The Concept Evaluation System

Chapter 8

The Concept Evaluation System

New products fail because there was no basic need for the item (as seen by the intended user), the new product did not meet its need, and the new product idea was not properly communicated to the intended user – they did not need it, it did not work, and they did not get the message.

The Evaluation System for the basic new products process

Though overall purpose of evaluation is to guide us to profitable new products, each individual evaluation step task has a specific purpose in the new product process. Ideas become concepts, concepts get refined, evaluated, and approved, development projects are initiated, and products are launched.

Phase 1 (Opportunity identification and selection) – someone decided the firm had a strong technology, or an excellent market opportunity, or a serious competitive threat – where should we look? What should we try to exploit? And what should we fight against? Market descriptions - it makes sure we play the game in our home field.

Phase 2 (Concept generation) – ideas begin to appear, and the purpose of evaluation changes. The initial review is if this idea is worth screening, the goal is to avoid the big loser/ sure loser, and tries to spot the potential big winners. Evaluation techniques are the PIC, immediate judgmental response, preliminary market analyses, and concept testing.

Phase 3 (Concept/ project evaluation) – the decision on whether to send the concept into full-scale development - full screen, should we try to develop it. The evaluation techniques are checklists, profile sheet, and scoring models.

Phase 4 (Development) – in traduces the part of the process where the parallel or simultaneous technical and marketing activities are done. Have we got what we want? Is this part ready? Is this system clear for use? Have we developed it? If not, what should we try? A protocol check tells whether we are ready to develop a product for serious field testing. There...