Where do new products come from?

We're working on a new book by Robert Berkman that discusses "social listening." It will help companies tap into conversations on the Internet to learn more about their customers, their industries, how their companies are perceived, and possibly find clues to new products.

Sometimes it seems like there can be no new products because everything has already been invented. But then you see an innovative product and realize that someone has been listening to customers and thinking about their needs. For example, we just ran across "Days Ago," a product that attaches to leftovers or other items so you know how long they have been sitting around and whether they are safe to consume.

It's a product that taps into consumer concerns about food safety. It's reuseable and reasonably priced.

Berkman's book, which will be available in a couple of months, will help new product developers, public relations firms, marketers and others to tap into the kinds of informal conversations, videos, and blogs on the Internet that give depth to understanding customers. It's chock full of information that will help you sort through the various tools available to find conversations and content appropriate for your research needs and and set up feeds to your computer so you are always in the loop. If you'd like to know when this book is available and receive special pricing, subscribe to the "What's New in Marketing" emails.

Another book that will help you think about the development of new products for kids is Marketing to the New SuperConsumer Mom+Kid. Seasoned new product developers, Dave Siegel, Greg Livingston, and Tim Coffey have included lots of tips for new product development as well as useful market research in this book. LaunchForce is a spin-off of their company, WonderGroup, and is a company you may want to talk with if you are working on developing products that appeal to kids and their moms.