Corporate Connect Series | Product Development and Launch
February 26, 2020: The Marketing Manager at Dawlance, Mr. Arshad Jabbar, was invited to lead a guest speaker session at the IBA Karachi Main Campus. The theme was Product Development and Launch, and was co-hosted by the IBA CDC and IBA Faculty Member, Ms. Rimsha Bilal.
Mr. Arshad initiated the session by talking about the qualities required for product development. "Product development includes being open-minded and thinking out of the box, then bringing it back and making it relevant for the customers," he remarked. He discussed the need of being observant and a good listener, in order to be a successful product manager. He justified this by mentioning how many gaps in the market can be identified by observing customer needs and feedback about existing products. Similarly, he told the students that frustration stories of customers can become the stepping stones towards new product development as it is easier to gauge their problems and finding their solutions.
He shared some insights of which basic questions help in identifying gaps in the market as well, which included interaction with customers and asking them the best and worst features of the product, along with what they wished to include in it. Some keywords were also shared that may seem common to a layman, but indicate a need gap to a product manager.
"The value delivered by the product defines the brand," mentioned Mr. Arshad, while talking about the importance of performance of the product and consumer satisfaction. The Broken Business Model was explained to the students in detail, and it covered the financial aspects of product development, and also start-ups. Mr. Arshad continued by discussing some of the key challenges in Pakistan, and sharing some advice pertaining to how new products could be launched in slow economies, as it is currently a global phenomenon.
The session was informative for the students, and they were encouraged to ask questions, challenge the theories discussed and give their feedback to the guest speaker as well.
