The history of innovation and new products includes many examples of “supposedly great ideas” that were never able to achieve commercial success. The key reason is that these products were driven by an internal focus and then the companies hoped that marketing and sales could figure out to whom they could sell it. While occasionally successful, this approach is not a recipe for long-term growth and success.
The proven approach for achieving this success is by creating and delivering market-driven products and services. To do this, companies must consistently do the following: (1)
Identify a Compelling Market Opportunity – identify a problem that is significant enough that many buyers are willing to pay money to solve it; (2) Deliver a Compelling Solution – deliver a competitive solution in a timely manner that solves the market problem; (3) Build a Compelling Market Development Strategy – create market messages and conduct appropriate marketing activities that resonate with the buyers in the target market, motivating them to solve their problem by purchasing the products/services.