Product Innovation: Global Marketing Ensure - Essay Example

Global Marketing Ensure al affiliation Introduction Ensure milk aims to capture the Saudi Arabian market and make a lasting impression. For that reason, the product strives be appealing in terms of innovation. The innovation value, as viewed by the Saudi Arabian customer must meet the desired levels and challenge the levels reached by the competitors. As perceived by the intended market, its innovation value arises due to incorporation of various elements that are not subject of focus by many other competitors, For Ensure, its innovation value is due to its innovative efforts to offer a balanced nutrition for targeted body parts such as the heart, immune system and bones. It has concentrated in making the product available for those in the Saudi Arabian market that are lactose intolerant. The guiding principles towards ensure innovation are development of a wide range of formats and filter types that satisfy multiple requirements. Additionally, the innovative advancement in relation to ensure adopts the use of chromatography technologies and pall membrane technologies that offer micro filtered milk products that have longer shelf lives and fresher taste, functional ingredient so high value and milk concentrates. Due to the use of these technologies, the Saudi Arabian market will continue to maintain loyalty to the product and have trust in its quality. Relative advantage The relative advantage of ensure examines the degree to which it will be advantageous in the new Saudi Arabian market compared to the existing or competing brands. The rate to which Ensure milk product will be adopted in the Saudi Arabian market will depend on this relative advantage. The use of innovation as a product development priority is one of the things that will make the milk product gain relative advantage in the Saudi Arabian market. The Saudi Arabian market perception of the product as quality one due to application of latest technologies will help in shaking off competition. If the customers are able to see certain attributes in ensure milk that are seemingly better than in its competitors, they will embrace Ensure nutrition milk. The rate of adoption will be directly proportional to the increase in relative advantage. Additionally, the innovative aspect has a bearing on price (Latham, 2006). On one side, it helps Abbott in its competitive pricing. Increasing the prices or lengthy time taken in learning how deal with the product will affect the product’s adoption rate negatively. Compatibility The Saudi Arabian market perception of the product as an innovative on is directly related to the level of compatibility achieved. Evidently, Ensure nutrition milk strives to provide highest levels of compatibility. This offers assurance to customers and also covers a larger market. The fact that Ensure milk is already friendly to the individuals who are lactose intolerant, its gluten free, Halal and Kosher improves its compatibility ratings. Also, compatibility is also measured in relation to other recipes. The customers will view it as an innovative product if it achieves high levels of compatibility with common or favorite food recipes without emergence of allergies. It is also innovatively compatible if it does not cause conflicts with ethical considerations of ethical sources or religious beliefs. Ensure milk provides high levels of compatibility and is a sure favorite in this aspect among other competing nutrition milk brands in the Saudi Arabian market. Product Complexity While innovation can be deemed to bring about complexity and cause concern for customers, Abbott industries will to enter the Saudi Arabian market entails proper description of the product development process. The product complexity should be low and is not supposed to be viewed as a setback or an issue likely to cause health suspicion. Instead, it is a chance for the company to improve the nutrient composition and deal with allergy issues. The breakdown of the constituent process is a priority for the marketing team so that the customers in Saudi Arabian do not view it as an innovative product that is unpredictable. Therefore, the essence of product improvement, even though employing low levels of complexity will be used to assure customers of betterment and not compromise on quality. The Saudi Arabian market will perceive the product as an informed innovation that is dependable, easy to understand the process of manufacturing and which has readily available production procedures and constituents. Trialability The adoption of the new product will heavily depend on a time dedicated for trying it out in the market before splashing it out in full mode (Rainy, 2005). The trial time should be limited. For the ensure nutrition milk, the trial time will deal with the potential risk that the Saudi Arabian customers may have in purchasing it. It will show that the company is strong confidence enough in the product that it is willing to let the customers try out before purchasing it. The confidence is derived from the innovation aspects off product development. The trial period in Saudi Arabia is tailored to be in line with the financial offerings of Ensure nutrition milk. Observability Observability reflects of the extent to which the potential Saudi Arabian customer will see the innovation and acknowledge the positive effects (Rainy, 2005). When the customer senses more positive effects, the observable the effects of the products are to the customer. It is the aim of the Ensure nutritional milk to have better observability from the customers. This innovative product characteristic will boost the level of adoption in the Saudi Arabian market. While others have less observable effects, Ensure will surpass them in the event of more observability, which is the goal as plans to introduce it to the new market heats up. Major problems and resistance to product acceptance based on the Innovation evaluation Firstly, people in the new market may act out of ignorance. Their resistance may be based on ignorance of the potential benefits of Ensure milk. They act out of what they think the product is worth but not what is scientifically proven and highlighted in the product description. This can serve as a major barrier to product acceptance. It could be worse if it is a widespread detail. Another major problem for Ensure could be intellectual property rights protection. This is meant to safeguard the profitability of an innovation in a product. For ensure nutrition milk, a major intellectual property issue could be failure to register the innovation used. It can be imitated by competitors and cripple efforts of the brand to position itself as a market leader in Saudi Arabia. People resist a product on innovative grounds if it requires them to change their behavior. Over time, people get accustomed to their own way s and need products that meet their points of needs without them having to adjust themselves (Samli, 2011). If the innovativeness of Ensure nutrition milk offers minimal benefits that do less to convince people to change, then people may be reluctant to accept it in the new market. Also, customers in the new market may have strong loyalty to a specific product because of the time and the quality it offers them. Convincing them to change may be difficult. In this event, it would require hard work from the marketing team for Ensure nutrition milk in the Saudi Arabian market. It would require Ensure’s nutrition milk marketing team to not only focus on the attributes of the product but also focus on the mind sets of Saudi Arabian Customers. References Latham, W. R. (2006). The economics of persistent innovation an evolutionary view. New York: Springer Science+Business Media. Rainey, D. L. (2005). Product innovation: leading change through integrated product development. New York: Cambridge University Press. Resistance to Change. (n.d.) Resistance to Change. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://toolkit.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au/part/14/72/308 Samli, A. C. (2011). From imagination to innovation new product development for quality of life. New York: Springer. Read More