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Milestone Three
Name
Institutional Affiliation

Milestone Three
Strategies for Evaluation the Success of the New Product and its Branding
The successful launch of a new product in the market is critical to a company’s growth and ability to compete effectively. To evaluate the success of a new product and its branding in the market, metrics should be established. Metrics not only help companies to understand how well they perform financially but also how unexpected changes in market conditions can affect their business operations. The most common metric for measuring product success is the rate of the return on investment (ROI). ROI is a performance measure that compares actual returns from business to its cost. ROI is calculated by dividing the returns (benefits) by the cost of the investment. It is then expressed as a ratio or a percentage (Krafft & Mantrala, 2006). Return on investment is an effective metric for determining product success due to its simplicity and versatility. Essentially, it can also be used as a gauge for a product’s profitability. A higher ROI means that the product is competing well in the market. A negative ROI means that the company is incurring losses from its new products. In such a case, the marketing strategies and branding should be reviewed.
Another important metric for determining the success of a new product and its branding is time-to-marketing (TTM). It refers to the amount of time a company takes to develop a new product (beginning from the idea stage) until when the initial sales are made.

TTM is a critical consideration when launching new products because it influences stock turnover and ability to meet marketing deadlines. A short TTM is preferred because it helps to consolidate the target market that a company wants to sell its products. By developing products quickly and launching them in the market within the shortest time possible, companies demonstrate strong abilities to counter competitive forces. Alima Pharmacy will strive to reduce its TTM as a means of gaining competitive advantages in the market. Since the company does not manufacture its products, its TTM will involve the time it takes to source the products from the manufacturers (suppliers) and delivering them to the market. Alima pharmacy will deal with local suppliers as one way of reducing TTM (Stark, 2006).
Since Alima Pharmacy seeks to market its products through online platforms, it will use various web-based metrics to gauge the success of its new product and its branding. One of these metrics will be growth in the number of mail orders placed through the Internet. The company will market its products aggressively over social media and through its website. To measure the success of its marketing efforts through these platforms, Alima Pharmacy will use different metrics such as total visits, channel specific traffic, and new sessions. Total visits refer to the number of customers who visit the website within a specified period (for example within a week or a month) (Stoner, 2005). Measuring total visits gives a good indication of how well the branding of the new product is driving traffic. If the numbers drop, the company will have to investigate its marketing channels. New sessions are a useful metric that can be utilized to determine how many visitors are recurring and how many are new. This metric gives an indication of whether the online marketing efforts are effective in encouraging repeat customers. The metric of channel-specific traffic can be used to segment online customers based on the channels of origin, for example through social media or the website (Aaker & McLoughlin, 2010).
Feedback Loops
Alima Pharmacy will implement regular, business-wide feedback loops and processes to support its new idea, to keep it on track, and make midcourse corrections as need arises. By definition, feedback loops refer to the systems or processes for gathering information from customers, gaining insights from that feedback and making changes to the product offering based on the information (Chaudhuri, Dayal & Narasayya, 2011). The primary objective of utilizing feedback loop for any business is to help in improving product attributes to be more suitable in the judgment of customers. To this end, Alima Pharmacy will use different types of feedback loops to guide its product roadmap and ensure that customer service is meeting all customer expectations. By being a new company, feedback loops will allow Alima Pharmacy to develop a systematized approach for engaging with customers in a mutually benefiting and long-term relationship.
The first type of feedback loops that Alima Pharmacy will use is the survey feedback loop. According to Chaudhuri et al. (2011), surveys are the most effective and common means of getting constant feedback from customers. Surveys involve a company representative asking customers specific questions about their opinions of the product. When correctly administered, surveys provide insight into the customers’ level of satisfaction. There are three major types of surveys that Alima Pharmacy will use to gather feedback from customers: transactional surveys, in-app (on-web) surveys, and periodic surveys. Transactional surveys will be administered once a customer has purchased a service or product from the company. Customers will be handed with short questionnaires to fill as they pay for their purchases. Periodic surveys are more encompassing and involve asking more broad questions instead of those related to a specific transaction (Ireland, Hoskisson & Hitt, 2008). The company will be administering transaction surveys every three months and will ask for feedback based on the overall experience the customer had with the product, customer service, and the company as a whole. Periodic surveys will be more useful than all other surveys because they focus on the overall customer satisfaction. In-app surveys will be used to collect feedback from customers via the internet. This survey technique will primarily target customers who will be engaging with the company through the website.
The second category of feedback loops are the self-service feedback loops. It will involve gathering customer feedback using community forums, reviews, and feedback forms. Unlike the surveys, the self-service feedback loops will rely on customers leaving feedback on their volition without being asked for it (Stark, 2006). This feedback loop will be important for customers who might not be willing to fill survey questionnaires. These customers will be given an opportunity to leave testimonials and reviews – both negative and positive. The feedback will be used internally to guide product marketing and development decisions and even pass some of it to the suppliers for corrective action.
The last category is the personal feedback loop. This type of feedback involves face- to-face or one-on-one interactions with customers and includes the use of emails, client meetings, and personal follow-up calls. Personalized emails are a great way for the company to make follow-ups with customers after purchases. Follow-up telephone calls provide an opportunity for a company to check and determine whether customers are satisfied with the product and the way they were served (Chaudhuri et al., 2011). Most importantly, customers get an opportunity to make known their concerns or complaints. There are several benefits that Alima Pharmacy will gain by using the personal feedback loop. First, it will be able to dig deeper using the extra questions and get clarification on certain issues. Secondly, the company will get a higher response rate and an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with customers. Lastly, the company can offer solutions for any problems or complaints on the spot.
Overall, Alima Pharmacy will use feedback loops to facilitate its understanding of customers’ needs. The company is concerned that to grow its business in the long-term, it should be able to nurture a growing pool of happy and satisfied customers. Therefore, the company will have all the three feedback loops built into its business to ensure that employees have an opportunity to listen to customers. In so doing, the company will be able to create better products and a more personalized customer service experience (Ireland et al., 2008).
Other Factors that Might Affect the Company’s Implementation of New Product Ideas
The successful launch of the new product will be a great achievement for Alima Pharmacy because it is a start-up company venturing into a high-risk industry. As is the case with all new products, some factors might affect implementation of Alima’s ideas. One of these factors is the ability of the new product to satisfy customers’ needs. According to Snyman and Kruger (2004), the success of a new product depends on the ability to offer real benefits that can satisfy customers’ needs. It means the new product should be able to promise a superior level of performance and enhanced technical features compared to existing products in the market. A careful market research will help Alima Pharmacy to identify specific customer needs that current products have not been able to address. Already, the company has identified convenience as an important customer needs. It is for this reason that Alima Pharmacy has established a mail order system, which will enable customers to order medications conveniently from the comfort of their homes.
The second factor that will influence Alima’s new product is the competitive landscape. Competition becomes an issue of concern when two or more companies act independently to deliver similar products to the same market. The pharmaceutical industry in the United States is strongly competitive. There are hundreds of large and well-established companies offering a wide range of medical products and equipment (Krafft & Mantrala, 2006). Most of these large competitors have developed their distribution channels and enjoy massive competitive advantages. At the same time, there are hundreds of small and medium-sized companies targeting local populations. Alima Pharmacy will compete mostly with the small companies by focusing on specific market niches locally. To survive the strong competition, Alima will perform periodic competitive analysis to assess its position in the market comparable to the competitors. Through these analyses, the company will obtain insights into the most effective strategies that can be employed to realize high levels of product awareness.
The third factor that will influence the implementation of Alima’s product ideas is the motivation of its sales and marketing teams. Numerous studies such as Krafft and Mantrala (2006) have shown the level of commitment of the sales and marketing teams to be a critical success factor for any new product. Marketing communication messages should be specifically tailored to communicate the benefits of a product and to address the needs of customers. Moreover, sales teams should have the right knowledge and motivation to convince customers to buy the product. The company believes that having a well-trained staff will be critical to its success in the apparently competitive industry (Stark, 2006). In this regard, Alima pharmacy will hire and train several sales agents to help with the marketing and selling of products. These employees will be specially trained on crucial aspects such as product attributes, customer service, sales techniques and after-sale services.
The fourth factor is risk management. Staying competitive in a rapidly changing world of business requires the ability to identify and manage risks properly. It is especially important for startup companies because their main concern is to attain growth and expand in the market. To achieve the desired levels of competitiveness, Alima Pharmacy will implement various management techniques to enable effective and timely response to internal and external threats that may present risks to its business (Krafft & Mantrala, 2006). Important areas that will be closely monitored for risks include the supply chain process, human resources, and marketing. Focus on the supply chain will be integral because any risks in the system will lead to the inability to deliver products to the market in a manner that is timely. The company will identify knowledge gaps with its human resources and implement a strategy for filling the gaps. Specifically, the company will offer training and development opportunities to make its employees more competent and capable of advancing the strategic efforts.
The choice of distribution channels will also be a major influential factor. It refers to the strategies a company uses to ensure that its products and services are available to the target market (Ireland et al., 2008). Alima Pharmacy will distribute its products through retail outlets and also through a mail order delivery system. The two channels will target different categories of customers. Another factor is goal setting. The ability of the company to set achievable and realistic product marketing goals will is an important consideration. Alima’s goal is to attain consistent market growth. The company will achieve this goal through extensive sales promotion campaigns such as advertising through the mass media and internet.
Snyman and Kruger (2004) have identified product management to be a critical success factor for new product implementation. According to these researchers, poorly defined product management and organization techniques can lead to product failure even if the product has all the attributes necessary to meet customer needs. Support of the executive management is essential throughout all stages of the product development process. The executives have a role to play in giving leadership and motivation to the junior employees, especially those executing the sales and marketing functions. The proprietor of Alima Pharmacy, as well as other members of the company’s top management team will be involved in all processes and activities concerning the launch of the new product and its marketing.
References
Aaker, D. A., & McLoughlin, D. (2010). Strategic Market Management – Global Perspectives. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Chaudhuri, S., Dayal, U., & Narasayya, V. (2011). An Overview of Business Intelligence Technology. Communications of the ACM, 54(8), 88–98.
Ireland, D., Hoskisson, R., & Hitt, M. (2008). Understanding business strategy: Concepts and cases. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Krafft, M., & Mantrala, M. (2006). Retailing in the 21st Century: Current and Future Trends. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Snyman, R., & Kruger, C. (2004). The interdependency between strategic management and strategic knowledge management. Journal of Knowledge Management 8(1), 5–19.
Stark, J. (2006). Global Product: Strategy, Product Lifecycle Management, and the Billion Customer Question. Adelaide: Springer.
Stoner, J. (2005). Management. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.