Is your product development broken?

I've recently been getting Brand Packaging Magazine for some reason. It's cool to see how product packaging and design is thought thru, although it is something we don't worry about in industrial marketing. Packaging is where a lot of commodity sellers are being able to become "Purple Cows". Just think of what a pourable plastic container has done for Dutch Boy paints recently.

I found the article "Seven warning signs your culture is hurting your package" by Lee Sucharda III to be useful for any marketing program, especially product development/launch. These need to be overcome to even think about becoming a Purple Cow.

Here is my summary of the seven warning signs:

1. Working backwards from a key date, like a trade show, which can stunt innovation.


2. The budget isn't designed to plan for innovations in product or process, just marketing.


3. Closely related, packaging (or another development item) is considered an expense and not an investment.


4. Research is rarely done--learn what the customer will really buy.


5. Existing products aren't updated. Continous improvement as a culture is rewarded with market leadership.


6. Poor reaction to market changes. It is harder to recover market share than to maintain it.


7. Being engineering-driven versus user-driven, or the "inside-out" company.