Yakubu
A PRODUCT'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE EYES OF THIS INNOVATOR
Over the years, I have been fortunate to collaborate with several startups as well as medium size and enterprise scale businesses to create, strategize, execute and birth solutions through products designed to tackle several issues facing respective industries in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.
These are the steps taken on the journey and few brand samples adorning the process effortlessly;
PRODUCT CREATION
Having to wear different hats in several capacities, varying from one sector to another, gives you an eagle advantage of discovering many overlooked problems within the system which require special solutions and products to mitigate.
The lifecycle of every product, for me, begins at the conceptualization/ birthing stage- the aha moment an idea comes to life (which weirdly, mostly comes in the toilet) lol.
Always, the goal is I find recurring issues in product acceptance and feedback, as whatever is noticed from research seen globally, usually births flagship products for smart and creative brands like UBER, PayPal, iTunes etc. Best sample has to be this product birth which resulted from Gillette's perceived pricing by the public creating a market for this: Watch Dollar Shave Club.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
What makes a consumer pick your product above every other? Or search engine users search specifically for a product or business name? These terms are known as proprietary eponyms, and is always my motivation for any new products. When brands become so well-known, that language replaces the generic terms for similar products eg. CloseUp as toothpaste, Ping Pong, Escalator, Coca Cola (not Pepsi) lol.
Upon the creation of the idea, next most important step for me has to be this teething stage- review and tests from foundation to roof.
Determining the process of developing the product using important indices like resources, partnerships, Features, functionalities, technicalities, User Interface, pop culture, trends, design etc Reference: APPLE MUSIC.
PRODUCT MARKETING
Social Media Marketing, Marketing Communications, Online Marketing, Advertising, Marketing Strategy and Public relations all differ in functions from Product Marketing.
When I am launching a new product and pitching it to the general public, I always take into consideration the target audience, consumer needs, product features in determination of the Who, Why, How, What and When of the product is key for success.
As product managers, it is important that we determine the voice of the product, executing strategies using customer insights, Data analysis, product validation and market testing. Best product marketing for me this year has to be: NIKE
BRAND AWARENESS
Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, Visa, Nike, and Google all have one thing in common- incredible Brand Awareness!
Many people can identify their products from a mere glimpse in any form of advertisement or campaign. These brands all have voices that are quite distinct and unique, across board (just do it, right?).
So to me, it is never really a function of how much a brand spends on awareness, but rather how well and consistent we are in maintaining the same voice to strengthen the brand image among the audiences.
Several strategies like partnerships, referral programs, influencer marketing, controversy, persona creation, PPC marketing, etc are always used further to help in building client brands/products into household names over time. The most controversial ad on the top of the list for me was how SIRONA HYGIENE from India used sarcasm to address topic brands avoid.
BRAND ADOPTION
It is one thing to build a product, but a totally different thing to gain audience adoption, acceptance and usage.
Having an effective Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy, experience has taught that using A/B testing methods of research in running UAT and demo during every product stage, always comes in handy in the final acceptance our users and final consumers.
Examples of brands that continue to be adopted in homes through the years either with or without any ads needed include; LEGO, Cadbury, Apple, McDonalds, Disney etc. My personal preference right now has to be: this COCA COLA ad from Australia.
