One of my loves is new product development. Now, you would think new product development is all about the future. That's why it is called new. Au contraire. Successful product developers have a healthy knowledge of the past. They know why some products worked and why some products didn't. Knowing all this ups the (very slim) odds of the new product working.
The best book I've ever read on the history of product development (especially consumer product goods) is What Were They Thinking? from Robert M. McMath. This was first published a decade ago but all the lessons still apply today (plus it is a history book – history books don't often become dated). McMath studied over 80,000 new products, both the wins and losses.
One of the many gems? People usually don't buy products that remind them of their shortcomings. An example? Baby boomers and older don't want to be reminded they are older. They prefer to buy youth creams rather than anti-aging formulas. Anti-aging reminds boomers they are aging. Exactly what they don’t want. Overweight people want to buy slimming pills, not fat reducing pills. A small difference in wording makes a big difference in sales.
Another? Don't sell 'ice cubes to cocker spaniels.' McMath talks about smokeless cigarettes. Smokeless cigarettes make non-smokers happy. The problem is… non-smokers don't buy cigarettes. It sounds simple but why then are there hybrid Escalades? The average person buying an Escalade isn't interested in saving the environment. They revel in the decadence of an Escalade.