In real life, estimating the potential of a new product requires a benchmarking process with similar products that have been launched but also a quantitative assessment of the attitudes and behaviours of targets with regard to the new offer. We first of all establish a frame of reference by comparing it to existing products called “internal benchmarks” or by comparing it to products from other companies on the market.
When several products are launched simultaneously on the market, the goal is not merely to assess demand for a new product in particular but rather to estimate the potential demand or the size of the market considered. To achieve this, we use “syndicated data” and survey data (IDIs, online surveys). These surveys will shed light on the needs and attitudes with regard to a new product and on the triggers that will impact its choice. In this way, it is possible to estimate future sales, obtain an overview of practices and evaluate the possibilities of improving these sales.
In Healthcare Market Research, in the case of prescription products for example, we ask the physicians concerned to describe several of their patients suffering from a certain pathology. Having presented them the new offer via a Product Profile, we ask them whether they would have prescribed the new product or not if it had been available when the consultation with each patient had taken place. Getting physicians to put themselves in a daily-practice situation enables to assess the potential of a new product, its penetration rate, its competitive environment as well as the weight of each of the choice criteria.