Product portfolio management

Each product in your portfolio has a lifecycle – from introduction and growth to maturity and eventual decline. Managing this lifecycle effectively is key to maintaining a healthy product portfolio.

Every product in your portfolio should contribute to your company’s profitability. This means regularly assessing the financial performance of each product, not just in terms of sales but also in terms of costs and margins.

It’s important to identify which products are driving revenue and which are lagging. In some cases, this might lead to tough decisions, such as discontinuing a specific product that is no longer profitable. By focusing on products that deliver the highest returns, you can maximize profitability across your entire portfolio.

During the early stages of a product’s lifecycle, the focus should be on market penetration and growth. As the product matures, the emphasis shifts to maximizing profitability and extending its market life. Eventually, as the product reaches the end of its lifecycle, you’ll need to plan for its phase-out. Here it's important to ensure the product's exit doesn’t disrupt your overall portfolio.

Maximize the value of your products at every stage with Simon-Kucher. Our expert guidance ensures your product lifecycle management keeps your portfolio dynamic, responsive, and aligned with market changes. Contact us to turn each stage into an opportunity for growth and success.  

Product managers often face the challenge of allocating resources across multiple projects. The key is prioritizing the products that have the highest potential for success. This involves a high-level analysis of each product’s potential revenue and profitability, as well as its strategic importance to the overall portfolio.

A common pitfall in PPM is spreading resources too thin, which can dilute efforts and lead to underwhelming results. Instead, focus on the specific products that are most likely to deliver strong returns. This doesn’t mean neglecting other products, but rather being strategic in how you distribute resources, ensuring your top performers get the attention they need to thrive.

Struggling with resource allocation? Simon-Kucher is here to help you prioritize and allocate your resources - time, budget, and talent - where they matter most. We’ll work with you to conduct a high-level product portfolio analysis to reveal revenue and profitability potential.

Let us guide you in focusing on the products that promise the strongest returns. Together, we’ll ensure your top performers get the attention they need to thrive.

Reach out to a Simon-Kucher specialist today. 

Risk is an ever-present factor. Whether it’s market volatility, changes in customer preferences, or technological advancements, risks can significantly impact your portfolio’s performance.

One of the best ways to mitigate these risks is through diversification. By spreading your investments across different products, markets, and technologies, you reduce the impact of any single product’s failure on your overall business. This portfolio management approach helps you maintain stability and resilience, even in the face of unforeseen challenges.

That's why product portfolio management is not just about managing existing products. It’s also about anticipating future demands and adjusting your product line accordingly. Innovation is the lifeblood of long-term business success, and your product portfolio should reflect this.

But innovation doesn’t mean throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. It requires a balanced approach that incorporates new ideas while maintaining the integrity of your core products. This requires real-time data and insights into what your customers want and how market conditions are evolving.

Encourage a culture of innovation by continuously exploring new product development opportunities. Avoid the trap of relying too heavily on past successes and keep your portfolio aligned with the changing landscape. This could mean introducing new products, enhancing existing ones, or finding novel ways to meet customer needs. By integrating innovation into your product portfolio management strategy, you remain at the forefront of your industry, ready to seize opportunities as they arise.

Ready to turn innovation into your competitive advantage? Simon-Kucher can help you integrate a balanced and forward-thinking approach to innovation within your product portfolio. Explore our insights and resources dedicated to the topic of product innovation here. 

For companies operating in multiple markets, managing a product portfolio can be particularly complex. The challenge lies in balancing global standardization with local customization. While it’s important to maintain a coherent global brand and product line, you need to adapt offerings to meet the specific needs of local markets.

This might involve tailoring products to local tastes, complying with regional regulations, or adjusting pricing strategies. By balancing global and local needs, you ensure your portfolio remains relevant and effective in each market you serve.

Our expertise in strategic planning, market analysis, and resource allocation can guide you in developing a portfolio management approach that maximizes your business's potential while ensuring your portfolio remains relevant and effective in diverse markets. Contact us today to optimize your product portfolio for sustainable growth and success.

Remember, product portfolio management is an ongoing process. It requires continuous monitoring, collaboration, and adaptation to ensure that your products remain competitive and profitable. But with a clear strategy and a proactive approach, you can turn your product portfolio into a powerful engine for growth.

Waiting too long to review your product portfolio’s performance can lead to missed opportunities. Instead, we recommend implementing a system for real-time monitoring of KPIs for each product in your portfolio.

These KPIs might include sales trends, market share, customer satisfaction, and profitability metrics. By keeping a close eye on these indicators, you can make timely adjustments to your portfolio, such as reallocating resources, tweaking features, or accelerating launches.

Get in touch with Simon-Kucher today to optimize your product portfolio monitoring and drive sustainable growth and success.

To truly excel in PPM, it’s essential to break down silos and encourage collaboration across your organization. This brings together the unique strengths and insights of various teams, ensuring portfolio decisions are comprehensive and well-informed.

Consider the value of input from your sales team, who are on the front lines, directly engaging with customers. They can provide real-time feedback on customer needs, preferences, and pain points, which can be invaluable in guiding product development and adjusting your product offerings. Meanwhile, finance plays a critical role in analyzing the financial performance of individual products. This helps to identify which ones drive profitability and which may need re-evaluation.

R&D, with their deep technical knowledge and understanding of product capabilities, can collaborate with marketing to ensure innovations align with market demand. Marketing, in turn, can craft compelling narratives that highlight the unique value propositions of your products, informed by insights from sales and finance.

Collaboration fosters a holistic approach to product portfolio management, where decisions are not made in isolation but are the result of integrated thinking and diverse perspectives. By breaking down barriers between departments and encouraging open communication, you create a more agile and responsive portfolio management process, better equipped to adapt to market changes and seize new opportunities.

At Simon-Kucher, we understand the power of cross-functional collaboration in driving successful product portfolio management. Our specialists work closely with your organization to foster communication and cooperation across departments, ensuring every decision is informed by the collective expertise of your teams. Contact Simon-Kucher today.