For Pepsi Cola Ltd, marketing opportunity analysis is a continual and ongoing process. Pepsi have used the new- product strategy to realise their ambitions to both defend their current market position, and reinstate their position as a product innovator.Pepsi wishes to create a clear cola that is 100% natural, low in sodium, caffeine-free, and still maintains the flavour of its original cola. They will call it Pepsi Au Naturel. Pepsi’s hope is to usher in a new era, and to give them a clear-cut advantage over their rival’s, Coca-Cola.By following closely the six steps of the new-product development process, the company could expect such benefits as: improved teamwork, less re-working, earlier detection of likely failure, and higher success rates. (Rix, Peter, 2001, Marketing, A Practical Approach).Stage One: Generating New-Product IdeasThe first step for Pepsi Cola to undertake is to generate ideas for the new product. There are many different alternative ideas available to help Pepsi through this process. They should use input from their Sales team, customers, and suppliers to help with new-product ideas. Brainstorming is possibly the best method known to man to devise ideas or strategies. Their customers would also have proven an extremely useful source of information and ideas, as they ultimately are the ones who you are trying to satisfy.Stage Two: Screening and Evaluating IdeasThis is where Pepsi would have evaluated all of their ideas, in order to determine the viability of further study of each respective idea, in this case, Pepsi Au Naturel. The process of screening eliminates all ideas that are not viable due to unacceptable levels of competitive, operational or legal risk, or ones that simply don’t comply with the company’s overall position or strategy.Stage Three: Business AnalysisIf Pepsi Au Naturel should survive to this stage, it must now be developed into a concrete business proposal. Ma...
