Marie Beals
Marketing
New Product Idea
The new product development process consists of 8 parts:
- Idea
generation
- Idea
screening
- Concept
development and testing
- Marketing
strategy development
- Business
analysis
- Product
development
- Test
Marketing
- Commercialization
- Idea Generation – My best friend
became a grandmother last September, and I have been watching the baby go
through the developmental stages most babies go through. He just started using a baby walker so
he can scoot around the house without harming himself. A few days after watching him, I went to
visit my mother in her nursing home.
She has Alzheimer’s and until recently was able to walk freely
around the home, but since her balance is off, its not safe for her to
walk around on her own, so she spends more time in a wheel chair then she
would like. She is always trying to
move, and she does get PT and does get walked around with assistance, but
she cannot be walked around every hour of the day. Her nursing home has a lot of room for
walking, and it came to me that if I could adapt a baby walker to fit an
adult, my mother could be more mobile and happier, like my best friends
grandson.
2.
Idea Screening – My idea was
screened as part of a homework assignment, and
Since we only needed to come up
with one idea, I did not screen this one idea and not the multiple ideas that
are usually discussed at this point of the process. I did mention it to a few of my fellow workers
and it seems like a winner on the surface.
3
Concept
development and testing – Because this would be a piece of medical
equipment, there are a lot of things I have to keep in mind. It would have to be safe, it would have to be
easy to use, affordable and qualify for Medicare funding. There is a company called Merry Walker that
has a product in the same family as the one I am thinking of, their website is:
http://www.merrywalker.com/products.html
The item they have is called a
Merry Motivator, which is along the lines of what I want to make, though mine
will offer more support and actually suspend the walker in the device and offer
plenty of protection, like a baby walker.
Here is a link to the Merry Motivator: http://www.merrywalker.com/motivator.html
After a prototype is built, I would
have to bring it to my mother’s nursing home and see if I could get her to use
it. I could do it in a controlled
setting with lots of help and could make sure she would not be injured because
patients like her are the market I am trying to target.
- Marketing
strategy development – The target market would be any kind of nursing
home or rehabilitation center that works with clients who cannot be left
on their own to walk even though they can walk. My supported walker would allow them to
stay mobile and keep their muscles working and moving. It could be adapted for home or
institutional use and would come in different sizes and weight
classes.
The CDC states that as of 2004
there were 1.6 million people living in nursing homes in the US (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/nursingh.htm)
I think my device would create a
new market of users who are not using anything right now and are basically
confined to a wheel chair. If just 10
percent of the 1.6 million in nursing care could use this device, that’s 160,000
potential users, not counting home users.
Profit goals for the first few
years would be to sell 16,000 units the first year, then in the second year
sales to reach 80,000 units to cover half of the estimated primary market of
users. Would realize net profit of $200
per unit with a sales goal of 500,000 units in the fist 5 years with a 10
percent replacement rate after that.
- Business analysis – This part of the project would include a
study of the currently available mobility devices, how many of these are
sold a year and to whom. I would
have to survey nursing homes to find out what they use right now and ask
them what type of device would they want to have, plus I would have to
research Medicare guidelines too to make sure the product is designed and
priced right to quality for coverage under Medicare and most medical
insurance.
- Product development –
At this point of the project I would try out the proto type on patients in
nursing homes and rehabilitation centers.
I know the device would have to go through several versions until
the best product would be born.
- Test Marketing – Once a valid prototype is made, at this point
I would start testing the item. I
would bring it to senior centers, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. I would present it at any place where
seniors would gather so they could see the item, and perhaps know a person
who could benefit from it. I would
go to nursing homes on the busiest visiting day, usually Sunday, and
demonstrate the walker to the families of the residents of the nursing
homes. I would do a mailer that
targets the right age group.
- Commercialization – After all the testing, if the product was something
people liked and wanted, I would launch it. Instead of launching it nationally, I
would launch it region by region starting with the North East and working my
way across the country.
