I was writing a response to a query on MarketingProfs.com today for a software company who was looking to present his boss a new product concept via a marketing campaign. He wanted to know what he should include in the ‘pitch’ to his boss. I began to think that product briefs weren’t just for big business anymore. Even small business owners can benefit from this conversation because rather than simply rolling out a new product, there are several areas that should be investigated before stocking the shelves. And new consumer products are on the rise by nearly 59% according to a recent study. That means that you’re not alone in producing new products and that your competition is more than likely developing products simultaneously with you.
Preparing a product brief can help to gather concepts and strategically plan for how the business will manufacture, promote, and distribute a new product line. A well thought out brief can also save your business thousands or even millions in bad or poorly managed product launches by helping you to fully articulate your ideas and gain much-needed buy-in from key stakeholders.
What is to be included in a brief?
A good product brief, like any good document, includes a beginning (overview and history), middle (making the case for your idea and the requirements), and an end (anticipated results). Use a product brief to help organize your thoughts and then expand it to include all of the financial information you need. If you're planning on presenting this idea to your partners or even your banker for additional funding, you’ll need to have all your ducks in a row including
- what the potential return on investment (ROI) will be,
- the marketing communications strategy
- target markets and potential consumer demographic and psychographic data,
- the cost and timeline for product development,
- how the product will be distributed/sold,
- potential sales projections, and
- any other related direct and indirect costs (staffing, travel, etc).
A formal pitch to investors or a banker would also include a company overview detailing history of the company, the market situation including customers and competitors, and current financial situation. A less formal pitch to internal audiences can just focus on the product or service at hand but should still include substantial research, requirements and anticipated results.
Always start any project by fully examining the benefits to the business. Remember that the product brief needs to include the problem that the product or service poses to solve, customers and anticipated target markets, competition, legal or manufacturing constraints, timeframes, desired outcomes, and everyone's favourite topic, budgets.
How Do You Know it Will Sell?
Be sure to include measurement tools in your product brief. How will you measure success and or failure? These tools will be lifesavers after the product roll-out when your partners are asking about the success of the new product or service. Putting matrices in place prior to rollout will provide real, quantifiable data from which you can give a truthful reporting. Measurement tools can include but are certainly not limited to profitability, ROI, customer satisfaction surveys, market share, and sales results.
As part of your marketing strategy don’t make the mistake of using the same old methods you’ve always used. For a new product being sold to a new market, you’ll need to consider newer, more advanced methods of marketing. These may include updating your web site to include blogs, RSS feeds and other social media strategies as well as the more traditional mediums. Some of these are low cost and others will carry a hefty advertising price tag. Investigate all of your options and include anticipated costs in your budget.
Not only will you need to have a terrific product, but you’ll need a strategy for letting your customers know about your product or service. Include your best marketing ideas as well as some solid creative including a mock up of what the product will look like, a sample sales slick, and a detailed outline of how the campaign will roll out. Don’t forget to include costs related to creative including agency fees, advertising costs, and any point of purchase displays.
The Budget
The least favourite part of any project manager’s task list, but by far the most critical element is the budget. Try to be as realistic as possible with your budget and always plan for contingencies. If you’re flying by the seat of your pants on the budget section, plan for larger contingencies of 20%-30%. If you have solid numbers you can drop them down a bit.
A Brief is Born
Now that you’ve completed the outlined suggestions above, you’re the proud owner of a rough product brief. Congratulations! It wasn’t that painful, now was it? From here you can continue to finalize your budgets, formalize marketing strategies, and work with product development on timelines and debugging any issues as they arise. Once the final document is ready, grab your presentation boards and head off to the board room for your award-winning new product presentation.
No matter whether you’re a small business with a staff of ten or a large multi-national corporation with investors, a new product brief will help you to clarify your ideas and identify potential hazards before you bring a product or service to market.
Whatever your small business needs, your Nimbus Financial tax and financial professional can analyse your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan.
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