(s) to analyse whether the product will be viable or not (Kotler & Keller, 2012). McDaniel, Lamb & Hair (2011) further back up this point by stating how introducing a new product into a limited market will gather the views of potential customers.

This stage allows developers of new products to introduce the product at a lower cost than that of first introduction, however, it still tests the entire marketing program on potential consumers, for example the positioning strategy, branding, distribution and advertising. Although, there are some flaws within test marketing as there are extra financial costs incurred with the introduction process and also competitors may take advantage due to this being a lengthy process (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012).

Within the sport industry, an example of this would be Body Armor’s chest protection pad that they had developed due to the product not being accepted to date (Professional Athletic Equipment Inc, 2013). There were certain issues with the product in regards to the high costs of getting all teams to wear a protective product and also there were doubts on whether the product would affect an athlete’s performance and/or mobility. Therefore, Body Armor was then tested at a variety of places, including Baseball youth teams and other universities. From the study it was derived that the product did not affect performance but actually improved it, this was due to the mentality of the athletes being more confident as they felt more protected and safe wearing the Body Armor. Scotland Food & Drink (2012) go on to suggest that market testing is essential in the New Product Development process and should be done not just in the sport industry but across all business industry.

In regards to the cricket spike idea (SB SpikeSwitch) that has come through previous stages of the NPD process, test marketing would be implied appropriately. The organisation that is SB SpikeSwitch would have to consider laws when test marketing the spike, such as intellectual property of the spike which suggests that upon entry into the market, patents, trademarks and other copyright material will protect the spike from being copied by competitors. Therefore, it is necessary to market test the product to the appropriate audience in order to gain a more specific view on the realistic use of the product.
During the late winter/early spring, when cricket training starts for all clubs nationwide, the spike will be taken to the top 20 universities in the UK to be tested on potential buyers in order to gain actual information on what people think of the product. The product will also be taken to every UK County’s cricket ‘hub’, where the best up and coming players in the country can test the product to grasp the feasibility of the spike.

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Reference List

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing.14th Edition. London: Pearson Education.

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. (2012) Marketing Management. Essex: Pearson Education.

Mcdaniel, C.D, Lamb, C.W, & Hair J.F, (2011) Introduction to Marketing. 11th Edition. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.

Professional Athletic Equipment Inc. (2013). Business Plan. Available at : http://wsj.miniplan.com/spv/3256/3.cfm#1030000. Last accessed 29th January 2014.

Scotland Food & Drink. (2012) How do I: conduct a test market? Available at: http://www.scotlandfoodanddrink.org/site/guide_doc/How-do-I-conduct-a-test-market-2.pdf Last accessed 29th January 2014.