Abstract:

This study provides insight into an area of new product development that has not received much attention: service marketing. Yet service industries, similar to their counterparts in the physical goods industries, are facing increasing pressure to develop new products in order to be profitable. The view is presented that service companies can benefit from applying many of the traditional practices used for developing new products for tangible goods, but at the same time the intangible nature of the service requires the development process to be modified and in particular the need for a more qualitative type of market research. A comprehensive case study approach is used to trace the development process from the initial idea to the final post-launch review stage. The product is a new service developed and launched by National & Provincial Building Society (N&P). "MAX", a card-based transaction account, is seen as the most successful new product ever developed and launched by N&P. It also holds the record for the highest development budget to date for a new product within the company.