Launch

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Market launch ( English introduction stage , product launch ) is the initial distribution of a marketable product or service in a market .

General

The market launch is the first phase in the product life cycle , which is associated with the highest market risk and is preceded by a market analysis of existing market data , market potentials and market developments . After the BCG matrix , there are the phases of the market of the market ( English marketability ), launch ( English introduction stage ), the market growth ( English growth stage ), the market saturation ( English decline stage ) and the maturity stage ( English maturity stage ).

At the same time, the market launch represents the last phase of the previous innovation process. The market launch is therefore the constituent feature of an innovation . The innovation process includes more or less intensive corporate research and development for the purpose of product or financial innovation . The research and development costs incurred in this way can only be recovered after the market launch through sales ( English payback period ). Advertising campaigns to establish / increase awareness can also start before the market launch, they contribute to the curiosity of potential buyers. The in-house product tests of prototypes can possibly be supplemented by market tests on a test market with selected reference customers.

Despite - or perhaps because of - existing weaknesses in the market introduction in corporate practice, scientific research still shows large gaps in the analysis of the market introduction, especially in the marketing of the products / services to be introduced. The market launch is to be examined both as a decision problem and from a time perspective. In the specialist literature , a fundamental distinction is often made between two perspectives with a content and a time dimension.

Content and time dimensions

From a content perspective , all management tasks that are necessary for the placement of the product on the market are subsumed under market launch . This initially affects marketing measures , because the success of a product in the sense of a rapid increase in sales after the market launch often depends on the product and communication policy - above all on the extent to which the product has already been advertised . If there was little advertising beforehand, the product may still be largely unknown when it is launched, so that it is hardly consumed . For this reason, advertising agencies are commissioned long in advance to come up with advertising concepts in order to build awareness of the product and to generate a corresponding product image even before it is placed on the market. Other questions about the success of a product that fall under this perspective relate to the area of ​​product presentation. For example, if a product is in inconspicuous packaging and is on the lowest shelf in the middle of a department store, it will attract less attention than a product that is more conspicuously packaged and placed on a separate sales stand at the entrance to the department store.

Furthermore, a time perspective is emphasized. Market launch can therefore be understood as a (last) phase of the innovation process or as a (first) phase of the product life cycle. The time of market launch also plays an important role in the success of the product. For example, it does not make sense to launch a new winter jacket on the market in spring, as the demand for this product will probably not be strong at this time of year.

Market entry management

Market launch includes marketing , advertising and operational planning and decisions , especially in product management . These activities are to be bundled by a comprehensive market entry management, because this is the only way to bring about market success. The amount of revenue achieved, and thus the success of the product, are heavily dependent on the market launch management. Technically superior products can therefore fail if the planning for their market entry is incorrect. For example, Philips and Grundig had to realize that the technically superior Video 2000 system introduced in 1979 for video recorders was defeated in competition with the VHS system introduced by Matsushita / JVC in 1976 , because the Japanese competition had relied on the high-volume global market launch from the start.

Market entry strategy

The market entry strategy includes all strategic decisions that a company entering markets (regional, national, international) selects for products / services and the times ( English timing ), sequence and speed of market determined, because of the success of a new product ultimately decides the market . Bad launch timing can result in either lower profits or additional costs . Delayed time to market a product results in a loss of company earnings; According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization in large and medium-sized companies in the technology sector, if the development time is exceeded by 25%, the yield is reduced by up to 60%. A premature launch dissolves in remaining product risk product liability or even product recalls from. About 46% of all research and development costs spent on product development and market launch ultimately go into unsuccessful products.

Demarcation

The market launch of new products / services must be distinguished from market entry (market entry). The latter occurs when a company is founded when an entire company appears as a market participant in a market for the first time . Especially in the English-language literature is not always clear between the launch ( English launch ) and the market entry ( English entry distinguished).

literature

  • Call, Guido: Development and market launch of new products: Development of a process-integrated concept , Gabler, Wiesbaden 1997
  • Hanfeld, Ulrich: International launch of new products. A process-oriented management concept , Lang, Frankfurt am Main [u. a.] 1997
  • Kuhn, Jutta: Launch of new products , Deutscher Universitäts-Verlag, Mannheim 2007

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nadine Sammerl, Innovative Capability and Sustainable Competitive Advantage , 2006, p. 30
  2. ↑ Guido Call, Development and Market Launch of New Products , 1997, p. 30
  3. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Launch of New Products , 2007, p. 4 f.
  4. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Launch of New Products , 2007, p. 9
  5. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Launch of New Products , 2007, p. 10 f.
  6. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Launch of New Products , 2007, p. 10
  7. ^ Raphael Kromer, Smart Clothes. Idea generation, evaluation and market launch , 2008, p. 18
  8. ^ Raphael Kromer, Smart Clothes. Idea generation, evaluation and market launch , 2008, p. 18
  9. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Launch of New Products , 2007, p. 10 f.
  10. ↑ Guido Call, Development and Market Launch of New Products , 1997, p. 10
  11. ↑ Sönke Albers / Andreas Herrmann (eds.), Handbuch Produktmanagement , 2000, p. 76
  12. ^ Ohmae Kenichi , The Power of the Triad , 1985, p. 33
  13. ↑ Klaus-Ulrich Remmerbach, Market Entry Decisions, Corporate Management and Marketing , Volume 21, 1988, p. 10
  14. ↑ Sönke Albers / Andreas Herrmann (eds.), Handbuch Produktmanagement , 2000, p. 76
  15. ↑ August-Wilhelm Scheer, Simultaneous Production Development , 1992, p. 43 ff.
  16. ^ Robert Cooper / Elko Kleinschmidt, New Products: What Separates Winners From Losers? , in: Journal of Product Innovation Management 4 (3), September 1987, p. 169
  17. ↑ Jutta Kuhn, Market introduction of new products , 2007, p. 11 f.