Part 4: Group Project—New Product Development
Instructor Brief for New Product Development Group Project
Summary and Purpose
This group project involves students imagining they are part of a venture team set up to
develop products for a marketer of household and personal cleaners (like laundry detergent,
bar soap, deodorant, and shampoo). Management badly wants to introduce at least one new
product that is innovative in delivery and/or performance. The group must meet criteria for
uniqueness, serving a well-defined need, and compatibility of the new product with the firm’s
existing product lines.
The purpose of this exercise is to understand how an organization develops new products. In
this exercise, students will need to work as a team to follow each of the six steps in the
development process.
Skills
In this group project, students will have the opportunity to practice skills important to all marketers,
including:
• Analytical thinking: considering a marketing problem from several angles, and analyzing
available data to identify potential solutions
• Facilitation: using communication skills to evoke group member participation, lead the
group to consensus, and accomplish group tasks
Format
Divide the class into teams of 4–7 students each. Students will read a briefing document that describes