What role does marketing research play in new product development and brand name development for a company?

companies like Ben %26amp; Jerry's.........

What role does marketing research play in new product development and brand name development for a company?
In new product development, outcome of marketing research may give idea if the product will succeed in the market, if it will gain market share, how the market will accept it, and generally, it gives ideas on the possible risks and oppurtunities. This information would then lead management to decide whether to launch the product or not; or would give them idea on what strategies to apply so that the product will succeed.





In brand name development, marketing research may give ideas on what names are appropriate for the product, implications on using the name, what image does it give to the product, and how the market will perceive it.
Reply:Marketing research plays a major role in product development. As a whole, marketing research plays a major role in the business development. Market research is very effective in conducting feasibility studies whether the proposed products being developed would sell or not once released in the market. Market research will also give you focus in terms of who your target market will be - or who will most likely buy your product. Result of the research may include the demographic variables which you should consider with regards to your target market - thus your whole marketing effort will be dependent on this.








MArket research is similar to a blueprint of a house, you shouldnt start buiding a house without it. Market research provides cost effective simulation of cost benefit study for a product or project you are developing.
Reply:It depends very much on the situation. When large corporations are developing new products and brands they usually do considerable market research. There is usually a kind of fascinating interplay between internal experts and market research subjects because consumer and customers rarely know what they want without being shown what their options are. For instance, if you'd have asked consumers 20 years ago what they wanted next in vodka they probably would not have come up with "a staggering array of extremely expensive vodkas in fancy bottles". But when the packaging and branding experts came up with the ideas, consumers responded positively in research and in the market. If you look at a company like Ben %26amp; Jerry's, they probably have a fair number of people who'se job it is to figure out what the flavor trends are going to be - for example, a couple years ago everyone seemed to be in love with peach flavored things - yogurts, waters, ice creams, etc. Recently it seemed to be that rasberry swept through every category. Consumers can't tell you what they'll like in two years, but some of these smart guys can. That said - if a smart guy reads the tea leaves and identifies that fruit juices mixed with mint is going to be the next big thing, can he tell you how much mint is the right amount? No. To figure that out you have to make a bunch of batches with different amounts of mint and have consumers try them.





I said all that to say this though. Not all new products or brands involve market research. A staggering number of products are launched very small and grow organically. Take hot sauces for instance - the vast majority of hot sauces you see on the shelf probably had minimal market research done. Rather, individuals set out to create a sauce they liked, they bottled it in small amounts, other people tried it, liked it, recommended it, and over a period of time the product grew. There are thousands and thousands of examples of products like this. Some have become gigantic successes, while others grow to local or regional fame but never quite make the next leap.





So it really depends on the situation.
Reply:It plays a big role. It helps identify the target market your product, price and promotion should be in order to be succesful. The same for brand development.





You need research to find out how to define your 4P strategy for the segment you are attempting to reach.
Reply:The first guy was right...as far as Ben %26amp; Jerry's marketing research would probably involve focus groups and surveys to try and distinguish how the company stacks up against competitiors in the minds of consumers. They could also get ideas for new products and test them (on focus groups).

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