9 Steps to Commercialization

John Spacey, December 02, 2017

Commercialization is the process of bringing a product or service to market. This may include:

IP Protection

Before launch, efforts may be made to keep the product or service secret. Intellectual property may be protected with trademarks and patents.

Training

Training employees such as sales teams.

Trade Announcements

Announcing the product to the public. This is carefully timed. For example, consumers may stop buying your existing products when they know a better version is coming out.

Operations

Putting in place processes to support the product such as customer support.

Production

Scaling up production such as manufacturing or service delivery.

Inventory Build

Building enough inventory to support product launch.

Distribution

Developing distribution channels and shipping the product.

Promotion

Advertising, events and other communications designed to build awareness of the product or service. An innovative new product may require significant communication before customers will adopt it. For example, the microwave oven was launched in 1967 but didn't gain broad market penetration for close to a decade.

Launch

Launching the product. This ranges from a gradual rollout to a full launch across all distribution channels. Launch may include promotional activities such as free trials and penetration pricing.

Notes

The term commercialization is used with negative connotations for things such as public services, art and music that are viewed as being above commercial interests. For example, a publicly funded art museum that closes for private viewing or private functions for customers who can pay high fees.

Overview: Commercialization
Type	Product Marketing
Definition	The process of bringing a product or service to market.
Related Concepts	Product Marketing » Intellectual Property » Preannouncement Effect » Business Processes » Product Launch » Distribution Channels »