Call for Papers Special Issue RAM 2016 Topic: Innovation Strategies and Marketing The guest editors for this special issue are: Hubert Gatignon, David Gotteland and Christophe Haon The survival of firms depends on their capacity to innovate with new products and services. However, the rate of failure of new products introduced to the market has not decreased significantly over several decades. Therefore, risks associated with often heavy innovation investments must be managed carefully. It is then critical that firms develop proper strategies to sustain the growth of the firm over the long term through new products and services that the market will favorably respond to. This special issue seeks to bring new research that covers a broad range of work related to new product development (NPD). We encourage multidisciplinary research that encompasses the various facets of the organizations involved in NPD. There is no restriction on the methodologies used in the submitted articles and both econometric and experimental approaches, for example, are welcome, as well as theoretical pieces and conceptual literature reviews. Topics where new research on innovation is needed pertain to: 1) A better understanding of innovations that combine the technological with the demand dimensions; 2) How a firm creates a culture that fosters innovativeness throughout the organization; 3) How a firm should be organized to manage innovative activities; 4) What are the effective ways to launch innovations. Within each of these broad themes, a wide array of more specific questions can be addressed such as methods to stimulate creativity within an organization, what is the role of customers in the NPD process, the importance of teams in NPD, the various ways in which a firm can acquire new knowledge such as with acquisitions or alliances. Critical aspects of the launch process of innovations concern the branding of the new product or service, the acceptance and the diffusion process by market segments, the role of competition, and the marketing mix decisions, such as communication activities and the choice of distribution systems. Within each of these areas, an objective of the special issue is to assess how changes in the environment, including for example new media, globalization, or the availability of big data, have affected the role and impact of innovations for companies, for consumers and for society in general. The last special issue in RAM on new product marketing was published twenty years ago (Vol. 11, No. 3). This 2016 special issue will provide a benchmark to analyze the acquired knowledge and the changes that have occurred since then. Manuscripts will follow the normal RAM evaluation process and must respect the journal’s editorial rules. Proposed papers must be submitted in electronic format to Joan Lewis ([email protected]) before February 1, 2015.