By Rick Steinbrenner
How to make sure you’re working on the “right” new products
Product portfolio management
It happens all the time. You learn your active new product programs are
either falling behind or the scope of the project has radically changed. Your teams are telling you they don’t have
enough resources to do ALL programs.
Moreover, they seem to be working at cross purposes to one another and have
different opinions on the probability of getting the idea to work. You need to figure out a way to get everyone
on the same page so you can keep your new product programs on track and get
your ideas to market in a timely fashion.
In this article we will discuss ways to make sure you’re properly resourcing
your new product portfolio and then develop tracking tools to make sure they
launch on time.
In a prior post on timforrest.com (Are your new product ideas attractive enough?), I discussed the
major types of new products as well as their differing risk/reward profiles:
Type 1: Simple derivatives/new models of current
product lines – easiest to do, lowest risk.
Type 2: Line extensions.
Type 3: New products/innovations in a company’s core
category.
Type 4: New product platforms in a new category (to
the company) – hardest to do, highest risk.
I then recommended using an objective assessment tool to
help rank alternative new concept attractiveness from high to low. The goal is to prioritize your new product
portfolio – just like your individual financial investments. LINK
Once completed you then need to determine if your new
product portfolio is “balanced” and can potentially deliver results vs.
expectations. There are three critical elements
to consider to make sure your new product portfolio is “balanced”.
1. Are your new product ideas strategically aligned
with business and innovation growth strategies
2. Is your new product portfolio balanced across
product type, risk, time and resources
3. Can they deliver against new product revenue
growth expectations – are they sufficient?
One tool than can help in this assessment is development of
a new product road map. A graphical hypothetical
product road example is shown below:
As you can see this graphical plot shows the type of new
product, the size of the opportunity, where it is in the new product process as
well as its estimated development timeline.
This tool can then be used to help allocate limited development
resources to achieve the desired risk vs. reward balance requirements.
Fortunately, this same tool can also help you track and
manage your new product portfolio. All
one needs do is plot progress along the launch time line as well as its current
status in the new product development process at different points in time (i.e.
quarterly reviews) as shown in the example below:
As you can see, these tools are straightforward, easy to
understand and really helps to get everyone on the same page. One minor caveat - in very large/global organizations
there can be literally hundreds of new product initiatives making tracking more
of a challenge. Fortunately, there a
number of available automated product portfolio management tools on the market. Once such program is called “Clarity” owned
by Computer Associates. This type of
automated tracking programs use a dashboard concept to assist in tracking a
large number of new product programs. The screen shot examples below show how this
can be used in larger organizations.
One final note. It’s VERY important both senior and
line managers be consistent in their new product resource management
decision-making process. What this means
is line managers need to have “straight talk” with their senior leaders
regarding realistic risk vs. reward opportunities. Senior managers also need to realize their
teams can’t do everything. If priorities
change too much this sends confusing messages to the organization which can
easily cripple getting anything out the door.
Finally, the type of tracking tool that’s used is not as
important as having A tool to
help manage and track alternative new product concepts. Product portfolio tracking roadmaps are
considered “best practice” at many leading global companies like Proctor and
Gamble, General Mills, Coca-Cola, Whirlpool, General Electric and Stanley Black
& Decker, etc. They consistently
manage and track their portfolios to make sure they’re delivering the right mix
of big and small ideas sufficient to meet the strategic growth objectives of
their organizations. It’s little wonder
then that many of these companies are #1 or #2 in their respective product
categories. Can you say your company is
on this list?
Rick Steinbrenner, Principal of Brand Marketing Advisors –
is the "global brand guy" and friend; a consumer brand and product
marketer. He’s led and managed leading
global brands like General Mills, Kraft, Remington Products and Black &
Decker. His website is www.globalbrandguy.com.
© Tim Forrest 2013. All rights reserved
