Product and Service Development Report: Guess Watches Launch

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the new product development (NPD) process, using Guess, a multinational clothing retailer, as a case study. The report begins with an introduction to the importance of NPD for organizational growth and innovation, emphasizing the significance of understanding customer needs, competitor analysis, and product characteristics. It then outlines the stages of the NPD process, including idea generation, screening, concept development and testing, marketing strategy analysis, business analysis, product development, test marketing, and commercialization. The report details how Guess applied each stage in developing a new range of watches, from generating the initial idea to market strategic analysis and business analysis. It also includes an overview of the product life cycle analysis and marketing strategies to launch the new watch range. The report concludes with a reflection on the NPD process and its application to the case study.

Product and Service
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
PART 1............................................................................................................................................4
Covered in PPT.......................................................................................................................4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................4
Overview of content of the presentation................................................................................4
An explanation of each of the processes involved in the new product or service development.
................................................................................................................................................5
An explanation of how each stage of the NPD process was applied in the development of new
or improved organisational product or a service....................................................................7
Reflection...............................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Development of the new product is crucial for the organisation as with the help of this
they can bring new and innovative product in the market. It includes various aspects such as
designs of the product which can be tangible or intangible. For developing new product it is
important to understand needs and wants of the customers, moves of the competitors, nature of
product and services etc. In this report the organisation that is taken into consideration is Guess,
which is a multinational retailer of clothing. This report includes the development of the new
product or the service and various stages of the process of NPD with the help of which
improvement in the products and services can be introduced. Apart from this a reflective report is
included that demonstrate the ability of undertaking the development on new product.
PART 1
Covered in PPT
PART 2
Overview of content of the presentation
The organisation that is chosen for report is Guess which offers a wide variety of clothing
options for men and women but now they planning to launch sustainable watches. For this they
have undertaken analysis of product life cycle. This enables them to identify stages at which the
product lies and accordingly various strategies can be formulated. The product that they are
planning to launch is at introduction stage for which they need to advertise extensively so that
the product can be made available to the customers. Along with the new products of the
company they need to analyse the product life cycle of other products as their importance for the
customer will have impact on the new products. Due to this it is analysed that clothing of men is
at the growth stage which gas grown by 84% while the women clothing is at maturity. But the
accessories segment of the company which includes watches, shoes, bags etc. are at declining
stage as no significant innovation has been introduced by them in the products. This makes them
launch various watches such as Black case stainless steel watches, Jemma ladies touch, Cassidy
unisex touch, Logan unisex touch etc. Later in the report life cycle for new product are evaluated
with which the suitability of the product range can be identified. A proposal for launching new
watch range is developed which includes marketing opportunities available to the company as

their products are premium and better which can attract customers easily and efficiently.
Marketing strategy is identified with which they target by classifying it into various segments.
The level of competition is analysed as this is the crucial factor that has major impact on the
organisation, also it will facilitate them to understand extend of uniqueness that they have to
introduce in their product so that competitive advantage can be taken over (Gutierrez-Gutierrez,
and et. al., 2018). Along with this analysis and evaluation of various factors were taken place that
includes financial analysis. This enables the management in managing the funds efficiently.
An explanation of each of the processes involved in the new product or service development.
With the purpose to get success with matured products or services, companies are
required to follow and evaluate new product development process. New product development is
a procedure through which product or services construct a place in the market in order to get
success and growth. As millions of goods and services enters the market daily but only a few of
them get recognition in the market as it is difficult to get knowledge about customers, markets
and prevailing competition so as to create product according to the demand of the customer. The
new product development process is a set of eight stages which ends with introduction of the
product in the market. Stages of new product development are as under:
1. Idea generation: The process of new product development initiates with generation of
idea. Generally, on the regular basis companies are producing so many ideas but the few
amongst them go well in the market. This stage includes creation of ideas at a large pool from
numerous sources. The sources of idea generation are as follows:
Internal sources: Internal source of idea generation includes internal employees and
research and development team. Some companies provide additional bonus to the employees in
order to share innovative ideas (He, Luo and Huang, 2019).
SWOT analysis: A company may evaluate their strength, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats in order to introduce some new and executable idea.
Market research: Companies perform market research on timely basis so that need and
demands of customers can be identified and as accordingly idea can be introduced.
Customers: Review and feedbacks given by customers may assist a company in getting
new ideas in order to launch a new product.
Competition: SWOT analysis of rival company can help the other company to get new
ideas for expansion (Anand, Aggarwal and Singh, 2019).

2. Idea screening: The next step of new product development process after idea generation.
Idea screening involves filtering of an idea from so many ideas in order to select most
feasible idea. On the other side idea screening means selecting the best idea and dropping
rest of them. Screening of idea is necessary so as to get an idea with least cost so that it
can give more profits to the company. Idea screening is required so that to recognise
market competition, market potential and relevancy of the product as per the need of
customers.
3. Concept development and testing: To get success over the idea it is required that the
company identifies needs and requirement of your customer which is possible through
research and development of the product before launching. For testing a product some
customers got selected in order to test that product. Information about the new product is
given to them by using visual presentation and feedback is taken out about liking of the
concept so that customer's perception can be taken out about the product (Kristensen and
Remmen, 2019).
4. Market Strategic analysis: The next step is performing analysis on marketing strategy.
When the new concept is developed and tested in the target market the next step is to
design a marketing strategy in order to bring that product into the market. The marketing
process includes three steps which are:
 Market decisions: Under this decision of target market is taken that means in which
market the launching of product is most profitable is to be determined. Further the pricing
of the product and techniques of promotion are to be ascertained under this stage.
 Budget decision: under this the budget is to be estimated in order to market the product.
It includes the amount to be invested in the marketing activities such as campaigns,
promotional activities etc.
 Marketing mix decisions: Under this decisions of marketing mix is taken. Marketing
mix is the sum of 7P of marketing which includes product, price, place, promotion,
process, people and physical evidence. So decisions regarding each and every factor is
top be taken (Fuller, 2016).
5. Business analysis: After deciding the concept and marketing strategy the next step is to
analyse the business in terms of sales, cost and profit. This is a managerial process which
involves analysis of market attractiveness of the product in order to launch the product.

Further this includes the estimation of sales and sales for the product in the coming future
when the new concept will be launched in the market. Budgeted cost sheet is to be prepare
so that profit forecasting can be error free and helpful for manager to take decision about
launching of product. The risk of failure is to be determine so that to get clear idea about
success of the business.
6. Product development: This stage is the most crucial in context f the company. Under
this stage the product is ready in term of physical existence. The strategies for branding
and marketing are implemented in this stage. The product is tested as per price, value
hold in the mind of customers, quality, functions, utilization and performance. This stage
involves practical implementation of all the plans and strategies made so that to identify
any loophole or any area which is important but remained untouched and unseen through
the process of business analysis (McCann and Bahl, 2017).
7. Test marketing: The second last stage of new product development is test marketing.
Under this stage the product is taken out to the market and tested in the target market in
order to give experience of the product to the customer and evaluate the product in real
market conditions. This process requires large investment as so many test marketing are
required then only a clear view or perception and value hold by customer of that product
can be taken out (Schöggl, Baumgartner and Hofer, 2017).
8. Commercialisation: Test marketing has provided the required information to the
management of the company to make final judgement over launching of the product in the
market. Now this is the stage where the product is ready for the market and under this step
product is launched in the target market. This stage involves heavy investments as big
amount is invested in promotional activities and advertising the new product. So in this stage
the product is ready to use by the customer to whom it was made.
All these steps of new product development process the concentration is put to receive
high value about the product or brand from the customers in order to get success and suitability
(Ciambrone, 2018).
An explanation of how each stage of the NPD process was applied in the development of new or
improved organisational product or a service.
NPD for new range of Watches by Guess:

1. Idea generation: For getting idea for new product or concept Guess conducted research
with the help of research and development department on organisational level in order to
get suggestion that what can be the idea for new product or the improvement in the
existing products. So at last they took decided to launch a wide range of watches as their
new product range which will push they declining market of accessories.
2. Idea screening: Guess undertaken feasibility study for their new product i.e., range of
watches, as they came to know about emerging demand of the accessories among the
youth in the market. Guess analysed that the idea of range of watches is profit generating
as this will give competitive advantage to them in order to stay in the competition
(Tukker and Tischner, 2017).
3. Concept development and testing: Research and development department of Guess
conducted an external market research. For this they selected some people from their
target market and demonstrated their product to them and took their feedbacks. By this
they got positive response from the market and got an idea about liking of customers.
4. Market Strategic analysis: Department of research and development of Guess after
concept development and testing made a marketing strategy so that to launch their new
range in the market. Under this step the management decided strategy of pricing for the
new product which is premium pricing strategy and they prepared marketing budget.
Under marketing budget each and every aspect of marketing process is taken and cost is
allotted to each department. They decided budget of promotional and advertising activity
with this they undertaken 7P of marketing mix and took decision of each and every
aspect.
5. Business analysis: Under this step the estimation of profit and cost is taken by research
and development department of Guess. In order to determine the total risk the finance
department prepared the budgeted cost sheet.
6. Product development: Under this stage they made sample of range of watches which are
to be introduced by them. Further the quality team checked quality of manufactured
clothes in terms of cost and use. Research team implemented all the made strategies so
that to identify any mistake and loop holes.
7. Test marketing: After product development they undergone test marketing, under which
the product are promoted and advertise in the actual market so that to take out responses

of customers. So Guess decides to promote their product through social media and
banners (Warren and Robinson, 2018).
8. Commercialisation: Under this stage research and development department
commercialised the range of watches for the general public. For this they opened some
stores so that people can purchase their product by going on the outlet and along with this
they started selling their product through their website online to capture more customer
and give ease to the customers.
Reflection
While undertaking this presentation I analysed the processes of development of the
product and services keenly as our team was given responsibility for providing an innovative
idea with which the business can achieve their objectives. For determining the idea a research
was conducted on organisation level for the existing products and on the basis of which the idea
of providing range of watches was identified.
What were your contributions and which part of the pitch was presented by you?
While undertaking this presentation the total task was allocated by the manager among all
the team members as per their interest and capabilities. The task that was given to me was related
with product life cycle. In this task I had to analyse each stage of the product life cycle for a wide
variety of the products that are offered by Guess. I analysed all the five stages of the product life
cycle in which all the stages introduction, growth, maturity and decline were analysed for new
products that they are planning to launch and the existing product. This is because I realised that
the successful of the existing product is only possible if the mistakes which are done in case of
existing products are not repeated. On the basis of such analysis I identified that range of
watches lies in the introduction stage while the men wear lies in the growth stage as the products
of men are gaining popularity gradually. But the women wear are already at growth stage and
accessories of the company are at declining stage. Further I realised that their accessories are at
declining stage because they have not innovated them as per the rising demands of the
customers. I presented this part of the presentation before the management of the organisation
and on the basis of which they decided various strategies that can be adopted by them in different
stages.
How did the team function?

For the presentation the entire team was allocated various tasks as per their capabilities
for which the managers of the product designing and development department provided
guidance. This is because he has sufficient knowledge of the feature and the benefits of the
product so offered and which they are going to offer in the market. All the team members work
together they communicated the progress in their roles effectively due to which they could
efficiently perform their role.
How did the team undertake all necessary activities?
All the team members were instructed by our leader for who has to do what. I was given
responsibility of writing the content for the presentation in consultation with other team
members. Due to this I could provide the entire content of the presentation on time which was
then delivered to the members of the board and people of the production department.
How did the team organize and plan their work?
The team leader allotted time within which the activities must be completed with the help
of which the team members performed their role. For this we planned from where we can gather
the information regarding the products and strategies which are adopted by the organisation.
What was the level of interaction between the team members?
All the team member had effective communication as all were allowed to interact with
each other, to help each other so that presentation can be made effective. Our team leaders were
solely responsible for taking decisions regarding who can share their data to whom. I was held
responsible for gathering all the data from the members for finalising the content to be used in
the presentation.
Did the group discussion enable creativity within the teamwork?
Yes, a group discussion was also organised for the team which enabled all the members
to provide their opinions and suggestion for improving and innovating the products and services
of the organisation. In that discussion I suggested the idea of launching the range of watches by
focussing upon the designs of the accessories and requirement of the innovation so that all the
products can be kept in first three stages of the product life cycle. Such discussion enabled
creativity in the teamwork as it motivated the members as they were given opportunity to express
their views.
Did the team work well together or was it dysfunctional?

All the activities went well but at the time of allocating roles and responsibilities some
conflicts arise among the team members as some of them felt that they are capable of doing
better then what has been allocated to them. But they were managed well due to which the
quality of the presentation was better.
What was the quality of the final presentation?
All the responsibility was performed effectively and all the members provided me the
data on time which enabled me in providing content of better quality on time to the management.
This enabled me in providing better quality of the presentation.
Recommendations for improvements
For improving performance of the team further and managing the group along with
various issues that were faced such as conflicts, I analysed various aspects must be taken into
consideration as with the help of which various they can resolves such issues. Some
recommendations are made which includes:
 The barriers need to be identified due to which the conflicts can arise among the team
members so that such barriers can be removed and the chances of the conflicts can be
reduced.
 The problems that can be faced by the team leaders must focus upon the ways with which
they can tackle the issues.
 Teamwork skills can be taught to the team members so that understanding can be
developed among all the employees. With this the conflict so faced would not arise in
future before the team leader (He and et. al., 2019).
 While formulating the team it is important to analyse the competence of all the members
so that the issues related to the allocation of roles and responsibilities can effectively be
managed.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that the organisation need to consider the
requirement of innovation and improvement in the products and services so offered by them.
This enables them to satisfy their customers and take competitive edge over other. With the help
of process of new product development the organisation can determine the changes that they
need to introduce in their products and services. Also with the help of stages of product life cycle

the strategies are identified that can be adopted by the organisation with the aim of improving the
efficiency of the products.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Anand, A., Aggarwal, R. and Singh, O., 2019. Using Weibull Distribution for Modeling Bimodal
Diffusion Curves: A Naive Framework to Study Product Life Cycle. International
Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM). 16(07). pp.1-17.
Ciambrone, D.F., 2018. Environmental life cycle analysis. CRC Press.
Fuller, G.W., 2016. New food product development: from concept to marketplace. CRC Press.
Gutierrez-Gutierrez, and et. al., 2018. The role of human resource-related quality management
practices in new product development. International Journal of Operations &
Production Management.
He, B., Luo, T. and Huang, S., 2019. Product sustainability assessment for product life cycle.
Journal of cleaner production. 206. pp.238-250.
He, B., and et. al., 2019. Product environmental footprints assessment for product life cycle.
Journal of cleaner production. 233. pp.446-460.
Kristensen, H.S. and Remmen, A., 2019. A framework for sustainable value propositions in
product-service systems. Journal of cleaner production. 223. pp.25-35.
McCann, B.T. and Bahl, M., 2017. The influence of competition from informal firms on new
product development. Strategic Management Journal. 38(7). pp.1518-1535.
Schöggl, J.P., Baumgartner, R.J. and Hofer, D., 2017. Improving sustainability performance in
early phases of product design: A checklist for sustainable product development tested
in the automotive industry. Journal of Cleaner Production. 140. pp.1602-1617.
Tukker, A. and Tischner, U. eds., 2017. New business for old Europe: product-service
development, competitiveness and sustainability. Routledge.
Warren, S.J. and Robinson, H.A., 2018. The product life-cycle of online courses and student
engagement. American Journal of Distance Education. 32(3). pp.161-176.
Gutierrez-Gutierrez, L.J., Barrales-Molina, V. and Kaynak, H., 2018. The role of human
resource-related quality management practices in new product development.
International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
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