stage 1 (defining ideas)
Focus groups or 1-2-1 interviews take place to find out which ideas appeal to customers and could be developed further. A design agency might produce mood boards to explore and communicate ideas.
If a reduced-calorie chocolate product was being developed, consumers might be asked:
- Which is more important to you – low fat or low sugar?
- What would you want from a reduced-calorie product?
- What’s your favourite reduced-calorie product?
- Which would you not buy?
- What do you see as the benefits of these ideas?
- What are the Unique Selling Points (USPs) of these ideas?
A proposal is then put to the Business team. A typical proposal might be “to develop a small, high-energy chocolate bar for people on the go”. The decision whether to take the product forward will be based on the market research and how the team feels that the product will fit into the company’s commercial strategy. Time is spent looking at existing products and at consumer trends in order to learn what is currently popular, desirable and fashionable, what is successful and what is not.
If they accept the proposal, a product development team is set up to take the project forward.
