"The only thing that is fair in this world is the number of hours in a day. The difference in winning or losing is what you do with those hours."
-- Woody Hayes

by Sherry Chapman

"Strategy + innovation + a little bit of research = New Product Success" writes Susan Katz, SMART Member. For this SMART Report Susan's article takes us through six steps your company can take for a more strategic, proactive and deliberate approach to new product development. During the Scrapbook Industry boom years many companies may have been able to thrive with less analytical process. As we all know, the scrapbook market has changed. Take a look at the six steps and see how your company will benefit from a SMART approach.

Join us and contribute to the SMART Report. We are eager to hear from our retailers and manufacturers. Please share your insights and your questions. Send an email to Sherry: schapman@a-z.com.

Sherry Chapman

Senior Manufacturer Consultant, The SMART Group

Press Releases

News you can use about the latest media coverage of hot trends, noteworthy events and dynamic industry leaders. Learn more about the current headlines in arts and crafts by clicking on the title of each article segment.
 

 

R.I.P. Ritz Camera. "Ritz camera is throwing in the towel and looking to either sell or liquidate all its remaining stores. It's been a bad month for the photography business, first Kodachrome goes away and now Ritz."

The Search for the Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper Is On! Eight finalists -- four amateurs and four professionals -- will be selected to receive a three-day, three-night all-expense paid trip to New York City to compete for $10,000 and the title of Scotch Brand Most Gifted Wrapper. The contest will take place on December 4, 2009 at Rockefeller Center.

Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L?

SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L? offers you a new opportunity to gain more sales!

They now have launched an online store powered by Shopatron! This move also bolsters the commitment SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L? has to their fulfillment partners by driving sales through independent retail stores. The addition of in-store pickup available for brick-and-mortar stores will create ancillary sales of complementary products when customers arrive to pick up their orders.

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by Susan Katz

Many of the companies I?ve worked with, both successful and not-so-successful, do not have a systematic approach to new product development. Some have the ?throw a lot up and see what sticks? approach, others go on ?gut feeling.? Others want the ?least costly product? and some tend to ?put all of their eggs in one basket.? These approaches may have worked will for these companies in their growth years, but now they need to take a more strategic, proactive and deliberate approach to new product development in order to survive and be successful.
 

There are many books, articles and internet resources discussing the new product development process and most of them outline the same basic steps. These steps can and should be modified to fit the needs of the individuals and company.

Step 1: New Product Strategy ? Defining your strategy for new products should be done every 1 to 3 years. It consists of asking a series of questions: Who should we target? What needs should the new products address? When should we launch new products? Where should we sell the new products? How often should we launch new products? For example, should we focus on scrapbookers, a subset of scrapbookers or the broader crafters market? Should we focus on underserved segments or segments with a lot of competitors? A market structure and segmentation analysis should help identify underserved segments. Do you want to stay within the categories in which you currently compete or expand into new categories? Do you want to acquire products/companies or develop new products internally?

Step 2: Ideation ? Now that you have your new product strategy, you can be more targeted in your ideation. You should hold separate ideation sessions with employees, customers and consumers. These sessions should be approached differently for the separate groups. Consumers cannot usually be asked to come up with new product ideas rather the consumer sessions should be more about needs assessment, competitive segmentation and trends analysis. From those sessions you can develop a list of new product concepts in which to go back to employees, customers and consumers to determine the top concepts.

Step 3: Preliminary Market Assessment ? Once the list of top product concepts is finalized, the preliminary market assessment should consist of measuring the viability of the new product concepts: operationally and financially as well as from a customer and consumer standpoint. Things to consider:
? Manufacturing
? Operations
? Distribution
? Cost of goods
? Three year sales forecast
? competitive segmentation
? Profit & Loss

Step 4: Concept Development ? Of the concepts that make it through step 3, a prototype should be developed for the product. The marketing strategy should also be developed. The marketing strategy should include packaging, positioning, unique selling proposition, price, brand name, etc. Basically this step should include all aspects of taking the product to launch.

Step 5: Concept Test ? Once the product concept has been developed then you can take the product to consumers and customers to measure their interest level and intent to purchase as well as qualitative information about the effectiveness of the marketing strategy. Some kind of qualitative research and quantitative research are recommended at this stage in the new product development process. Concept tests will enable you to minimize the risk and uncertainty associated with a product launch. You can also develop better sales forecast numbers based on the quantitative research.

Step 6: Test Market or Launch ? Sometimes a company may want to consider conducting a test market prior to a full market launch. This is usually done for high-stakes products, such as those entering a new market or distribution channel, large profit potential products and new lines of business. Make sure you can accurately measure results from a test market when you design the test market. If you have a lower risk product, it is time to launch.

Even in today?s economy, planning for future growth is a must. How you do it is up to you. Strategy + innovation + a little bit of research = New Product Success. Take a few minutes to think about the new product development process your company has used in the past, and find ways to improve it.

Susan Katz is a Marketing Consultant and Market Research Expert with 20 years of experience helping companies develop strategies and tactics to grow their business. She can be reached for questions or consultation at skatz@katzsolutions.com or 248-444-5283. Connect with her on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/susantudekkatz.  

Art Kits for Adult Crafters

Faber-Castell, well known in the professional art market, introduces a new series of three gift kits designed for adult crafters. These kits use classic color and watercolor pencils in applications that blend traditional art techniques with distinctive crafting projects. Each kit comes with a fully illustrated instruction book that takes you in detail through the various techniques and provides suggestions for personalizing the projects so your own unique style shines through in the finished pieces. These kits have a suggested retail price of $24.95.

Discover the magic of watercolor pencils with Watercolor Canvas Art ? Through the Seasons. Use 5 colors of Art GRIP Watercolor Pencils to draw on 4 miniature canvases pre-printed with season-themed designs. Then turn your drawings into watercolor art by adding water with the included paintbrush. You can mount your pieces on black foam and hang with a black satin ribbon. The instruction booklet teaches assorted watercolor techniques to obtain a variety of effects on the canvas.

Customize 6 miniature vases with Colorful Ceramic Art Vases ? the vases are about 2? tall and in assorted shapes. Draw vibrant designs in any style you like on the vases using 5 colors of Art GRIP Color Pencils. These pencils blend easily, so experiment with them to create various effects. If you like, use a cloth to get an antiqued burnish look on a vase. Accent the designs with a black Multi-mark pen with a superfine nib. Display flowers in the vases around your house, or these are delightful to give as a gift.

Colorful Ceramic Tile Art lets you create an amazing mosaic piece. Color in designs on the miniature tiles with 5 colors of Art GRIP Color Pencils. Use the black Multi-mark pen with a superfine nib to draw outlines, patterns, and to add accents. The instructions cover various techniques such a decoupage and color blending to create different effects on the tiles. Glue the tiles into the 6 ?? square wooden tray, then display on a table in your house.

Faber-Castell is one of the world?s leading manufacturers of fine artist materials. The company was founded more than 245 years ago in Stein, Germany. Our graphite, color and watercolor pencils, charcoals, artist pens, oil pastels and more offer unlimited opportunities for creative expression and design. The Art & Graphic line features best of class professional art materials, while the Creative Studio line is designed for aspiring artists, crafters and students.