The 20 Toughest Questions for New Product Proposals
| Pages | 51-54 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/10610429310027455 |
| Published date | 01 January 1993 |
| Date | 01 January 1993 |
| Author | Larry A. Constantineau |
| Subject Matter | Marketing |
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 1
1993
The 20 Toughest
Questions for New
Product Proposals
Larry
A.
Constantineau
Over the past decade the development of
new products has received focussed
attention by academicians and
practitioners alike. The diversity and
quality of ideas brought forth by the
various authors have been great and have
clearly advanced the state-of-the-art
surrounding this most important aspect
of marketing. However, what has been
conspicuously absent in the literature has
been a straightforward enumeration of
the key questions which should be asked
by the new product developers and the
reviewers of the business propositions as
new products progress along the
developmental continuum. This article
proposes such a listing of the 20 areas of
questioning which should be addressed at
one or more stages in the development of
a new product.
The term "product" is used throughout
this article to represent either products or
services. With a little adaption, the
concepts and questions are equally
applicable in the services sector.
SIX CATEGORIES OF QUESTIONING
In order to simplify a potentially complex
topic,
the suggested questions have been
grouped into six categories, each
identified with a label beginning with the
letter "C":
(1) Concept/product.
(2) Company.
(3) Consumers.
(4) Customers.
(5) Competition.
(6) Clarifications.
All of the areas of questioning are
critical to the review process and any one
represents a potentially "fatal flaw".
Concept/Product
Historically, the proposition itself has
been the primary area of focus when new
The author gratefully acknowledges the
collaborative support and contributions in
the development of this topic by his research
colleagues from the US Foods division of
The Pillsbury Company, now an operating
division of Grand Metropolitan.
Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 2 No. 1, 1993, pp. 51-54,
MCB University Press,
1061-0421.
51
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