MKTG7505 - Critical Analysis of Product Advantage and Concept Testing

This report provides a critical analysis of product advantage, concept development, and testing processes within the context of high-tech firms, focusing on NOJA Power and I-omniscient, along with comparisons to Amazon and Apple. The analysis follows the NPD/NSD concepts and frameworks, examining opportunity identification, idea generation, concept testing, and competitive advantages. The report details the firms' core products/services, target markets, and degree of innovation. It explores the competitive market positions and evaluates the strategies employed by each company in relation to product advantage and concept development. The report also examines the use of findings from concept testing processes and incorporates relevant literature to support the analysis.

PRODUCT ADVANTAGE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING PROCESS
Name of the Student
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The firm- NOJA POWER
NOJA Power has ventured into production of medium voltage outdoor switchgear. The
products consists of Automatic circuit reclosers which are suitable for power distribution
networks, substation applications and pole-mount usage. The product has covered more than
40,000 installation across 85 countries globally. The company collaborates globally with its
potential clients to bring tailor made innovative products which has been essential in
powering many economies. The workforce of NOJA Power is multicultural and diverse
employing over more than 5000. In the year 2017, the company has witnessed a business
growth of over 30% while the manufacturing volume grew by 30% (Papernot et al. 2017)..
The core product of NOJA power is Recloser switch gears which is eco-friendly, safe, robust
and innovative marketing to its major industrial customers in United states for distribution
networks.
Opportunity identification, idea generation and screening of NOJA Power
Opportunity identification is the evaluation of the potential of a new product or service
manufactured or developed by a company. The opportunity of NOJA Power lies in creating
innovative tailor need products for their clients all over the world. It also lies in its vision
which aims to become a world leader in providing medium voltage pole mounted switch
gear(Shokri et al. 2017). The company believes in reliability of the products and services and
aims to commit their resources towards their customers, suppliers and employees. The firm
provide integrated solutions to its clients by incorporating innovation to cater their needs
combined with reliable and unrivalled service.

New Product development (Gollan and Kalfa 2013)
Idea and concept generation
NOJA Power has generated a new product development called the OSM automatic
circuit reclosers. These are innovative switchgears designed for usage for the overhead
distribution lines, distribution substation applications and Smart Grid applications.

Innovation strategy (Papernot et al. 2017)
The group managing director Neil O’Sullivan aims to provide eco-friendly and safe products
by investing heavily in Research and Development. It also hold multiple patents which has
been its major competitive advantage. It has successfully provided integrated solutions to the
challenges of customers in distribution of electricity and problems of switch gear. It has
incorporated three dimensional switch gears with next generation technologies and finite
analysis of elemental tools.
Concept testing process
Concept testing entails the evaluation of the potential customers and their feedback to gauge
the marketability of a product or service. The potential customer for the products of NOJA
Power is immensely worthy as it has provided membership to Queensland government as per
the Electrical Safety Act of 2002 for performing the electrical contract work all the region of
Queensland. The Electric energy society of Australia is also a partnered with NOJA as a
corporate member. Business partners such as Institution of engineering and technology is also
an important member of NOJA power. Australia British Chamber of Commerce is also
associated with NOJA which reflects the company has garnered some reputed customers
from its high quality products.

The firm - I-omniscient
I-omniscient is a pioneering Video analytics company established in 2001. It is considered as
the longest standing independent Analytics organization in the world. It has extended recently
an artificial intelligence based analytics called as multi-sensory analytics platform which has
included both smell and sounds and also videos to efficiently replicate the human reasoning
(van der Linde 2016). The technologies are been implemented globally in more than 50
countries both by governmental organizations and commercial establishments. The company
hosts more than 40 international patents, specializing in unique complex problem solving
initiative which has not been explored by anyone (van der Linde 2016). The company has
solved over specific context problems of over 30 industries from different countries and over
hundreds of cases in total.
Opportunity identification idea generation and screening of I-omniscient
Opportunity identification is the evaluation of the opportunities a product or service can
provide, its market potential and how it can generate customer satisfaction. The company has
specialized various technologies as new service development such as Face recognition,
global security challenges for crowded areas which has earned the company its international
award for best CCTV of the year (Gollan and Kalfa 2013). The core patents or products of
the company is the patented technologies such as Behaviour Analytics in the crowd, Face
recognition technology in a crowd, Automated response systems, depth sensing cameras for
Security and safety applications and other various kinds of videos utilities.

New service idea generation (Shokri et al. 2017).
Idea and concept generation
New Product development entails the idea behind the product what kind of service it can
provide as well as the characteristic features to the product to fulfil the needs of the
customers. The products of the company lies cutting edge technologies such as the unique
patented Artificial Intelligence Platform consisting of a set of a building blocks and modular
technologies to provide multi-sensory solutions for the operations of the company. It uses
hybrid technologies of heuristic, neural network and deep learning algorithms so as to
achieve the accurate and fastest results with minimal computing infrastructure (Papernot et
al. 2017). The competitive advantage also lies in increasing the operational efficiency of the
organizations, enhancing the productivity of the individual and proving tangible returns to the
investments.

New service development process (Shokri et al. 2017).
Concept testing process (potential feedback)
Concept testing is the process in which the customer potential is evaluated by considering the
customer feedback, partners and association of the companies. I-omniscient has tied up with
various partners who have served as the potential partners for the company. The important
customers includes DELL, Intel, Oracle, Microsoft, Huawei, Cisco, Sony, Panasonic, Bosch,
Wipro, Siemens, Schneider Electric and many more. These are some of the renowned
companies who have partnered and availed the services which shows the technologies of I-
omniscient (Shokri et al. 2017). The hybrid technologies have attracted customers from all
over the world.
Use of findings of concept testing process

Two other technology firms- Amazon and Apple
Amazon
Amazon has incorporated some artificial intelligence and technologies of machine learning to
analyse the browsing history, customer behaviour, buying potential, taste and preferences of
the customers to identify the target customers(Więcek-Janka et al. 2017). The advertising
technology has also used machine learning to advertise the products to the potential
customers as per their needs. The company has also used machine learning to detect online
fraudulent practices of the customers and avoid purchasing frauds. Compared to I-omniscient,
the company has also used artificial intelligence platform for face recognition, deep learning
algorithm to provide integrated solutions to its potential customers (Kim et al. 2017).
Apple
Apple is a tech giant producing high quality mobile phones often customized to fulfil the
needs of the customers. The products of Apple- I-phones, I-pads, laptops and other electronic
devices have also incorporated cognitive technologies to solve the issues of the users (Li et
al. 2017). The devices are designed with integrated concept of artificial intelligence and
internet of things, where a device can have multiple use. Some unique features of the product
are measuring the health conditions of the users, automated actions for voice commands and
many more. Comparing these products with that of products of NOJA Power who also aims
to be world leader in providing modern electric distribution needs has catered to develop
products as per the needs of the customers largely.
References
Gollan, P. and Kalfa, S., 2013. Australia’s industrial relations system and the need for
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Hengstler, M., Enkel, E. and Duelli, S., 2016. Applied artificial intelligence and trust—The
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Kim, J., Jun, S., Jang, D.S. and Park, S., 2017. An integrated social network mining for
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Li, B.H., Hou, B.C., Yu, W.T., Lu, X.B. and Yang, C.W., 2017. Applications of artificial
intelligence in intelligent manufacturing: a review. Frontiers of Information Technology &
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Papernot, N., McDaniel, P., Goodfellow, I., Jha, S., Celik, Z.B. and Swami, A., 2017, April.
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van der Linde, M., 2016, September. Using iec61499 to achieve smart grid automation
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