Do I mothball my hot new product?

We are excited about the new product’s potential but worried that in this environment, launching it is the wrong move. Di,

Melbourne
Dear Di,

When you say a market needs educating, my hair stands on end – which is not as pretty sight. What you are really saying is that you are ahead of the market (let’s say it’s that and not that the market simply doesn’t want your products).

Now, educating a market is a very expensive process with no end in sight. It often needs deep pockets. In this environment, I would not divert funds from bread and butter products. I would stick to the mainstream stuff but I wouldn’t mothball the project. Look for ways to make the communication around the new product very easy to understand.

If this recession does anything, it can buy us a little time to work on innovation and get the value proposition and communication right before the a new product hits the market and a lot of money gets wasted through trial-and-error marketing.Good luck!

Your Aunty B