16. Introducing New Market Offerings

In an era defined by technology and impacted by globalization, we observe a steady increase in the number of expectations that originate from consumers. With customers leading demand and taking the steering wheel away from the companies, this apparent phenomenon forces companies to deliver upon those expectations if they wish to survive in their respective competitive industries.

With the above being said, the notion behind introducing new marketing offerings adds to the expectations of the consumer, whether those expectations are created by the businesses themselves and directly influenced upon the individual, or by being communicated by the customer base, through feedback and public opinion.

A primary concept that requires to be addressed when the topic of new marketing offerings is proposed, is the ideology behind innovation. By definition, innovation is deemed as the act of developing something new within a company; whether that is a new offering, a strategic marketing approach, brand new internal and external methodologies or a new perspective upon a topic. In order to achieve success and growth, businesses are required to adapt to the concept of innovation, as its efficient manifestation, can improve offerings, activities and overall, methodologies, while even, develop new ones from scratch.

However, innovation is not always successful, as most frequently, it appears to fail. The first concept absorbed throughout the introductory class of new market offerings, is the reason behind the evident failure of innovation. In most cases, it appears to be due to misaligned incentives; while innovation is vital for the continuity of a business, it is important to also value the incentives to go alongside the evident growth and direction the company is heading towards.

Additionally, it is important to emphasize upon the need for development of a culture that showcases the essentiality of innovation. In most cases, businesses that wish to innovate, are simply not prepared. Whether that is due to psychology oriented ramifications, or due to technical matters, the managerial segmentation of organizations have the responsibility to develop systematic approaches upon the concept of innovation, in order to assist employees and overall, the community surrounding the company, to innovate. While there are of course, more reasonings behind the apparent failure behind innovation, the concepts above manage to capture the most frequent reasons.

Before finalizing with this entry, I would light to highlight upon the concept of drawing ideas from customers. Rather than going over its theoretical approach, I would like to mention an example of such. An evident example is the interaction of Stockmann's brand with its customer base. In 2014, a Facebook group was created under the name of "Save Stockmann". This very same group ended up having a sit down with representatives of the brand, offering solutions and advices as to how certain offerings, in addition to methodologies, should be adjusted in order to provide unapparelled value. Ultimately, listening to customers and ideas, is a better approach rather than looking at numbers.

References:

Introducing New Market Offerings presentation - Strategic Marketing Management course - KAMK. Retrieved from: DevMoodle - Strategic Marketing Management Course.

Jigsaw presentation, Stockmann - Strategic Marketing Management course - KAMK. Retrieved from: DevMoodle - Strategic Marketing Management Course.