Product management is the business process of planning, developing, launching, and managing a product or service. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from ideation to development to
go to market Go-to-market or go-to-market strategy is the plan of an organization, utilizing their outside resources (e.g. sales force and distributors), to deliver their unique value proposition to customers and achieve competitive advantage.
The end goal is ...
.
Product managers are responsible for ensuring that a product meets the needs of its target market and contributes to the business strategy, while managing a product or products at all stages of the
product lifecycle
In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. PL ...
.
Software product management
Software product management (sometimes also referred to as ''digital product management'' or, in the right context just ''product management'') is the discipline of building, implementing and managing software or digital Product (business), produc ...
adapts the fundamentals of product management for digital products.
History
The concept of product management originates from a 1931 memo by Procter & Gamble President
Neil H. McElroy
Neil Hosler McElroy (October 30, 1904 – November 30, 1972) was United States Secretary of Defense from 1957 to 1959 under President Eisenhower. He had been president of Procter & Gamble.
Early life and education
Born in Berea, Ohio, to school- ...
. McElroy, requesting additional employees focused on brand management, needed "Brand Men" who would take on the role of managing products, packaging, positioning, distribution, and sales performance.
The memo defined a Brand Man's work as:
* Study carefully shipments of his brands by units.
* Where brand development is heavy ... examine carefully the combination of effort that seems to be clicking, and try to apply this same treatment to other territories.
* Where brand development is light:
** Study the advertising and promotion history of the brand.
** After uncovering our weakness, develop a plan that can be applied to this local sore spot.
** Outline this plan in detail to the division manager.
** Prepare sales helps and all other necessary material for carrying out the plan.
** Keep whatever records are necessary and make whatever field studies are necessary to determine whether the plan has produced the expected results.
* Take full responsibility ... for the general printed word plans for his brands.
* Take full responsibility for all other advertising expenditures.
* Experiment with and recommend wrapper revisions.
* See District Manager a number of times a year to discuss with him any possible faults in our promotion plans for that territory.
In modern terms, McElroy defined the role as: analyze product distribution, optimize working distribution strategies, diagnose and solve distribution issues, optimize product positioning and product marketing, and collaborate with regional distribution managers.
Role of Product Managers
Product managers are responsible for managing a company's product line on a day-to-day basis. As a result, product managers are critical in both driving a company's growth, margins, and revenue. They are responsible for the business case, conceptualizing, planning,
product development
In business and engineering, new product development (NPD) covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market, renewing an existing product or introducing a product in a new market. A central aspect of NPD is product design, along wi ...
,
product marketing
Product marketing is sub-field of marketing that is responsible for crafting messaging, go-to-market flow, and promotion of a product. Product marketing managers can also be involved in defining and sizing target markets along with other business ...
, and delivering products to their target market. Depending on the company size, industry, and history, product management has a variety of functions and roles. Frequently there is an
Income statement
An income statement or profit and loss accountProfessional English in Use - Finance, Cambridge University Press, p. 10 (also referred to as a ''profit and loss statement'' (P&L), ''statement of profit or loss'', ''revenue statement'', ''stateme ...
(or Profit and Loss) responsibility as a key metric for evaluating product manager performance.
Tasks
Product managers analyze information including customer research, competitive intelligence, industry analysis, trends, economic signals, and competitive activity,
[By Steven Haines.]
The Product Manager's Desk Reference
" Published by McGraw Hill. Page 390. as well as documenting requirements, setting
product strategy
Product strategy defines the high-level plan for developing and marketing a product, how the product supports the business strategy and goals, and is brought to life through product roadmaps. A product strategy describes a vision of the future wit ...
, and creating the roadmap. Product managers align across departments within their company including product design and development, marketing, sales, customer support, and legal.
See also
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Brand management