Understanding Target Markets

Problem

A leader in digital printing products wanted to improve its position in the printing, imaging, and publishing marketplaces by extending its existing product line. Specifically, the company was launching a new product that would address the unique requirements of high-end corporate, government, and education markets. To validate their assumptions for these markets, the company engaged Go To Market Partners (GTMP) to validate the demand for a product extension, to gain a better understanding of the needs and buying behavior of various market sectors, and to select the best sales channel for the product.

Action

To better understand the motivations and challenges of the client’s product line extension plan, GTMP conducted an in-house working session with the client’s go-to- market team. The combined team, which consisted of client representatives and GTMP consultants, engaged in a comprehensive discussion of the intended characteristics of the product line extension, current market assumptions, and expectations for the go-to-market strategies. As a result, GTMP identified the key challenges facing the client:

1. The client needed to determine the specific needs of customers in each high-priority segment and identify which products/service bundles would be most attractive to each segment.
2. The client needed to articulate a unique value proposition and position the new product to win business aggressively in the segments identified as high-priority.
3. The client had to determine which channels could provide the highest penetration in the targeted market segments. Were the company’s current channels sufficient? Which channels would promote the product most aggressively? Was there a potential for channel conflict?
4. The client needed to generate a core group of enthusiastic and effective partners with the capabilities to champion and sell the product.

First, to assure that the product-line extension initiative was strategically sound, GTMP verified the concepts that the initiative was based upon. To test these assumptions, GTMP spoke with the client’s competitors, customers, and existing partners to gain a better perspective on the markets’ probable reactions to the product-line extension. The interviews with customers, competitors and partners also validated the level of demand for the product, which channels were best suited to this product, and how the product messaging should be shaped.

In the second phase of the project, GTM Partners created go-to-market strategies for successful product launches in the specific target markets. To develop these strategies, GTMP consultants contacted 145 customers in the United States and Europe to profile their needs and buying behavior. The customer responses were compiled onto an “Ideal Customer Profile”. This profile, in conjunction with a competitor benchmark conducted by GTMP, was used to develop a channel strategy based on customer buying trends and proven
industry best-practices. Go To Market Partners created a channel strategy that permitted the client to transact with the target segments on the customers’ own terms. Finally, GTMP interviewed 30 current and potential channel partners to develop an “Ideal Partner Profile”. Using this profile as a screening tool, GTMP created a qualified list of potential partners to participate in the product line extension launch.

Result

Throughout this engagement, the client was able to leverage the continuous findings from GTM Partners’ market research to support ongoing management decisions about the product. GTMP spoke with key decision-makers in the target markets and identified the best channel partners. As a result, the client was able to create a robust go-to-market plan for the new product that was fully aligned with the target markets.