Innovation and new product development

The following report details a proposal for a revolutionary new Breville product: a Click and Drain convenience pot. This report details the development of this innovative produc t from the initial Concept Development right through to a Financial Analysis and a Market Launch Strategy.

Breville’s new Click and Drain convenience pot is an ergonomically designed product to make draining boiling water from pots both safer and easier. This is achieved by clicking off one of the two ergonomically designed handles to expose water-draining holes. The Click and Drain is crafted in brushed stainless steel, and is made with a Quantanium™ non-scratch, non-stick interior. The glass Cook and Look™ lid of the new Click and Drain pot can be locked on for further convenience and safety.

The primary target market of the new Click and Drain pot is consumers who are aged between 17 and 40 and run busy, fast-paced lifestyles that restrict the amount of time available for meal preparation. They are likely to be employed full or part –time and are the consumers most likely to be setting up new homes, flats and apartments and needing to purchase kitchen equipment for the first time. These consumers would be motivated by speed and convenience. The increased safety of the Click and Drain over standard pots would be an added bonus.

The Click and Drain pot would be launched primarily in New Zealand with the long-term potential for launch overseas if the New Zealand launch is a success. After a series of analytical tests it has been established that the Click and Drain pot would have a projected profit of $540,000 in its second year of production and $800,000/year after five years. The Net Present Value (NPV) of the Click and Drain pot would be $1,643,000 and it would have an Internal Rate of Return of 62%.

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Table of Contents

  Executive Summary  1

Table of Contents 2

1.0.  Opportunity Identification and Selection  4

1.1.  Company Background  4

1.2.  Mission Statement  4

1.3.  SWOT Analysis of Breville  5

1.4.  The Market  6

1.5.  Market Trends  6

1.6.  Identified Consumer Need  7

1.7.  The Product Innovation Charter  8

1.7.1.  Focus  8

1.7.2.  Goals and Objectives  8

1.7.3.  Guidelines  9

1.8.  Strategic Fit  10

2.0.  Concept Generation  10

2.1.  Idea Generation Techniques Used  10

2.1.1.  Solving the Problem  10

2.1.2.  Analytical Attribute Techniques  13

2.2.  Concept Statements  13

2.2.1.  Lock and Flip  13

2.2.2.  Removing Strain  14

2.2.3.  Elephant Sucker  14

2.2.4.  Click and Drain  15

2.2.5.  Sliding Vent  15

2.2.6.  Netting Base  15

3.0.  Concept Evaluation  17

3.1.  The Full Screen  17

3.2.  The Chosen Concept  17

3.3.  Concept Testing  18

3.3.1.  Purpose of the Concept Test  18

3.3.2.  Concept Test Format  18

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3.3.3.  Selection of the Respondent Group  18

3.3.4.  The Interviewing Process  18

3.4.  A-T-A-R Model  19

3.5.  Product Protocol  19

3.5.1.  Target Market  19

3.5.2.  Product Positioning  20

3.5.3.  Product Attributes  21

3.5.4.  Competitive Comparison  21

3.5.5.  Augmentation Dimensions  22

3.5.6.  Timing  22

3.5.7.  Requirements  22

3.5.8.  Potholes  23

4.0.  Concept Development  24

4.1.  Development of Concept  24

4.2.  The Final Concept  25

5.0.  Product Launch  26

5.1.  Market Testing  26

5.2.  Preliminary Financials  26

5.2.1.  Income Statement  26

5.2.2.  Cash Flow Statement  27

5.3.  Launch and Marketing Strategy  27

5.3.1.  Strategic Launch Planning  27

5.3.2.  Launch Implementation  29

5.3.3.  Launch Management  34

6.0.  References  37

7.0.  Appendices  38

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1.0. Opportunity Identification and Selection

1.1. Company Background

Bill O’Brien and Harry Norville based in Australia, operating in the radio business, founded Breville in 1932. With the increased competition due to the advent of TV manufacturing, the founders decided to sell the Breville Radio Brand in 1951 and enter in the small appliance business, instead. In the 60’s, John O’Brien, Bill’s son, founded the Breville Research and Development centre. The company has been built up on innovative design and product development.

The first products developed were kitchen utensils, such as Breville Snack’n’Sandwich toaster – considered a household institution, launched in 1974. By the 80’s, the company had established a trading centre in Hong Kong and was exporting products to 15 countries. Today, Breville is the market leader in Australia in small electrical appliances.

The company has three business units: “kitchen”, “body” and “at home”. The kitchen collections includes baking & roasting, blending & juicing, coffee and kettles, cooking & steaming, grilling & frying, processing and mixing, toasting & snacking. All the products are designed to be really useful, responding to the customer’s demand. As said by John O’Brien, “the ultimate appliance is one that gets used every day, not just a showpiece”.

In 2001, Housewares International Pty Ltd (HWI), an Australian listed company, acquired Breville. More details about HWI and the acquisition can be seen in Appendix 1.

1.2. Mission Statement

Breville is to become New Zealand’s leading provider of branded house wares products, to be achieved through constant innovation and the development of products specifically targeted at everyday needs discovered in the marketplace.

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1.3. SWOT Analysis of Breville

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Opportunities:

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Threats:

1.4. The Market

The key sector within the Breville Company is the Kitchen sector, where Breville is well known in New Zealand for producing equipment involved in the food preparation process. The broad target market for the new product development process is therefore the consumers partaking in food preparation. At this stage, consumers have a range of lifestyles and vary in age from 17 to 75+. The key component that links them is the need for products to assist is preparing for meals. It is necessary to observe trends within this market of people preparing meals at home, but it is also important to understand trends involving consumers who choose not to prepare home-cooked meals as they could ultimately be targeted also.

1.5. Market Trends

The Breville new product development team has identified key trends within the New Zealand market that can be capitalised on in the development of a new product in the kitchen cookware range. These food preparation trends include:

§ New Zealand consumers are becoming increasingly ‘time poor’, and as

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1.6. Identified Consumer Need

It is evident in the trends within the food preparation market that consumers have a need for cookware that will help them to prepare home cooked meals that are quick and convenient but are also healthy and tasty. Consumers ultimately want to be involved in the preparation process, but need it to be simple so products must make the food preparation process easier and the product itself needs to be easy to use.

The use of stovetop pots is integral in the preparation of many quick and easy home-cooked meals, however there are several factors associated with draining water after boiling that makes traditional pots generally unpleasant to use. These include:

§ Difficulty tipping due to heaviness of pot creating strain on joints.

§ Difficulty draining when alone if pot is too heavy for a smaller person.

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§ Loss of lid and contents into sink if pot gets too heavy or slips.

§ Burns from either coming in contact with the metal surface when

attempting to retain control of the pot or from steam burns.

The new product development team has identified a need within the marketplace to provide a produc t that makes the process of draining boiling water out of a pot after cooking safer, quicker, and easier. In relation to the

ageing population and a number of people that are affected by disabilities including joint problems, the elimination of joint strain during draining is an

important consumer need that must be considered in addition to other functional aspects. Elimination of joint strain will however be applicable to the

wider general market as well.

1.7. The Product Innovation Charter

1.7.1. Focus

The major trend observed in the food industry is the need for

convenience and timesaving. As more people opt for meal options that are quick and easy, Breville will focus on the development of a

cookware product that allows consumers to still be involved in the cooking process, but makes it faster and simpler. Specific focus will be put on the development of a product that makes the process of draining

boiling water out of pots quicker, safer and easier.

This opportunity will be addressed by utilising:

§ Superior production technology – materials such as quantanium TM

§ Innovative design – e.g. cook’n’look glass lid

§ Experienced management team with extensive industry knowledge

§ Strong supplier and customer relationships

1.7.2. Goals and Objectives

Short term

§ Obtain 6% market share in the New Zealand market in the first year, and a 9% share by the end of the third year.

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