Test Marketing

Test Marketing

Silk and Urban (1978) presents that test marketing is a prominent step in the New Product Development process of ‘branded, low-priced, frequently purchased consumer products’. This step enables the experimented launch of the new product allowing the devised marketing strategy to be analysed and sometimes the product intended to expose problem is that otherwise would be undetected (Silk & Urban, 1978).

Marketing plans are primarily exposed to a carefully chosen sample of the population before deciding whether to reject it prior to its full scale launch. Drawing upon Silk and Urban (1978), Test Marketing is a experiment conducted in a field laboratory ‘comprising of actual stores and real-life buying situations, without the buyers knowing they are participating in an evaluation exercise.’ Depending on the quality and quantity of sales data required for the final decision, test marketing may last from few weeks to several months (Business Dictionary, 2013).

Examples in the Industry

In 2013 Adidas delivered a plan to reinvent their whole marketing strategy across all their brands. It will introduce a new sport performance “Home Court” area to key stores in January 2014 to showcase the technology behind products. The company has been highlighting the innovation behind its products in football and athletics campaigns this year in an attempt to differentiate itself from rival brands. Adidas is launching this Test Marketing strategy prior to the World Cup that will create increased sales due to the re-launch (Marketing Week, 2013) 

Marketing Week (2013) presented that ‘Adidas believed it has become too reliant on Barcelona FCB footballer Lionel Messi to broaden its reach at the expense of the brand itself. It is placing a greater focus on expanding its retail estate in the hopes of crafting a brand experience it can scale.’

Test marketing advisory is a business within itself and is prominent in the sport industry, with organisations such as PreTesting Group, offering companies advice on this stage of the NDP.

Reel Feel Test Marketing Strategy

There will be test market cites implemented in three main cities in the United Kingdom including London, Manchester and Glasgow as these is are the main shopping cities with the highest number on consumers visiting throughout the year according to a review by the Telegraph (2007). Scotland Food and Drink (2013) highlights the importance of a carefully chosen cite as this allows accurate monitoring due to a competitive buying environment.

The chosen outlets within the cite will include three main stores that provide athletic training shoes like the Reel Fit performance trainer; Footlocker, JD Sports and DW Sport shops. These stores are primarily related to sport performance sales and are used Nike and Adidas and therefore attract consumers.

This test market will be a ‘Controlled Test’ as it is the cheapest form however caution must be taken when analysing test results as minimal adverting will be carried out (Scotland Food and Drink, 2013). It will run for 8-12 months with the aim to follow the AIDA approach (Blakey, 2011). The marketing strategy will also have the aim to attract female consumers due to the bright colours available and the ‘no fuss’ gym approach due to the lack of laces that females look for in a training shoe.

Information that will be collected from the test market will include; number of sales, market penetration that has occurred and the weight of purchase (Scotland Food and Drink, 2013).

+Paul Blakey 

References

Silk, A. J., & Urban, G. L. (1978). Pre-test-market evaluation of new packaged goods: A model and measurement methodology. Journal of Marketing Research, 171-191.

Lipstein, B. (1968). Test marketing: a perturbation in the market place. Management Science, 14(8), B-437.

Joseph, S., (2013). Adidas details plan to 'reinvent' its retail strategy. Available at: http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/adidas-details-plan-to-reinvent-its-retail-strategy/4008788.article. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014]

Pretesting Group (2013). Our Difference. Available at: http://www.pretesting.com/who-we-are/differences/. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014].

Business Dictionary (2013). Test Marketing. Available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/test-marketing.html#ixzz2rni8ooFI. [Acessed on: 29/01/2014]

Telegraph (2007). Fashion: Britain’s Six Best Shopping Cites. Available at: http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG3361028/Britains-six-best-shopping-cities.html. [Accessed on: 29/01/2014]

Blakey, P. (2011). Sport Marketing. SAGE. (p.6).

Product Development

Product Development

Product Development is the ‘conversion of a new sports product or service idea into a physical form’ (Blakey, 2013). This includes; product construction, packaging, branding, positioning and as well as attitude and usage testing. Akrani (2011) reiterates that in this step, "the production department will make plans to produce the product. The marketing department will make plans to distribute the product. The finance department will provide the finance for introducing the new product".

Examples in the Industry

Warrior Sports has primarily established their brand surrounding manufacturing sports such as Ice Hockey and Lacrosse; the year of 2012 brought about their infiltration into the football market. (Warrior Sports, 2013). A prototype lightweight football boot, the Warrior Sports Skreamer K-Lite boot (Fig. 1) was released around made out of kangaroo leather with an estimated official weight of 192 grams (Perkins, 2012).

          Figure 1: Warrior Sports Football Boot Skreamer K-Lite Boot

Vincent Company was seen to be testing this product diverging away from the global giant Nike T90 Laser IVs. Perkins (2012) highlights the importance of Warrior Sport gaining Kompany’s ‘services and signature’ and this would allow the new brand to be present in the United Kingdom football market as it is not now prominent.

Tansuwannarat (2012) presented the new Adidas’ football boot prototypes released in 2012 including the F50 adiZero III (Fig. 2). The prototypes present to be aimed at both men and women due the boots being uni-sex with a variety off different colours appealing to a wide range of consumers. Adidas also has a globally prominent and established brand image with the ‘3 stripe design’ (Adidas, 2013).

         Figure 2: Adidas Football Boot F50 adiZero III Prototype

                                          

Reel Feel Sports Trainer 

The new performance trainer will be Branded 'Reel Feel' due to the 'reel-like' mechanism inside the shoe that tightens it around the foot giving the feeling of security that is gained out of this shoe. The brand image will be significant to this shoe as presented in Figure 3 and 4 below of the weaved pattern that will also be prominent on the packaging which will create a bold statement relation to this trainer.

The trainer will be made out of lightweight materials including mesh around the front end of the shoe, rubber for the sole to give movability as well as cushioned material around the ankle for extra support and comfort.

         Figure 3: Prototype sketch of the side view of the Reel Feel Sport Trainer along with the 3 colour schemed that it will be firstly made in attracting female consumers due to the contrasting bright colours. Weaved pattern on the side of the shoe will be identifiable on all products created and it a bold part of the brand image of the shoe.

           Figure 4: Back view of the shoe presenting the mechanism that tightens the shoe round the foot by sliding it up and down.

Packaging

Figure 5 presents a sketch of the prototype packaging for the shoes. It will be made out of recycled cardboard as this is the cheapest method of packaging with the brand image printed on it. As the product grows in popularity the packaging will improve (W.H.Skinner, 2013).

Positioning and Market Segmentation

The position of all the global giants within the sport industry is presented in Figure 4 on the perceptual map comparing other organistions (Stevenson, 2011). The ‘X’ presents where the Reel Feel trainers fits into the market with the aim of the trainer to be more towards performance competing with other brand prices.

In terms of segmentation, the trainer will be more aimed at the female market due to the bright and bold colour schemes as well as the ease of no laces as females prefer less hassle when exercising.

Figure 4: Perceptual Map of the positioning of sport footwear organisations in the global market. 

+Paul Blakey 

Refrences

Blakey, P. (2013). SP0568. NPD Product Development. Northumbria University.

Akrani, G. (2011). Levels of management–top, middle, and lower level. Kalyan city life blog.

Brand, R., F.. 8 Step Process Perfects New Product Development. Available at:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-brands/8-step-new-product-development_b_4556363.html. [Accessed on: 22/01/14]

Perkins, B. (2012). Vincent Kompany Training in Warrior Sports Prototype Boot. Available at: http://soccerreviews.com/news/unreleased-warrior-sports-skreamer-klite/. [Accessed on 22/01/14.

Tansuwannarat, G. (2012) Adidas 2012 Products & F50 adiZero III. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNPC8ljG0wM. [Accessed on: 22/01/14].

Stevenson, L. (2011) New Balance: Perceptual Map. Available at: http://new-balance-project.blogspot.co.uk. Accessed on: 22/01/14].

Skinner., W. H. Keeping Costs Down. Available at: http://www.whskinner.co.uk/keep-costs-down.cfm. [Accessed on: 22/01/14].