Commercializing Innovation: Turning Technology Breakthroughs into Products

CHAPTER 7

To Market or Not…

The Context for Commercialization

Any business text will quickly identify the importance of marketing in a commercial project, and so will I. But here the issues are a bit more complex. It becomes exceedingly important to delineate not only the market opportunity but also the appropriate sales engines—including startups new divisions, franchising, licensing, joint ventures, and so on—as platforms to recognize its potential throughout the product lifecycle.

Marketing is a critical aspect of understanding (and acting upon) how a given product or service integrates into the customer’s perceived needs. It is not a singular function but rather a range of interactions both inside and outside of the organization. Marketing’s ...