The Top 10 Reasons

1. Target market is not defined correctly.

2. Product is mis-positioned.
3. Product’s benefits are not understood by the target customer.
4. Product doesn’t address important customer needs.
5. Product is seen as incomplete, or it requires too many ancillary services or
other pre-requisites.
6. Product costs too much or the total cost of ownership is out of line with
perceived benefits.
7. Sales and marketing efforts are not focused and aligned.
8. Sales cycle is longer than expected.
9. The company is under-investing in marketing and sales efforts.
10. Market is smaller than originally projected or product is too far ahead of the
market.

10 Reasons Why New Products & Services Fail

Why do fewer than 10% of all new products/services produce enough return on the
company's investment to survive past the third year?

Here's our top 10 list of reasons new products and services fail:

1. Marketers assess the marketing climate inadequately.

2. The wrong group is targeted.

3. A weak positioning strategy is used.

4. A less-than-optimal "configuration" of product or service attributes and

benefits is selected.

5. A questionable pricing strategy is implemented.

6. The advertising campaign generates an insufficient level of new

product/new service awareness.

7. Cannibalization depresses corporate profits.

8. Over-optimism about the marketing plan leads to a forecast that cannot

be sustained in the real world.

9. The marketing plan for the new product or service is not well
implemented in the real world.

10. The marketer believes that the new product and its marketing plan has
died and cannot be revived, when, in fact there is the potential for
resurrection.

What can marketers do to improve the likelihood of new product success in an age
of promotion and unprecedented competitive response? Testing the product before
 launch is one solution.

Typically, if a company decides to do a test market before launching the product,

managers run a test market. Traditional test markets are fraught with problems,
starting with how companies select them—often because they are easy to manage
rather than because they represent the actual markets a company wants to reach.
Traditional test markets are expensive and competitors can steal ideas and
sabotage results.

A well-done simulated test market, on the other hand, reduces the risks of launching
a flop by collecting data a company needs to forecast the likelihood of success,
more securely and more efficiently than a traditional test market.

Unique Selling Propo

The Unique Selling Proposition (also Unique Selling Point or USP) is a marketing concept that was first proposed
as a theory to explain a pattern among successful advertising campaigns of the early 1940s. It states that such
campaigns made unique propositions to the customer and that this convinced them to switch brands. The term was
invented by Rosser Reeves of Ted Bates & Company. Today the term is used in other fields or just casually to refer
to any aspect of an object that differentiates it from similar objects.

A number of businesses currently use USPs as a basis for their marketing campaigns.

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USP is your unique selling point. Also called your unique selling proposition, it is what sets you and
your business — or you as an individual — apart from your competition. It can be an actual fact or a
perceived difference or specialty. Every business needs one.

Your USP may be expressed as a summary of what you do and how you do it better or differently than
others. Often, a USP can be summed up in just a few words that become something of an advertising
jingle or catch-phrase. No matter how you express it, your USP should focus on how it benefits the
customer. Here are a few well-known examples:

 Burger King: Have it your way

They build on the premise that it's easy for a customer to request changes. Benefit to the
customer: Satisfaction. No hassles (for trying to change the standard burger offerings) and a
hamburger that's just the way you like it

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Unique Selling Proposition or "USP". Having a USP will dramatically improve the positioning and
marketability of your company and products by accomplishing 3 things for you:
1. Unique - It clearly sets you apart from your competition, positioning you the more logical
choice.
 
2. Selling - It persuades another to exchange money for a product or service.
 
3. Proposition - It is a proposal or offer suggested for acceptance.