Abstract:

The paper is divided into four parts illustrating problems linked with verifications a Company can be faced with, within the market realities, when it decides to launch/relaunch/modify a product. This verification takes place after the research preliminary to the launch has already been carried out and the Company decides to put the product on the market. The Authors of this paper, who operate respectively in a Confectionery Company and in an Institute specialized in company problem-solving research, have perfected this research methodology, which in the past 7 years has proven its validity in almost 50 cases, according to both different Companies and markets. The main subjects presented in the paper concern: 1) the problem that originated the research, with repercussions brought about from the necessity to make rapid decisions concerning the strategies to be undertaken for a new product; 2) the methodology illustrating the two major research phases, both with the Trade and with the purchasers/consumers, and the setting up of standard indicators allowing the creation of a database both at the Company and at the Institute; 3) a case history of the Company showing in detail the various research phases and the results obtained in each of them; 4) a reading of the results taking into account the results derived from the research on the new product and their comparison with the Company's database and the Institute's standards.