SERVICE

Product Development Consulting

Create winning products that reflect deep customer understanding

We help companies define what to build next

Grounded in Jobs to be Done , our Product Development Consulting combines deep customer insights, competitive intelligence, innovation landscape analysis, and business model design to create a roadmap. Unlike large consultancies that rely on inflexible standard frameworks, we tailor every engagement to your market dynamics, organizational culture, and strategic objectives - delivering customer-backed strategy that reduces risk, accelerates time-to-market, and delivers products that truly meet latent demand and drive growth.

Why It Matters

New product development is high risk. Without clear understanding of customer needs and commercial viability, strong ideas still fail. As costs, competition, and speed-to-market pressures increase, a strong product development strategy is essential to help teams make smarter early-stage decisions and turn promising ideas into scalable offerings.

Up to 95%

launched products miss the mark (MIT Professional Education)

Up to 80%

of future product costs are locked in by early-stage decisions. Strategic guidance helps teams make better tradeoffs early (fcostdata.de+1)

25% of products

disappear within year one; ~40% by year two. Early validation and commercial strategy is critical before launch (SpringerLink)

These realities underscore the growing need for product development consulting to strengthen early-stage decisions, where strategic tradeoffs shape long-term outcomes. Building fast isn't enough; you must build smart.

Our Approach: From Jobs to be Done to a Prioritized Product Roadmap

At New Markets Advisors, we help organizations move from customer understanding to product decisions. Our approach starts with the Jobs to be Done framework and ends with a clear, prioritized roadmap aligned to your competitive position and capabilities. This approach reduces uncertainty, shortens time to market, and aligns teams around shared goals.

Start with Customer Jobs to be Done

Jobs to be Done is a core framework at New Markets. We uncover the functional and emotional outcomes customers actually want — not just the features they say they need.

To use healthcare as an example, patients, providers, and payers often have perspectives that differ significantly from one another. Most patients are not clinicians or system architects; they don’t know the best way to design a new medical device, care delivery system, or digital health solution. They understand the outcomes they want to achieve—like better health, faster recovery, or greater convenience—but not necessarily the path to get there. JTBD unpacks desired outcomes and crafts solutions that satisfies them all.

We partner with clients to uncover the Jobs their customers care about most and use those insights to inform product development. Learn more about Jobs to be Done. One we know the Jobs motivating your customers, we can take a wide-lens appraoch to think creatively about fundmentally different ways to fulfill those Jobs through ground-breaking products and services in new categories and whitespace markets. // This wide-lens approach allows us to think creatively about the groundbreaking new products you could create, entering new categories and whitespace markets

Analyze Analogies and External Benchmarks

We look beyond your industry to find how other sectors have solved similar problems. That's where disruptive ideas come from.

For example, candy is a brutally crowded category, so brands survive by constantly inventing reasons to choose them such as new sensory experiences (texture, flavor layering, sour-to-sweet arcs), novel formats, and packaging that’s as functional as it is eye-catching and shareable. That same innovation playbook can translate directly to supplements, where many products feel interchangeable, and benefits are hard to “feel” in the moment. Brands could compete not only on the efficacy of their products, but also by designing distinctive, delightful delivery experiences paired with intuitive consumption rituals that effortlessly blend into the consumers’ routine.

Assess Competitor Trajectories

We map where rivals are headed and identify white spaces and emerging threats. Instead of copying rivals, we help you leapfrog them by applying a Jobs to Be Done lens.

JTBD reframes how competition is defined, making it clear that “competitors” are not limited to directly comparable products, but include all the alternative ways customers can fulfill the same underlying Job. For example, a movie theater is not just competing with other theaters on screen quality or popcorn flavors. If a core Job is helping parents entertain their kids, the real competition also includes ice skating rinks, amusement parks, and other family-friendly experiences. Viewing competition this way can unlock more differentiated offerings. Instead of simply improving concessions, the theater might introduce new components such as a climbing wall that better addresses the broader Job.

By analyzing the full landscape of Job-based competition, companies can innovate in more meaningful, customer-driven ways.

Unlock Innovation Enablers

We assess the technologies and capabilities - AI, automation, new data tools - that expand how you can satisfy customer jobs. Technology should not dictate the solution, customer Jobs do, but it does define what’s possible and how precisely you can execute.

For example, in adtech the job might be “I want to acquire high-intent customers efficiently without wasting spend.” The answer isn’t “use AI targeting” by default; it could be a clearer value proposition, better creative, or a stronger onboarding funnel. But advancements in measurement, creative tools, and machine-learning optimization expand the solution space, so the final approach could be most effective.

Design the Business Model

A great product needs a great model behind it. We define pricing, packaging, and delivery structures to ensure your innovation is both customer-valuable and commercially viable.

Our approach is grounded in the idea that the best innovations rarely rely on product performance alone. In Beacons for Business Model Innovation, Geoff Tuff and Stephen Wunker argue that successful business model innovation requires new ways of making money, new forms of customer engagement, and coordinated change across the organization—not just a better product. Their research highlights that breakthrough concepts often combine multiple types of innovation, especially shifts in the profit model and customer experience, rather than focusing only on product performance and product system innovation.

Prioritize and Plan Your Roadmap

Finally, we synthesize all inputs into a prioritized product roadmap. Each opportunity is evaluated by customer impact, differentiation potential, and feasibility. The roadmap is paired with an action plan detailing resourcing, timelines, and key risk factors, ensuring your team can move confidently from insight to launch.

Our method transforms scattered ideas into a cohesive strategy, outlining a clear path forward.

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Beacons for Business Model Innovation

By using analytic tools that provide better decision-making insights, executives can vastly improve their innovation success rate—and help their business model investments generate bigger returns.

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Beacons for Business Model Innovatioin

By using analytic tools that provide better decision-making insights, executives can vastly improve their innovation success rate—and help their business model investments generate bigger returns.

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Using Jobs to be Done To Become a Customer-Centered Organization

Jobs to be Done is a theory about how customers make decisions. It helps us understand why customers buy what they buy, allowing us to proactively design solutions that are more likely to succeed in the market. This working paper explains our step-by-step framework for using Jobs to be Done, and it illustrates our process with four case studies across different industries.

What to Build vs. How to Build

Most organizations focus heavily on how to build, refining R&D, engineering processes, and project management. Yet, the biggest failures in innovation often occur much earlier, when teams are unclear on what to build.

At New Markets Advisors, our product development consulting balances both sides, starting with customer jobs and ending with an executable roadmap. This approach ensures that teams invest in the right ideas and deliver them in the right way.

What to Build	How to Build
Start with Jobs to Be Done: Identify poorly served functional and emotional customer jobs through direct interviews and quantitative research.	Establish Development Rhythms: Align cross-functional teams around clear gates, decision rights, and resource allocation.
Find Where You Can Win: Use analogies, competitor foresight, and technology scans to find white spaces where your product can lead.	Build Prototypes: Quickly translate prioritized opportunities into MVPs that test the value proposition.
Prioritize the Roadmap: Score opportunities based on impact, feasibility, and business model fit.	Test & Refine: Translate insights into MVPs, test with real users, and refine based on evidence, not assumptions.
Connect to the Business Model: Ensure each idea has a clear path to profitability.	Scale What Works: Move validated solutions into full development and launch with speed and confidence.

By integrating “what to build” and “how to build,”, you move toward a sustainable system for innovation. JTBD keeps product development anchored in customer truth, while structured delivery ensures those insights translate into real market success.

What You'll Get From Our Product Development Consulting

Defining new products should leave your team with more than ideas; it should provide a clear, evidence-based path to growth. Every engagement with New Markets Advisors produces concrete deliverables that connect customer insights to strategic action and measurable business results, including some of the options below:

Product Opportunity Landscape

A map of customer “jobs,” unmet needs, and whitespace opportunities. This shows where new products can create the most value and which opportunities deserve investment.

Customer and Ecosystem Insights Report

A synthesis of qualitative and quantitative research that explores not only end users but also influencers, decision-makers, and complementary stakeholders in your ecosystem.

Competitive and Analogy Analysis

A forward-looking assessment of how competitors are evolving, combined with lessons drawn from adjacent industries, geographies, and technologies to spark new ideas.

Technology and Innovation Scan

An overview of emerging enablers: AI, automation, digital tools, and material innovation, that can shape your next-generation offerings.

Prioritized Product Roadmap

A decision-ready roadmap that ranks initiatives by customer impact, differentiation, and feasibility. It includes a timeline, quick wins, and clear go/no-go decision criteria.

Implementation Playbook

A 90-day action plan detailing pilots, validation tests, and launch preparation activities, ensuring your team moves confidently toward execution.

Together, these deliverables transform uncertainty into clarity, giving you a customer-centered, data-driven product strategy ready to accelerate market success.

How We Compare

Big consulting firms excel at scale and process, but that often comes with standardization. At New Markets Advisors, we take a different path. We are a boutique strategy and innovation firm that helps clients define new products with speed, JTBD-driven customer insight, and a meticulous focus on your organization, not with a one-size-fits-all playbook.

Most AI consulting firms focus on technology: counting use cases, selecting vendors, or automating existing workflows. At New Markets Advisors, we focus on transformation. Our AI Strategy Consulting begins by clarifying why your organization should pursue AI initiatives, not just how to deploy them. We uncover where AI can create customer delight, spark market disruption, and drive cost innovation (Costovation). Because we are technology-neutral, we have no interest in selling or implementing systems. Our goal is to help you craft a strategy that redefines how you compete, ensuring every investment in AI delivers long-term strategic value.

Here’s what sets us apart from traditional consulting approaches:

Clarify why before how: Every recommendation starts with your strategic purpose and customer value.
Prioritize value, not volume: We focus on a few high-impact AI opportunities, not endless pilot lists.
Build capability, not dependency: We transfer knowledge so your teams can innovate independently.
Stay neutral on technology: We evaluate AI options through your strategic lens—not vendor incentives.

Our independence and deep experience since 2012 make us trusted advisors for executives who want clarity, confidence, and competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

Where New Markets Advisors Stands Out

Here’s what sets us apart from traditional consulting approaches:

Clarify why before how: Every recommendation starts with your strategic purpose and customer value.
Prioritize value, not volume: We focus on a few high-impact AI opportunities, not endless pilot lists.
Build capability, not dependency: We transfer knowledge so your teams can innovate independently.
Stay neutral on technology: We evaluate AI options through your strategic lens—not vendor incentives.

Our independence and deep experience since 2012 make us trusted advisors for executives who want clarity, confidence, and competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

JTBD-First, Customer-Backed Approach: We start with customer motivations and outcomes, not with features, technologies, or internal brainstorming.
Tailored Frameworks, Not Templates: Every engagement begins with a diagnostic of your market, culture, and constraints. We design solutions around your business, not a rigid methodology.
Speed and Focus: We deliver decision-ready product roadmaps in weeks, not quarters. Our teams move fast without the heavy overhead of larger firms.
Senior-Led Engagements: You work directly with experienced consultants and partners, not layers of junior staff. That means sharper insights and higher accountability.
Cross-Industry Creativity: We use analogies from other sectors to inspire breakthroughs, a strength rarely seen in process-heavy environments.

Here’s what sets us apart from traditional consulting approaches:

Clarify why before how: Every recommendation starts with your strategic purpose and customer value.
Prioritize value, not volume: We focus on a few high-impact AI opportunities, not endless pilot lists.
Build capability, not dependency: We transfer knowledge so your teams can innovate independently.
Stay neutral on technology: We evaluate AI options through your strategic lens—not vendor incentives.

Our independence and deep experience since 2012 make us trusted advisors for executives who want clarity, confidence, and competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

Dimension	Large Firms	New Markets Advisors
Core Strength	Large-scale R&D and process transformation	Defining what to build, rooted in customer jobs
Approach	Standardized frameworks and global playbooks	Custom methods and deep executive collaboration
Team Structure	Large junior-heavy delivery model	Senior-led, boutique teams
Focus	Efficiency and governance	Insight, differentiation, and commercialization

Bottom line: Large firms suit systematic R&D transformations. If your priority is defining what to build next and building it well, New Markets Advisors offers the insight and hands-on partnership to help you move forward with confidence.

Here’s what sets us apart from traditional consulting approaches:

Clarify why before how: Every recommendation starts with your strategic purpose and customer value.
Prioritize value, not volume: We focus on a few high-impact AI opportunities, not endless pilot lists.
Build capability, not dependency: We transfer knowledge so your teams can innovate independently.
Stay neutral on technology: We evaluate AI options through your strategic lens—not vendor incentives.

Our independence and deep experience since 2012 make us trusted advisors for executives who want clarity, confidence, and competitive advantage in an AI-driven world.

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Using Jobs to be Done To Become a Customer-Centered Organization

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Using Jobs to be Done To Become a Customer-Centered Organization

FEATURED WORKING PAPER

Beacons for Business Model Innovation

By using analytic tools that provide better decision-making insights, executives can vastly improve their innovation success rate—and help their business model investments generate bigger returns.

What is product development consulting?

Product development consulting helps companies determine what to build and how to bring it to market successfully. At New Markets Advisors, we start with customer Jobs to be Done and move through competitive analysis, innovation scanning, business model design, and roadmap prioritization. The goal is not simply to generate product ideas, but to reduce uncertainty and identify opportunities grounded in real customer demand. Strong product development consulting engagement helps teams make better early-stage decisions, align around shared priorities, and create products with a clearer path to adoption and growth.