AIPMM: Product Management Articles

Creating Compelling Product Roadmaps, Part 1

2007-03-05T15:24:20-08:00

Creating Compelling Product Roadmaps, Part 1 By Brian Lawley, 280 Group, LLC Product Roadmaps can mean the difference between success and failure when delivering and marketing products. They can be one of the most effective tools in a Product Management professional's arsenal. Done correctly they can help win and keep large customers and partners, and can guide the engineering and strategic planning efforts of a company. Unfortunately most Product Roadmaps are created "On The Fly" and under pressure when sales or the company management makes a last-minute request. As a result they don't have the impact they should, and can be a source of much trouble if you aren't careful.

The CFO’S Guide To Winning Your Business Case

2007-03-12T15:31:51-08:00

The CFO’S Guide To Winning Your Business Case By Gudrun Granholm, Box One, Inc. For many operational managers one of the most difficult financial challenges involves preparing a business case. Why are some seemingly unimportant projects approved, while other worthy projects never make it to the starting gate? Is there a magic key that improves the probability that your project will be financed? In the next two columns I’d like to share with you the underlying things that help a project reach the approval stage – the CFO’s guide to giving your business case the best shot. For the purposes of this column, a business case can be a: capital project request for new client management software, proposal to add new services to the existing portfolio, buying a competitor request for funds to capitalize on an existing high growth opportunity new productivity initiative to improve routing of service personnel major marketing effort to penetrate existing markets.

5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company

2007-04-25T19:46:00-08:00

5 Steps to Services Leadership (Step One) Survival Skills for Leading Professional Services in a Product Company 5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company By James A. Alexander Ed.D. Welcome to the first installment of our 5-part Stranger in a Strange Land Series. Successfully leading a professional services organization in a product-centric company is not for the faint of heart. Learn what works.

The Stranger in a Strange Land Series: 5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company

2007-06-01T20:34:41-08:00

The Stranger in a Strange Land Series: 5 Steps to Services Leadership in a Product-Centric Company Step Two: Revise By Jim Alexander Successfully leading a professional services organization in a product-centric company is not for the faint of heart. Learn what works. In last issue’s discussion of Step One, Analyze, I stressed the criticality of getting relevant, in-depth, current information about key clients, the marketplace, and your professional services organization. In this issue, I will talk about what to do with that information--to rethink, reformulate, and revise your professional services business and your personal leadership plans. First, we’ll discuss how to use the information to test the probability of accomplishing your business goals. Then, we’ll explore how to create a logical yet emotionally appealing case for change that people will not only accept but get excited about. I’ll also introduce two powerful tools to help you along your path. And finally, I’ll give you a real-life example on how to get key players on board. This is how a Stranger earns his or her keep!

Fire, Ready, Aim Marketing

2007-06-07T07:33:45-08:00

Fire, Ready, Aim Marketing Copyright (c) 2007 Robert Middleton Action Plan Marketing http://www.ActionPlan.com One of the dumbest marketing mistakes is failing implementing what you already know. You may read a lot, buy online programs, attend seminars and yet still implement a fraction of what you've learned.

How to Outsource Product Management to Customers

2008-03-17T05:19:48-08:00

How to Outsource Product Management to CustomersBy Risabh Shastri For any Enterprise Software Company, Product Management is one of the most critical functions. If products are utilized by more and more customers, than requests for new features will start to pile up, which is but obvious. In order to implement the needs of the customers, the job of product manager should be to prioritize the products in order, so as to keep, feature creep away from it.

What Is Six Sigma?

2008-03-19T05:09:08-08:00

What is Six Sigma?By Steven Bonacorsi What is Six Sigma? The concepts surrounding the drive to Six Sigma quality are essentially those of statistics and probability. In simple language, these concepts boil down to, "How confident can I be that what I planned to happen actually will happen?" Basically, the concept of Six Sigma deals with measuring and improving how close we come to delivering on what we planned to do.

Transforming Manufacturing Strategies Using Voice Of The Customer

2008-03-26T18:32:02-08:00

Transforming Manufacturing Strategies Using Voice Of The CustomerBy Louis Columbus Competing for customers has never been more challenging, intensely focused, or costly for manufacturers globally. Instead of relying on plunging prices or continually adding in product line extensions to marginally increase a given products' market size and potential sales, manufacturers must get back to what made many of them successful to begin with, and that is concentrating on knowing the unmet needs of customers and responding to them with innovative products and solutions better than any competitor globally.

Never Ending Fight for Market Share

2008-03-26T18:38:57-08:00

Never Ending Fight for Market ShareBy Edward McMahon "The Red Queen told Alice that she must run as fast as she knew how just to stay where she was."* And so it is in business. Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group** was a thoughtful pamphleteer in the late 70's. He often provided meaningful challenges to those of us in the marketing game. He talked endlessly of market share, market segmentation and market differentiation. Most of what he said is as relevant today as it was 25 years ago.

Ethics in Social Network Marketing

2008-04-09T07:59:46-08:00

Ethics in Social Network MarketingBy David Skul Unethical marketing practices on social media websites has backfired...badly. As in all marketing situations, it pays to have integrity. While much of social networking is out of your hands, there are many factors that you can control that will keep you out of the hot seat.

New Product Development

2008-04-17T11:10:20-08:00

New Product DevelopmentBy Jason Gluckman New product development is one of the most important components of product policy and product management. Product lines and products are appraise and are positioned effectively. Brand decisions are taken wisely. For a higher level of growth, a firm has to look beyond its existing products. A progressive firm has to consider new product development as a cardinal element of its product policy.

New Product Marketing - Promoting Before the Product Launch

2008-04-17T11:35:36-08:00

New Product Marketing - Promoting Before the Product LaunchBy Scott Hepburn The Challenge: Your company is launching a new product, but you don't even have a prototype. For the new product to succeed, you need to generate buzz in advance of the release. How do you market a product you can't show to your customers because it doesn't exist yet?

4 Tips for Successful Product Marketing

2008-04-23T09:16:31-08:00

4 Tips for Successful Product MarketingBy Eric Corl When it comes to product marketing, everyone thinks they are an expert, but few can produce results. Why is this so? Most of the problem comes from marketing books, seminars, and courses that detract from the heart of marketing: translating features into benefits. Much of today's marketing is based on product hype . However, the simple truth of the matter is that people buy things to gain pleasure or avoid some sort of pain. It is critical to understand this as it is the supporting motivation for every purchase no matter how little or large it may be. Think about the last two items you purchased. Why did you buy them? You can boil every purchase down to gaining pleasure or avoiding pain. That being said, there are four key tips to better connect with your customers:

Marketing Strategy And Product Portfolio Mix - How Do You Develop Your Marketing Portfolio?

2008-04-23T09:44:52-08:00

Marketing Strategy And Product Portfolio Mix - How Do You Develop Your Marketing Portfolio?By Adrian Pepper I have been working with a management team who have dreams of growing their small business by developing their market offering. Most small businesses grow because the products and services that they offer happen to find favour with their customers. How refreshing it is to work with business people who plan for growth.

Branding Your Company - Logos and Tag Lines Aren't Enough

2008-05-08T14:59:02-08:00

Branding Your Company - Logos and Tag Lines Aren't EnoughBy Scott Hepburn Rebranding may be the most complicated and most risk-prone challenges of a business owner. You take a company or a product that people have come to know, trust and love....and you change it. Risk? Yeah. You screw this up and everything you've built disappears and you have to start from scratch.