For many companies, successful new product introductions are the engine for revenue growth. Norbridge has worked with clients in several industries on various aspects of new products, including:

• Conducting market studies to understand unmet customer needs
• Prioritizing new product ideas based on limited investment capital
• Testing new product concepts with target customer groups
• Developing new product launch implementation plans, including determining pricing levels and developing target customer marketing strategies
• Developing internal operations plans in order to effectively deliver the new product or service
• Creating the business case for company investment, including modeling the financial projections

Our approach to brand planning engagements varies from client to client, and is typically a multi-step process. We start by looking at both the brand and the client from various perspectives and work to understand the core competencies and competitive advantages that our client and its brand have or can develop.

We then analyze how these strengths can be best positioned in the marketplace to achieve maximum return. By juxtaposing internal and external views we identify potential opportunities that exist for expansion. We then analyze the risks associated with each area of opportunity and develop risk-management and contingency plans to avoid potential pitfalls. Lastly, we construct pro-forma financial projections to determine the potential profitability of each option.

After this work is done, we then address each aspect of the marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion. We help evaluate how the product or service is presented, how it is priced, how it is distributed and which distribution channels are likely to be most effective, and how it is promoted.

An important way to drive additional sales or profit from existing products is through improved pricing. This can come from differentiated pricing to various customer groups, new pricing structures or plans, or different pricing levels. Norbridge has worked with various clients to identify and implement opportunities to gain revenue and/or profit through changes to pricing. Pricing improvement projects often include:

• Conducting analysis of competitive pressures and marketplace dynamics
• Segmenting customers based on relevant characteristics, such as what the customer values
• Understanding the desirability to the client of different customers and pieces of business to develop the optimal portfolio of business
• Identifying specific opportunities to change pricing or price structure for certain customer segments
• Developing tools to assist sales and/or pricing staff in making improved pricing decisions
• Our goal when working with clients is not only to achieve one-time benefits from more effective pricing, but to instill a process and the capabilities to continually achieve pricing improvements