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and even America, where things generally are much cheaper, ridiculously
low prices. After the fall of Communism in 1989 my colleague was invited
to help to revive the Czech economy. He worked mainly on a major strat-
egy for privatization, but as a key side issue he looked for ways in which
Czech firms might exploit existing skills quickly in global markets. He
therefore bought at an international airport the most expensive leather
items that he could find so that Czech craftsmen could consider them,
improve on their design and manufacture goods that would be “better than
the best” at lower prices. When the planning was finished they no longer
needed my wallet so I got it. What has this to do with problem solving?
Plenty.

The “product life cycle” ensures that sooner or later even the best of
products loses its appeal to the mass of buyers. Designers and marketers
share an unending need to prolong that life cycle or costs will spiral out of
control and the benefits of mass production and mass marketing would be
lost. One technique that is often used to alleviate the problem of consumer
fickleness is morphological analysis. At its most simple the designer “takes
apart” the product and rebuilds it with improvements to attract more
buyers while the marketer ensures that the improvements made are
appropriate to existing or emergent customer needs or desires, or to needs
or desires that are dormant, but which could be aroused by the existence
of a “new” product offering. Marketers and designers should co-operate in
sharing information that will answer the following questions.

n Has the peak of buying activity for this product been reached or
passed?

n Do the needs and desires that led to its market success still exist?

n Are needs and desires evolving in such a way that some simple, or
even major, improvements to the product will satisfy them?

n Would customers prefer to continue to have the old product at
lower cost?

n Will customers buy a new and improved product if the
improvements lead to a higher price?

n Can we make “new and improved” really mean what they say? (In
the USA a few years ago Lufthansa had a very successful
marketing campaign based on the idea of “when we say ‘new and
improved’ things are new and improved – surprised?”)

n Can we create a perceived need for a new and improved product?

n Can we do all this and still lower costs?

If the answer is positive then there is a case for morphological analysis
to create a “new” product that will revitalize the market.

Forget your problem – give me your solution 119