Whether you are commercializing a line extension or a truly disruptive industry changing innovation, establishing a successful commercialization plan starts with understanding target segments.

 

One of the more important insights in segmentation comes from Geoffery Moore.  In his book Crossing the Chasm, a best seller with over 2 million copies sold, Moore describes the development of a new market from an early market dominated by a few visionary customers to a mainstream market dominated by a large block of customers who are predominately pragmatists in orientation.

 

One of the critical take-aways for innovators and business builders is that the customers who will help you grow and scale your business, the “early majority” in Moore’s definition, are very different from your early customers who help you develop the product, those who Moore describes as “technology adopters”. 

 

We would propose the persona of the early majority is a teenage boy with the latest electronic game.  Given the slightest opportunity he will spend every waking hour playing with, exploring, or testing the game and providing you input on how to make it better.  Exactly the segment you want helping you develop new products.  The persona of the early market however, is more like a screaming baby.  The baby doesn’t care about your fun new game.  She has a problem and unless your product addresses that problem, she’s not going to give you anything but more screaming.  Your ability to satisfy the early majority relies completely on whether your solution will address their problem at the moment, a different offering than what the technology adopters require.

 

Your go-to-market commercialization plan needs to address that difference.  We build our Commercialization GTM plans around Moore’s 9-point Market Development Strategy checklist: