Fine-Tuning A New Product

Challenge/Issue: Our client was planning a full-scale introduction of a new online information database. They wanted it to have the greatest possible receptivity to ensure a good ROI.

Approach: We conducted several focus groups with customers and prospects in the client’s target market in each of eight different geographies across the country. The new Web-based product was demonstrated in each of the sessions.

Results: Product development was modified to focus on the features most important to the target audiences. The plug was pulled on those features that were considered too labor-intensive to launch and/or use — and were considered relatively unimportant by their target audiences. Ad campaigns for the product launch focused on the target users’ hot buttons — and were even able to be customized with regional messages discerned from the focus groups.