Imagine if you were the product manager in charge of one of the simplest products in the world: a pen. How successful could you be in this age of fancy high-tech smartphones and tablets? He would have been willing to say that his pen product had reached the end of its useful life; however, Parker Pen product managers have proven me wrong…

say hello to china

Yes, I just did, did you think that the days of selling pens were about to endTurns out you were only half right. In North America and Europe, pen product managers had made the decision to make money by increasing volume and lowering prices. That’s why you see lots, lots of cheap pens everywhere.

According to Cameron McWhirter, Parker and another brand called Waterman, owned by its parent company, own about 25% of the global market for fine writing instruments. When sales began to decline in the US and Europe, Parker looked back at China..

China is a different story. The reason for this is that the pens look like a status symbol for those middle-class Chinese who are busy climbing the social ladders. Not only are they seen as a status symbol, but they’re also within easy reach: middle-class Chinese might buy one or more fine pens.

When Parker’s product managers realized that China represented a great opportunity for them, Feel your design teams to China. They realized that in order to be successful in China, they needed to customize their pens for the Chinese market.

They did this by making two key changes. The first is that they added the Chinese character for “good luck” on the head of the pen. They also darkened the ink the pen used to make the Chinese characters they were using to create look more appealing. These are exactly the kinds of stocks every product manager should be able to add to their product manager resume.

Why do the Chinese buy Parker pens?

So why do the Chinese buy high-end Parker pens? There are two main reasons. The first is that they are an affordable accessory. Yes, they do cost a lot, but not so much that they are out of your reach. Second, in China’s business culture, the concept of giving gifts is very important. Pens make great gifts to give – they’re practical and can clearly show how much value you place on the relationship.

So how much do Parker product managers sell their thoughts for? High-end Parker pens can work as well as US$7,500 (for “the golden dragon”) and typically run in the $200 – $500 range.

Clearly the strategy of design high end custom pens for the Chinese market it has been worth it. The office products division of Parker Pen’s parent company has accounted for 40% of its sales and 30% of its revenue.

What all this means to you

There are some very clear lessons to all of us of what the Parker Pen product managers have been able to achieve. We need to take a close look and add them to our product manager job description.

First, just because your product has a pre-existing image in a market doesn’t mean you can’t create a new one for it in a new market. Maybe all product managers should add this to our definition of product development. Parker pens are a low-end staple in the US and a high-end item in China. Then customizing your basic product to meet the needs of a specific market can pay off. Ultimately, we need to understand how our product is going to be used and use that information to set the price accordingly.

I’m not saying we all should start selling our products in China (but maybe we should!). However, Parker Pen’s product managers have shown us that it is always possible to reinvent our products in new markets. That should give hope to product managers everywhere…!