Product innovation and new product launches are usually a key driv- er in how most B2B companies build and generate new value. A lot of resources are poured into articulating the value of individual prod- ucts and bringing them to market. The thinking often goes in the line of: “If there is a new product in the pipeline it must be better than the old one and of superior value. Customers ought to go above and beyond to get their hands on it, right?”

Yet, in the minds of customers, very few products are launched in- dependently from what a company is already offering. It is part of a wider portfolio and how customers perceive that entire line of offer- ing and what that brand is known for.