Discontinuity Product Introduction Pitfalls And How To Avoid Them

Posted on November 29, 2017 by Ed Senen, One of Thousands of Leadership Coaches on Noomii.

What are discontinuity products? They are completely new! They are a leap forward! They create a new competitive race! Product discontinuities are not enhancements, or “new and improved” products. A properly conceived and launched discontinuity product is a market position game changer!
Discontinuity products have traditionally been viewed as offensive strategies, but with the ever increasing velocity of technological advancements, discontinuity products are increasingly an important part of a defensive as well as offensive strategic plan. The successful launch of a winning discontinuity products is the aspiration of every business development and marketing leader. If done properly the successful introduction of a discontinuity product can deliver significant positioning, branding and business growth benefits. Unfortunately many product introductions fail in spite of huge investments and the best efforts of business development professionals. Why? Here are a few reasons:

1. Not ensuring the technology readiness level of the product is appropriate for your served market(s). In some industries, bleeding edge technology can be a required differentiating feature for a discontinuity product. In other industries it is leading edge technology, and still in others, the use of proven technology is required for a successful discontinuity product introduction. Make sure you understand which is applicable to your addressed markets! If you are in an industry that is risk adverse or requires proven technology, ask yourself if you are prepared to stay the course as market penetration will likely take considerably longer than you think. In conservative industries like aerospace and medical …..doubling your market penetration estimate is probably is a good rule of thumb. If you are not prepared to patiently invest while your discontinuity product gains market acceptance, you should either stay out or plan to be second to market and let another market maker pave the way. In this case entering second with a meaningful product enhancement to the original product concept can be a winning, lower risk strategy.

2. The value proposition of a discontinuity product must be compelling….not just significantly better. The risk of switching and switching costs as perceived by the market are usually only overcome if the benefits are seen as substantial. An improvement of at least 30% in cost or functional benefit is a good rule of thumb to be considered as entering “compelling territory”. If the product’s value proposition is not compelling, think twice before launching, and/or continue to work the product concept until the value proposition is indeed compelling!

3. Technology driven discontinuity products are normally very costly to bring to market. As such market analysis is critical. A common market analysis mistake is to capture product requirements from the wrong segments of the addressable market. To avoid this, a solid grasp of how your market research inputs tie back to the discontinuity product adoption curve (technologists, early adopters, the core market and late adopters) is critical to understanding which segment of the market will buy the product and by when. Not doing so has cost industry hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. Your market analysis and validation process must recognize that discontinuity products normally appeal to the technologists and early adopters and that they frequently do not represent the requirements and/or product acceptance timing of the core market that is critical to your business case and is frequently slower to adopt than planned. This is a common reason why actual vs. planned results disappoint.

If you would like to discuss how I can help you and/or your organization with your discontinuity product planning, please contact me at businessgrowthpartnersllc.com.