the concept of a perfect product

8/3/2019 The Concept of a Perfect Product

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THE CONCEPT OF A PERFECT PRODUCT

I recall vividly how the concept ofA Perfect Product registered in my mind.

Back in 2002, just a year after the advent of GSM in Nigeria, my mum had a Nokia 3510i

mobile phone. Now, dont beat me yet, cast your mind back to that time and you will agree

with me that the phone was a super mobile phone - Downloadable polyphonic ringtones,

GPRS, coloured screen display, and of course MMS etc. At the time I thought and actually

looked forward to a 5 year time frame which would berth a mobile phone that I anticipated

as the perfect product. My expectations were quite simple: Nokia would in time release a

mobile phone with features that will satisfy all its buyers, by building continuously on the

current success and features of the products of the day. And so what happened? Was I

wrong all this while or did Nokia fail to carry out what I thought was an elementary

marketing decision? I think I was wrong, but you really cannot say that I was wrong either.

I guess I was a naf.

The concept of a perfect product, however bogus it may appear is a realistic target for the

world of marketing. It will in turn eventually become a title worthy of more concrete study.

At this point a definition of a perfect product becomes necessary. Here is my definition of a

perfect product: a product with the ability to meet and surpass the expectations of

ALL individuals in its identified target market - For all purposes and intent, the

product being specific and not a generalized product.

S/N SPECIFIC PRODUCT GENERALISED PRODUCT

1 Nokia C2-01 Mobile phone

2 Blackberry 9800/iphone 4 Smartphone

3 Toyota Camry 2010 Car

4 Breitling Windrider Watch TimepieceUnlike a generalised product, a specific product maintains an open market because it allows

for competition, fair pricing and all the advantages of a non-monopolistic market. Should we

favour a generalised product, we would then have to face a situation where for example, all

car buyers will have only one option to purchase from.


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The unique challenges presented by a perfect product will be better appreciated by an

individual with a fine understanding of the rigours of identifying an appropriate target for a

product. Target market identification is such a herculean task on its own, and to be

considered successful and useful it must identify a segment that is:

i. Definable: the market segment must be describable by a degree of homogeneity. Inaddition, it is also useful to be able to measure the market size and define the

boundaries of the segment.

ii. Sizeable: is the segment large enough and can it produce the required turnover andprofit for the organisation?

iii. Reachable: there must be a way of reaching the segment both effectively andefficiently.

iv. Relevant: this is considered the most important test for any described segment. Itcannot be considered in isolation from the other criteria as there is no point in

describing a relevant segment that cannot be reached, definable or sizeable.

Add to the above, Segmentation variables:

i. Characteristics of the buyer: demographic, geographic, psychographic andlifestyle.

ii. Behavioural segmentationiii. Benefit

And many more, depending on your abilities and know how. Yet, the concept of a perfect

product presents a far reaching challenge that is capable of jeopardising all efforts

expended into the process of target market identification recall that for a product to be

perfect it must meet and surpass the expectations ofALL individuals in its target market.

To drive home the concept of a perfect market, let us play out a simple illustration thus:

A new mobile phone manufacturing company announced its intent to become the number one

Smartphone manufacturer worldwide. In a bid to make this a reality, the company recruited a

group of seasoned marketers to be actively involved in the process of the formulation of a

perfect Smartphone from the product formulation phase down to the actual target marketing


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and finally, sales. The group is expected to work with renowned experts in the field of

Smartphone technology this is to allow them include certain buyers expected features they

discovered from previous market studies. In the brief sent out to the marketers, the company

makes one simple demand: FOR THIS PRODUCT TO BE CONSIDERED A SUCCESS, ALL

INDIVIDUALS IN THE IDENTIFIED TARGET MARKET MUST PURCHASE ONE OF THE

SMARTPHONES. i.e. the success of the product will be based not just on 100% sale of its

production but on 100% acquisition by the target market identified.

I expect that by now the realities of the challenge of the perfect product will be clear to you,

especially if you are a member of the marketing team.

I tried to do a simple search for a perfect product and came up with these two interesting

ones:

a. ...It hasn't been fundamentally improved upon for 1,000 years. Few other products inthe world match it for reach and purity of function. It's cheap, transportable,

sharable....offers universal and timeless appeal across all nationalities, religions, races,

creeds, politics, classes, education levels. No other product you can name matches the

book across the efficiency/cost/intimacy/experience matrix. It's flawless. By: Mark

Morford(www.markmorford.com)

I like Marks observation. Crisp and intelligent, but I am quick to dispel it because it

refers to book as a generalised product, as against our use of a specific product.

b. The perfect product has the following attributes:1. Fulfills(sic) a need or want

2. Has either niche market appeal or mass-market appeal

3. Has at least a 2:1 margin; 5:1 or higher is optimal

4. Has a high perceived value

5. Must be replenished or repurchased by the customer often

6. Is easily upsold and cross-sold
http://www.markmorford.com/http://www.markmorford.com/http://www.markmorford.com/http://www.markmorford.com/


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7. Has a related back-end product

By: Ryan P. Allis, 20, is the author of Zero to One Million

Let us take a closer look at Ryans list, and then try to rearrange them into some of our

aforementioned considerations for a successful segmentation.

1. Fulfills(sic) a need or want - DEFINABLE

2. Has either niche market appeal or mass-market appeal - RELEVANT

3. Has at least a 2:1 margin; 5:1 or higher is optimal - -------------

4. Has a high perceived value - RELEVANT

5. Must be replenished or repurchased by the customer often - REACHEABLE

6. Is easily upsold and cross-sold - BENEFIT

7. Has a related back-end productBENEFIT

Did you observe that I omitted item no 3 i.e. Has at least a 2:1 margin; 5:1 or higher is

optimal?Actually, that was deliberate for two reasons:

1. I assume, strongly too, that Ryan was referring to a 2:1 sales margin. He further saida 5:1 margin or higher is optimal. These appear to be high margins, but do they meet

the primary target set by the company in the above illustration? NO

2. I decided to exclude what I considered the most important singular factor the questfor the design of a perfect product: PRICING.

Once manufactured, the perfect product is expected to be expensive compared to that of

the competition. Let us reconsider the previous illustration to reconstruct the stage of

pricing in the marketing teams decision making:

Basically, in order to manufacture a perfect product in the form of a Smartphone, we should

strongly consider merging the features of the current leading Smartphones in the current

market, laid side-by-side with the demands of the identified target market. What we would be

doing here is simply:

A. On one hand, we collate the features of the leading products in our intendingmarket, assuming here that the manufacturers of these products have carried


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out a comprehensive, effective and efficient market segment study and analysis

before production. This will provide us with a fair idea of what our target

market will demand for. In addition, we should also have a good idea of choice

of pricing system of our competitor.

B. On the other hand, we carry out a fresh market analysis of our own and assumewe never embarked on (A) above. This is to ensure that we dont have a

premeditated result. This will provide us with a good pricing structure of our

own.

Note that in the present market environment and structure we would have to consider at

least four (4) different competitions in the Smartphone market (e.g. RIM(Blackberry),

Apple(iPhone), Samsung, LG, HTC).

Hence, even though it is not express, our pricing structure is expected to present a higher

price compared to that of our competitors since we intend to incorporate each of their

products strength into our own product.

For all purpose all intent, let us assume that we are able to effect a similar pricing structure

to that of our competitors, so as to eliminate the challenge of overpricing, would that be

enough to make our product a perfect product?

POINT OF DISCUSSION:

If the marketing team is able to present a product at about the same price with that

of the competition, with an all inclusive feature that merges all the strengths of the

competitors, assuming that all other marketing tools such as promotion,

advertisement, branding etc are effectively engaged, would that be enough to make

the new product a PERFECT PRODUCT?

the concept of a perfect product

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