Product Strategy Statement Template

andStrategies Across

the Product Lifecycle

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 2

What’s Included in this deck

• Definition of Strategy• Why create a strategy statement?• Elements to consider in crafting a strategy• Strategy statement template• Example strategy statement

See the NOTES view in PPT for additional information

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 3

Strategy: A guiding theme for decisions• How will we get from here, to there?• Do we say yes or no to this opportunity?• Is this tactic a higher priority than others?

© 2013 Pivotal Product Management, LLC 4

A Sample of Strategic Business Drivers

• First to market• Market leader (most market share)• Best in class - quality (broad market, or

specific segment/industry)• Lowest cost/best “value”• Best in class - innovative

Strategy’s ultimate expression is in how we decide to spend money.

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 5

Product Strategy Statement

Establishes a framework for the product roadmap: how we will get from “A” to “B”

Explains why the company should invest in the product

Gives Product Team a clear sense of what the product means to the company and to them: effort and reward

Expresses key criteria for prioritization

Makes a great “elevator pitch” to use internally

© 2013 Pivotal Product Management, LLC 6

Elements of Product Strategy Statement for Internal Applications

Primary business objective

Key business strategy for achieving the objective

Key IT application objectives

Key IT application strategy for meeting IT objectives

Target competitors

Positioning

Required resources and functional programs

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 7

Elements of a Product Strategy Statement for Commercial Software

Primary objective

Key strategy for achieving the objective

Target segments

Target competitors

Positioning

Marketing mix (4Ps)

Required resources and functional programs

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 8

Example Strategy Statement Format

Delivery approach and decision drivers, for example:

Address key market segments first

Solve particular problems first

Fast iterations vs. longer and fewer cycles

Target price, margin, cost

Why it will be successful

Competitive target and positioning

How the company will make money (business model,

pricing strategy)

Marketing and channel strategies

Why this product is being developed

How it fits with company mission & strengths Target market and size of opportunity

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 9

Strategy Statement Example

Product X is targeted at the estimated 8,500 organizations in the US who have software development teams of 100 or more. In addition to contributing $4.5MM to top-line revenues in the next 24 months, Product X is the first in a line of products that will help us transition to a product-focused company.

Product X is the means by which we and our clients will measure the impact of adopting Agile methods. No such product currently exists in the market. We will deploy the product during consulting engagements and clients will want to continue using it to measure their progress after the engagement ends. Product revenues will be based on an annual subscription fee based on the size of the development teams being tracked.

We have an opportunity to be first to market, so we will use an MVP strategy organized around our Agile transformation engagement model. We anticipate releasing core baselining functionality first, followed by diagnostic capability and then management and financial reporting. We need to demo at least diagnostic capability by Agile 2011.

PLC Stages & Strategies for Internal Applications

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Phase Introduction Growth Maturity Decline

Customer Goal

Validate planned benefits

Maximize benefit Minimize TCO Replace it

Product Basic/MVP Build toward “complete”

Reduce issues, steady state

Dated, unstable, un-supported platforms

Investment Enough to prove value

Maximize value Maximize ROI Don’t spend any more!

Prioritization Highest business value in least time

Next level business value

Stability, supportability Critical bugs only

Launch Strategy

Pilot: educate, validate

Full roll-out, fast adoption, frequent updates

Update only as needed to meet customer goal

None!

Introduction Growth Maturity DeclineTime

PLC Stage

Sale

s

Profit

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC. 10

PLC Stages & Strategies for Commerical Products

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Customers Innovators Early Adopters Middle Majority Laggards

Customer Goal

Competitive edge via risk

Safety, pain avoidance

Safety, pain avoidance and a good price

Don’t want it, regardless

Marketing Objective

Awareness/trial

Market share Maximize profit Retire/replace

Product Basic Extensions Full line Best sellers

Price Intro/skimming Penetration Competitive Maintain profit

Distribution Selective Broaden Extended Profitable only

Promotion Targeted; educate

Broader; differentiate

Sustaining; loyalty Minimize

Introduction Growth Maturity DeclineTime

PLC Stage

Sale

s

Profit

From Kotler, Marketing Management©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC.

©2006 Pivotal Product Management, LLC.

For More Strategy Help

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