New Product Introduction Strategy in Consumer Products Category in India

The objective of this study is to obtain an insight into the nature of new product introduction strategies of Indian nature of new product introduction strategies of Indian organizations. Data on 237 product/brand launches were collected from information published in four business periodicals between January 1991 and July 1993. The study indicates that there are no significant differences between multinational corporations (MNCs), large, medium and small enterprises as far as propensity to introduce new products is concerned. But a higher proportion of MNCs and large enterprises tends to follow multi-product/brand strategies as opposed to a tendency to follow single product/brand strategy by small enterprises, and to a lesser degree, by medium enterprises. MNCs tend to depend heavily on brand/line extensions and to a lesser extent on new brand strategy; but they appear to be less aggressive in entering new lines through new product introductions. By and large, the strategies of large organizations resemble that of MNCs, though, on a comparative basis, they show lesser dependence on brand/line extensions and a higher emphasis on new brand strategy. New product strategies of medium enterprises fall between that of larger organizations and smaller enterprises. Small scale enterprises show an almost equal propensity to introduce products as MNCs, large and medium enterprises. The inability of the small enterprises to capitalize on equities of mega brands is compensated by aggressive new brand and new product strategies. In fact, small firms account for the highest proportion of new products that are introduced and this ability to venture into uncharted territories emerges as their greatest strength.