New Product Development

Case Study: Snoreeze Oral Device

PFL (Passion For Life) Healthcare is responsible for creating the successful Snoreeze brand of sleeping aids, which can be found in retail outlets such as Boots. One of the products within this range is an oral device that helps reduce snoring and keep the airways clear of those with sleep apnoea.

The aim was to develop a piece of packaging that removed the need for a set of tongs to be supplied with the product. The oral device needs to be submerged in a cup of boiling water, allowing it to soften so that it can be formed to the shape of the users mouth. Removing tongs from the process would help reduce the overall product cost and environmental impact.

The final design is a simple two-piece polycarbonate moulding that integrates a clip feature on the underside of the packaging. This enables the user to attach the oral device to the packaging and rest it on top of a cup of boiling water. This offers a novel user experience that allows the product to stand out in the market.

The product was developed within a rapid time-frame, taking approximately 6 months, from a sketch concept to an injection-moulded part. This was achieved by ITERATE working very closely with the manufacturer to ensure that the final design was fully optimised for high volume production. The oral device is currently on sale in Boots nationwide.

Having developed a vast number of products from concept right through to production, we have identified a series of success factors that are common across the projects we have delivered:

1. Calculate your return-on-investment: developing a new product should be approached with the intention of generating revenue. At the basis should be a simple calculation that underpins the decision to initiate any new design project. This calculation should consider: the potential number of units to be sold per annum based on the market size/demand; the retail price of each unit; the profit accumulated per unit; the number of units to be sold before a return on the initial investment can be realised. Establishing these figures at the start of a new product development project will make decisions to be confidently made as the potential ROI is clearly defined.

2. Identify the target user group: establishing a coherent profile of the target user is crucial. Key factors such as age; gender; profession; life style; and social status should all be considered. Understanding the user in this level of detail will help design decisions to be made more easily. For example, should the product be manufactured from sustainable materials as the user values this aspect; or should the product demonstrate a design language that is on trend within a particular market sector? This understanding with inform the product development process and ultimately influence the commercial success of your product.

3. Define your route to market: there are many ways to commercialise a product and it is wise to establish how this will be achieved as it will ultimately affect your target unit price and profit margin. Some possible routes to market include: direct sales using platforms such as eBay and Amazon, or sales through your own website with traffic being driven from social media platforms. Large retailers may be interested in stocking your product but often request a large profit share and prefer to stock more than one product from a single supplier. Small retailers can often provide a higher level of flexibility with some even offering ‘sale or return’ terms. This means that they will stock your product for a given period of time and return the units if not sold. Licensing a new product to a retailer or manufacturer is also a possible option that many are keen to pursue. This can involve signing over the intellectual property to a third party and them paying you a royalty fee for each unit sold. This limits the responsibility of the product originator but also limits the financial return.