Product Development

Beech and Chadwick (2007) define the product development stage of the NPD process as the development of a product from an idea into a physical form to meet market demands.  The product development stage includes undertaking rigorous product testing to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the product (Kotler & Keller, 2012).  Baker and Hart (1999) note that these prototypes are often tested on potential customers to gain feedback which can be used to make any further alterations before the final product is produced.

For this stage to be effective in the overall NPD process, Kotler and Keller (2012) consider it necessary for it to include:

·         Construction and Packaging Decisions e.g. type/quality of materials, colour/size of product, method/cost/time of production and packaging material, functions, costs etc.

·         Branding Decisions e.g. name, image, exclusivity, trademark.

·         Positioning of the product – which market will the product be targeted towards, positioning against competitors.

·         Attitude and Usage Testing – are the consumer’s satisfied with the product? What are their perceptions?

 

 

An example of product development in the sports industry is Warrior Sports. Despite establishing their manufacturing brand through Ice Hockey and Lacrosse, Warrior Sports entered the football market in 2012 using sponsorship of Liverpool FC to increase their brand awareness (Warrior Sports, 2014). Vincent Kompany, who still endorses the brand, was spotted trialing their first prototype football boot.  The Warrior Sports Skreamer K-Lite boot is made out of kangaroo leather designed to be lightweight at just 192 grams to help the footballer run faster (Perkins, 2012).  

In 2008, Under Armour attempted to move from being a niche to a mainstream brand.  To do this, Under Armour released a range of cross trainer shoes therefore placing them in direct competition with Adidas and Nike.  This has been beneficial for Under Armour and resulted in growth which they built on in 2011 when the entered another new market for high performance running shoes (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012).

 

To convert the idea of Gymathlon into a physical form the activity must be constructed.  Gymathlon will use 6 different sections designed so that by the end of the session all muscle groups will have been utilised and the scores can then be entered onto a leaderboard to find the most complete athlete. Appendix A shows the components of each section.

As the concept is a service activity the only aspects of the packaging are the included benefits which include the opportunity for participants to test themselves and enter a leaderboard, a free t-shirt and the chance to win a prize.  The logo image for Gymathlon is shown in Appendix B, this name and logo will be exclusive to the franchises which offer the activity.  Appendix C is a perceptual map which indicates where Gymathlon will be positioned against competitor services.

To gain consumer perceptions of Gymathlon it will be trialled in a gym with the target market invited to try Gymathlon for free.  Participants will then be asked to complete the feedback form which will indicate consumer satisfaction.

 

Appendix A

 

Appendix B

 

Appendix C

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Baker, M. & Hart, S. (1999) Product Strategy and Management. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Beech, J.G. & Chadwick, S. (2007) The Marketing of Sport. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Football Boots Database (2015) Vincent Kompany. Available at: http://www.footballbootsdb.com/player/Vincent-Kompany/5770 (Accessed: 21 January 2015).

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2012) Principles of Marketing. 14th edn. London: Pearson Education.

Kotler, P. & Keller, K.L. (2012) Marketing Management. Global Edn. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Perkins, B. (2012) Vincent Kompany Training in Warrior Sports Prototype Boot. Available at: http://soccerreviews.com/news/unreleased-warrior-sports-skreamer-klite/ (Accessed: 21 January 2015).

Warrior Sports (2014) About Warrior. Available at: http://sports.warrior.com/About-Us/about-us,en_GB,pg.html (Accessed: 21 January 2015).