Kellogg PM: Week11 Product to Market
In the previous week, I learned product prototyping. Professor focused on IDEO’s design thinking framework which is an approach to frame and solve problems efficiently in design world. In the nutshell, we want to test the solution as fast as possible. That is why the low fidelity sacrificial concept is being utilized here to improve overall speed, and lower the cost of experimentation.
This week I learned the very high level on how to take the product to market. We discussed buyer persona, key elements of go-to-market strategy, positioning and messaging framework, and different routes to market. For me buyer persona is pretty much the same as persona except for the decision making process. Unlike the previous process when we focused on the problem we’re trying to solve for a particular user, in this scenario we need to understand the whole process of any user to have our product. For example, when a primary school student needs to take an extra tutorial class, he or she is our end user. However, the decision maker and influencer may not be only students but mom and dad who pay the tuition fee.
Positioning is another thing that I’m not quite used to. It’s the comparison of features, feeling, and value we offer to our customers in their perspective. We want to validate if this is a unique value that differentiate us from other offerings or not. In this unit, we perceive positioning as one key element from marketing. It’s a representative of a brand, of how customers view us, and think about us.
Route to market is another topic in consideration, it’s more flexible if you’re in a corporation since you can choose which way you want either online or offline, direct or indirect. In my humble opinion, a small startup with almost no budget can’t do this, acquiring customers with almost no acquisition cost is a best go-to-market strategy for them. For example, if one of your founders is really famous and they can broadcast your message about the company offering to followers. That can help decrease the acquisition cost.
Key learning
- Buyer persona — This is another type of persona, the main difference comes from the broader description of the user since the one who uses our product might not be the one who decides to buy, or might not be the one who pays for it.
- Positioning — is the value we offer compared to what others offer in the market.
