The costs of new product introduction continue to skyrocket, especially as the new product approaches national introduction. As a result, identifying potential winners and losers as early as possible with concept testing research can save time (often preventing pre-emption by the competition) and help direct resources more wisely. In today's marketplace, the success or failure of a new product depends to a large extent on two key components of concept development: the core idea, and how the core idea is communicated or positioned. Identifying the concept with the greatest potential requires a systematic concept testing approach that screens out the "losers" early and provides marketing direction for the "winners."

Burke's Concept Potential System (Burke CPS^®) is a concept testing approach that offers marketers a unique alternative to the trade-off between testing many concepts simultaneously vs. the high cost of obtaining an in-depth STM (simulated test market) volume estimate for only a single concept. The Burke approach to concept testing provides a reliable, cost effective means of assessing multiple concept potential at a very early stage of the product development process.

Burke CPS provides marketers with a Concept Potential Score that goes beyond a simple analysis of purchase intent to generate a volume based measure that reveals which of several concepts represents the greatest business opportunity. The concept potential score is the maximum sales potential a concept could generate given 100% awareness, 100% distribution, and very good product delivery.

Decision oriented diagnostics are also available to guide the marketing planning process. Through alternative research design options within Burke CPS, the following issues can be addressed:

• Alternative concept positionings
• Product line optimization
• Market segmentation
• Target market profiling

A major manufacturer had identified thirteen new product opportunities and needed to find a way to accomplish concept testing in order to set priorities for product development. The criterion for moving forward was volume potential, but the cost of traditional STM (simulated test market) testing for so many concepts was prohibitive. The Burke CPS protocol was chosen for its ability to efficiently screen multiple concepts and estimate sales potential using the Concept Potential Score.

Based on Burke's concept testing, the development process for several high potential products was accelerated, a few low potential ideas were shelved, and the remaining concepts were scheduled for future development.

While CPS helped this customer solve its immediate problem of setting priorities, further value became evident when subsequent concept and product testing as well as in-market sales performance validated these early screening results. Ultimately, the manufacturer was able to establish a database of concept screening results against which to compare future waves of CPS tested concepts