At RFM Marketing, we work on taking a new product, a ‘question mark’ product (unknown in the market place), to become a ‘shooting star’. Then how to get from a ‘shooting star’ to becoming a ‘cash cow’. Then how to stop going from a ‘cash cow’ to a ‘dog’ product or service.
The Boston Box matrix is used by many large companies developing their product range. For the smaller organisation, it a useful tool in another way.
To go from question mark to shooting star you need to:
1. Concentrate on R&D to get the right product.
2. Promotion and communications like mad to let people know that you exist.
Many products fail because they don’t communicate the message of their business to the correct target audiences, – then wonder why they don’t get beyond question mark status!
For Shooting stars to cash cows – need to look at distribution and channel issues to extend the tendrils of your business, as well as continued targeted promotion to encourage customers to buy and endorse the brand.