Where Do You Launch New Product?

According to a study published in Marketing Science (Sep/Oct) called Global Takeoff of New Products: Culture, Wealth or Vanishing Differences, the best place to introduce a new product is Japan. The worst place is China. The researchers compiled 50 years worth of data across 31 developed and developing countries on consumer household products. They created an index based on the time it takes for new products to take off (mass market) in a particular country.

From the Study:

Japan, Norway and Sweden came in first, second and third, respectively. The U.S. came in sixth, and traditionally strong European economies landed in the middle of the list, behind Venezuela and South Korea. Oddly, two of the countries normally considered fast-growing, India and China, were on the bottom.

For the study, the co-authors analyzed two different kinds of consumer household products: fun and work products. Across the 31 countries, the co-authors found that "fun" products take off far more quickly than "work" products (7 versus 12 years), and therefore require different marketing strategies.

If you market products overseas, this article is a required read, especially with the economy in the USA tanking and Japan and China coming into their own.

For more information, please read the complete article:
http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=132082
Advertising Age - CMO Strategy
Marissa Miley, October 28, 2008, NEW YORK (AdAge.com)

Tags: japan, marketing, product take off, adage, cmo