Taking a profitable product into a brand new market may be daunting—particularly when it’s been designed for a selected viewers. Sakura, a Japan-based artwork and writing instruments firm, had a hunch that their merchandise, designed for the distinctive preferences of the Japanese shopper, would take off with U.S. shoppers. Nonetheless, they knew that they wanted insights to assist them perceive the market.
Accumulating the proper knowledge and turning it into related insights to tell this sort of monumental resolution may be difficult. Particularly when coming into a brand new market, it’s key to discover that house and study your audience.
That’s why Sakura leaned into agile analysis to energy new product improvements for the U.S.. Within the 1980’s, the corporate launched the primary ever gel pen, the Gelly Roll, in Japan, the place it was an immediate crowd favourite. It’s straightforward to see why— the Gelly Roll had easy ink, vivid colours, and unimaginable versatility.
Extra lately, the corporate needed to increase its U.S. choices and department out past its conventional buyer base of artists and crafters. However Sakura’s merchandise are designed for the Japanese shopper, whose preferences may be markedly totally different from shoppers within the U.S. and in different nations.
Despite the fact that Sakura’s analysis and growth is one among its best strengths, they’d some necessary questions. Would U.S. shoppers pay $100 for a pen? What sort of product would enchantment to a common shopper who outlets for pens for on a regular basis use?
That’s the place analysis got here to the rescue. To bridge the hole between understanding Japanese and U.S. shoppers, Sakura targeted its analysis on 3 key areas: gauging shopper sentiment within the pen and writing house, validating proposed product ideas, and testing worth factors for its merchandise on this new market.
1. Gauge shopper sentiment
Sakura sometimes focused its merchandise in direction of artists and crafters. Nonetheless, within the U.S., Sakura of America needed to capitalize on the chance to enchantment to the mainstream US shopper. With a research on utilization and attitudes, Sakura was in a position to study extra in regards to the variations between how artists would strategy buying writing instruments and the way an on a regular basis shopper would strategy it.
For instance, not like an artist who might have knowledgeable writing device, the mainstream U.S. shopper could also be on the lookout for an on a regular basis pen that they may purchase from a Walmart or Goal. Understanding shoppers’ perceptions and use circumstances not solely helps construct higher merchandise, but in addition informs compelling advertising and marketing campaigns.
2. Validate successful product concepts
Studying about goal shoppers isn’t sufficient to interrupt into a brand new market— corporations additionally have to create an interesting product that clients wish to purchase. For Sakura, the success of its merchandise was confirmed in Japan. Nonetheless, this success wasn’t assured within the U.S. So, Sakura ran an idea check that includes its Japanese pen product ideas with goal US clients.
With the information that their unique pen product had enchantment in America, Sakura was in a position to transfer ahead with a product launch. Idea checks are, in spite of everything, a vital element of any product growth lifecycle. They save time and investments by testing ideas, product and model names, packaging, and extra with goal audiences earlier than a full scale launch.
3. Establish the proper worth
As soon as a product concept is validated, the way in which it’s marketed and offered can decide its success. Value is a key consider how a product is perceived and adopted. Typically, a product’s worth is just too low, leaving cash on the desk. Different instances, a worth could be too excessive, excluding key buyer segments that an organization is concentrating on.
In Sakura’s case, they needed to guage whether or not their audience within the U.S. could be keen to pay for a $100 pen from Japan. Via market analysis, Sakura of America was in a position to get insights that almost all U.S. shoppers weren’t keen to pay this worth, which finally helped them modify their worth factors and form future analysis and growth efforts.
In the long run, Sakura of America was in a position to create interesting merchandise for the U.S. markets whereas staying true to its model. Analysis finally helps take the emotion out of choices, and allowed Sakura to align stakeholders everywhere in the world to create merchandise that their shoppers love.
Sakura of America embodies how knowledge powers consumer-led innovation. Understanding altering shopper preferences is essential to adapting to their wants, and testing new concepts with goal audiences empowers sooner and extra assured resolution making.
Making a analysis course of that powers innovation and yields the most effective outcomes to your group requires conducting analysis constantly, relatively than simply when issues come up.
Having an agile analysis strategy can determine each points earlier than they develop into larger and alternatives earlier than rivals make the most of them.
As your organization grows, analysis can assist you create merchandise that your clients love and wish to purchase. And as you speed up your model, you’ll want insights to assist maintain your progress and discover new alternatives.
