New product development : how to introduce a new product in highly competitive markets : “SONASOL MADEIRAS case study”

• Autor(a) principal: Freire, Miguel Parente Pereira
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/13440
• topic: Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

Like several other companies in the majority of fast moving consumer goods markets, Henkel is facing stronger competition in the household products industry. Nowadays, competition is becoming so intense that companies have to pursue new forms of growth. This dissertation aims to demonstrate why companies operating in highly competitive markets should invest in innovation to improve their market position and continue growing. The main objective of this dissertation is to demonstrate how companies should develop and introduce innovative products in those markets. Sonasol is Henkel’s brand for the Portuguese home care market. It is a 62 year old brand that is well-known for its quality, traditional and reliable products. In 2008, Henkel decided to give Sonasol a new innovative image by creating a premium range of products. The new products’ success made Henkel extend the new range to several segments of the home care market, such as wood-based floors. Although the wood segment was a small part of the market, they saw growth opportunities. In 2012, Henkel launched Sonasol Madeiras, a general surface cleaner specially developed for wood-based floors. Sonasol Madeiras revolutionized the wood segment, providing a superior cleaning performance and a faster drying than the competition. Its innovative features allowed Sonasol Madeiras to exceed all the objectives for the first year, such as sales volume, market share and weighted distribution. This work studies the development and launch processes of Sonasol Madeiras, reviewing the key stages that made it a successful product.