Creating a Family
I’ve been on the road this week, consulting with a client and conducting some research with consumers for a new product. The client has one product on the market and is adding another, which will perform a different, but related, function.
It’s interesting because right now, the company is defined by their one product. But now we’re adding another product, and the brand will change radically, into a company that makes a product family. The products will be different–in fact, I’m not even sure they’ll use the same archetype–and may well appeal to fairly different consumers. So how will we create the family connection?
Should the company fade back and let the products do the talking? Or should the company step to the front? Should the company position itself as having unrelated products that are each innovative in their own way? Or should there be some functional element that ties the products together, even if we have to add such a feature for its own sake?
Adding a second product is a special case in product management. We’re creating not only the product, but the interaction between the products in the line, and between the line and the company. Fun.
How are your products related?
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